Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal

A Fanfiction by neomage

(DISCLAIMER: You all know what I'm gonna say by now…all the original stuff isn't mine. It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.)

CHAPTER 2 – Clash of Heroes

DUEL ACADEMY GROUNDS

"Drake Phoenix?" Ricardo raised his eyebrows. "This is interesting…"

Natasha looked a little confused. "Um…who is he?"

On hearing that, Janus nearly fell over. "Whaaaaaaaat? You don't know Drake Phoenix? Natasha, where've you been all this time?"

"Hey, Janus, don't fault her for not knowing," Ricardo remarked in a reasonable tone. "Listen, Natasha. That fellow there, Drake Phoenix…he's the son of a multi-millionaire tycoon, Aster Phoenix. Now, Aster's a world-renowned extreme sports figure and a former Duel Monsters champion, plus he has his own business—Phoenix Unlimited, which specializes in business corporation advisement and has served both big and small corporations for years now. That phoenix on the side of the helicopter door—that's the universal symbol for Phoenix Unlimited. And Drake over there is known for using the symbol as his own personal trademark, as well, especially when he enters Duel Monster competitions. And trust me, in that respect he's good."

Drake closed his eyes and chuckled. "Yes, little girl, it's all true," he confirmed. "I'm a seasoned Duel Monsters competitor—I've been entering tournaments for five years now, no matter when or where they're held. And I've won every single tournament that's been fortunate enough to have me as a competitor."

"But…if that's true, why wasn't he at Dueltropolis?" Natasha wondered.

"Well, young miss, Master Drake wanted to attend Dueltropolis very much," Jasmine assured her. "But a week before the tournament was slated to take place, Master Aster heard rumors of a sinister group of criminals who would be participating and who would especially be targeting the then-champion, Seta Kaiba. So, he had Master Drake withdraw from entering the tournament for his own safety. And, as Mr. Janus may well imagine, Master Drake was none too happy about that security measure."

"I watched the whole tournament on TV—not that I had anything better to do since Dad wouldn't let me participate," Drake cut in. "And since I knew you would be there as a representative for your school, Janus, I made especially sure to keep a close eye on your matches. It was very impressive that you were able to clinch the title of third-best duelist in the world, but…if I had been there, I would've gotten first place, make no mistake about that."

"Hmph." Janus looked at the Duel-Disk Jasmine was holding. "Well, seeing as you have a Duel-Disk there, why don't you try putting that claim to the test?"

Drake's brow furrowed. "Why else do you think I'm here?"

"Okay, then. Just…" Suddenly Janus appeared sheepish. "Give me a minute. Uh, Ricky, Natasha, could one of you guys run back to my room and fetch my dueling gear? I really wasn't anticipating a duel this early in the morning."

"And here I thought Dueltropolis had taught you a thing or two about preparedness." Ricardo sounded disappointed.

"Don't worry—I'll fetch them!" Natasha volunteered. And then she turned and raced off.

Drake's face was like stone. His thoughts, however, were another matter. All right…now it's only a matter of waiting, and then…!

----------

By this time Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki was just getting back to her office. Stepping through the door, she slipped her jacket off and placed it on a nearby coat-rack—and suddenly the phone on her desk rang, startling her. "Hmm, guess I got back in the nick of time," she surmised as she hurried over to the desk and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

"Why, hello there, Alexis; been a long while, hasn't it?" a familiar voice reached her ear.

Her face lit up instantly. "Aster Phoenix? Is this really you? How have you been?"

"Just great, thanks; can't really complain," Mr. Phoenix chuckled. His voice was a smooth, deep baritone with a slight hint of a Southern American accent. "How's the old joy-boy doing?"

"You mean Jaden? Well, he's as good as he can be…being principal of Duel Academy and all." Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki leaned against her desk. "So, what brings you to call today?"

"Actually, I just wanted to let you know…" Mr. Phoenix's jovial tone lessened a little. "My son Drake is on his way to the Academy as I speak. If I'm not mistaken, if he hasn't landed there by now, he will shortly."

"Drake, huh?" Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki managed to stifle a chuckle.

"Yes. And you and I both know why he'll be there." Mr. Phoenix sighed over the phone. "Honestly, this obsession of his is ceasing to be even mildly amusing."

"Hmph…coming from you, that's saying something," said Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki. "Have you told Jaden yet—oh, wait, I forgot, he's handling freshman orientation today, so you probably wouldn't get him at his office right now. Silly me."

"I'd actually tried calling him a while ago, but his phone was just ringing without answer—although now I understand why." Mr. Phoenix paused for a moment. "Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know. Considering how Drake feels about your boy Janus, it's not likely he'll leave unless he gets what he wants…which, in this case, will be a duel."

"And how do you feel about him getting up on such short notice to pay us a visit out here?" Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki asked.

"I already told you—his obsession is becoming irritating to me. But what else can I do? I can't talk any sense into the boy, his mother can't—heck, even his sister's failed in that area." There was a hint of disgust in Mr. Phoenix's tone. "And forbidding him to have anything to do with Janus will be just a waste of time—when he has his mind set on something…"

"Believe me, as a parent I know the feeling," Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki assured him. "Don't worry, though. If Drake is on the island now, I'll find him and see if I can't try to convince him to give it a rest. Since I'm Vice-Principal of this institution, he'll have to listen to my authority."

"Best of luck where that is concerned. And give Jaden my regards." And then the line went dead.

Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki hung up the phone—and just then, there was a loud knock at the door. "Enter!" she called.

The door burst in, and standing there was a female student of Obelisk Blue. "Vice-Principal, Drake Phoenix is here—and he's gearing up to duel Janus!" she cried.

"A little birdy told me," Mrs. Rhodes-Yuki replied cryptically. "Where are they?"

----------

"Okay, I'm back!" Natasha was breathing heavily as she jogged up to Janus, the Duel-Disk in one hand and the deck of cards in the other. "I had no clue running could take the wind out of you like this!"

By now a small crowd had gathered to watch the confrontation. A few of the girls in the crowd seemed much more interested in Drake, however. "Oooooh, Drakey-wakey! Teach the Osiris boy a lesson! Nobody can beat you—nobody!" several of them were screaming, with hearts in their eyes and blushes on their cheeks.

Ricardo gave the girls in the crowd a perturbed look. "Drakey-wakey?" he asked dubiously.

"So the guy's got his fans here at Duel Academy. So what? It's not going to change the eventual outcome of this duel," Janus answered as he slipped the Duel-Disk on. "All right, Drake, you ready to do this?"

Drake was in the process of slipping his Duel-Disk onto his own wrist, while Jasmine patiently waited with his deck in her hand. "I've been ready ever since I set out to come here this morning," he answered.

"Great! In that case, this duel's really going to be a cool way to start off the new school year!" Janus grinned.

"Hmph." Drake spat to the side with contempt. "Let's see if you'll still be holding that viewpoint in your head or that grin on your face when I utterly humiliate you in front of all these people." Then he smirked and cast a glance at the crowd. "All my fans that are here, if you want me to bury this little amateur punk deeper than six feet, let me hear you make some NOISE!"

The response was instantaneous. "Get him, Drake! You're the man!" several of the male students whooped.

"Go, Drakey! Win this like you win all your duels!" the girls shrieked, still with hearts in their eyes.

Janus hung his head and sweat-dropped. "Oh, brother…have they all forgotten that I came in third in the World Championships already?" he groaned.

"It may have been the World Championships, but third place is still a ways from first place nonetheless," Ricardo pointed out. "And Drake is a consistent first-placer."

"Don't worry, Janus—you still have my support!" Natasha smiled at him. "Just do your best!"

"I will, definitely." Janus nodded, then turned to look directly at Drake. "All right, Drake, I'm ready!"

"About time." Drake turned to Jasmine. "My deck…?"

"Of course, Master Drake." Jasmine took a step forward and held out his cards to him.

"Now, then, Janus, prepare yourself! For you are destined to be crushed under my heel!" Drake shouted as he slotted his deck into his Duel-Disk. "And when I'm done with you, you'll wish you'd never known me, not to mention you'll also be wishing you never even took up dueling!"

"Talk is cheap, dude," Janus replied, placing his own deck into his Duel-Disk slot. "Let's see you back it up!"

"Agreed," Drake nodded. "Let's do this!"

JANUS: 8000; DRAKE: 8000

At once the surrounding crowd began cheering. "Whoo-hoo! Let's see some dueling action!" several of the students yelled.

"Man, this'll be a wicked way to kick off the school year for real!" a few were chattering excitedly. "A pro duelist like Drake Phoenix here on our campus, showing off his skills? This is so radical!"

"Draaaaaaake! We're behind you all the way!" the girls squealed.

A holographic coin showed up on the field. "Since you're the challenger here, I guess I'll let you call it," Janus offered.

"Fine, then," said Drake. "I'll call tails!"

Immediately the coin was spun, flipping several feet into the air as both Janus and Drake watched it intensely. Then, by and by it fell back to the ground…and upon landing, it spun around on its edge for a moment, before finally falling flat…and the end result was: tails!

"Hey, congrats, you get to go first," said Janus, drawing his first five cards.

"Save the congrats for when I trample you!" Drake replied, drawing his mandatory five cards as well.

"Yeah, Drakey-wakey! Trample him!" Drake's female fans screamed out.

"Ugh…these girls really need to grow up…" Ricardo grumbled.

At once several of those closest to him pounced on him. "What was that, you bastard? Are you trying to say something about our devotion to Drakey-wakey?" one of them demanded menacingly, as fire blazed in all their eyes.

"…ulp…not really…forget I said anything…" Ricardo had three sweat-drops on his head.

"Poor you," Natasha shook her head.

In the meantime, Drake drew a sixth card from his deck to start the first turn. "Okay, first I'll activate the magic card, Destiny Draw! Now, by discarding one Destiny Hero monster from my hand to the Graveyard, I can draw two cards from my deck!"

Quickly he held up one card from his hand, and everybody saw immediately what it was: the monster card, Destiny Hero – Malicious (ATK 800, DEF 800). Then, placing it in his Duel-Disk's Graveyard slot, he proceeded to draw two more cards from his deck. "But that's only the tip of this iceberg," Drake remarked. "Next, I'll activate the magic card, D – Spirit! If there are no face-up Destiny Hero monsters on my side of the field, then I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Destiny Hero from my hand! And I choose…Destiny Hero – Fear Monger (ATK 1000, DEF 1000) in Attack Mode!"

A moment later, there appeared on his side of the field a fiendish-looking warrior with a blaster in place of one arm. But Janus merely frowned at the sight of it. "Well…so far your deck seems to follow the theme of Destiny Heroes. You know, I actually faced a guy during the Dueltropolis competition who had a similar strategy…"

Drake bristled at that. "Oh, you did, did you? Well, that certainly had to have been a copycat deck, because these cards…" and here he waved his cards in the air. "…they're the original Destiny Hero deck, the first and only true cards of the set. And I'm willing to bet that that guy, whoever he was, couldn't even use the cards properly, could he? Well, now I'll show you what these cards can do in the hands of a true master of destiny!"

He then pointed a finger at his Graveyard slot. "And now, time to activate my Destiny Hero – Malicious's effect! When he's in the Graveyard, if I remove him from play, I can Special Summon another Destiny Hero – Malicious from my deck to the field! And I'll summon this second one in Attack Mode!"

A ghostly image of Destiny Hero – Malicious—a creature with bat's wings, curved horns and two tails—appeared on Drake's side of the field for but a moment…then in the next instant another one like him emerged, holding up the claws on his hands in a threatening gesture. Then Drake held up one of the four cards remaining in his hand. "Next, I'll take advantage of my Normal Summon and bring forth to the field…Destiny Hero – Disk Commander (ATK 300, DEF 300) in Attack Mode!"

A second later a masked, silver-armored warrior with razor-sharp compact disks attached to his back, wrists and waist appeared on the field. "And finally," Drake finished, "I'll set one card facedown, and that's it for now."

"But—that's hardly fair for Janus! Drake's managed to summon three monsters in his first turn!" Natasha cried.

"Reminds me of something my father once told me about the Destiny Hero cards," said Ricardo. "You see, the Destiny Heroes and their support cards do just that—they support each other. Back in the Dueltropolis finals, we saw Zander Zabel using the Destiny Hero cards also, but his fluidity with them was not as in sync as we're seeing here, because his deck wasn't a pure Destiny Hero deck. But this…this is a whole different ball game now."

As it was now Janus's turn, he drew his card to give him six in hand. "Okay! Now, I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix (ATK 1200, DEF 800) in Attack Mode!" And then, a bright burst of flame erupted on his side of the field as a woman clad in skin-tight red leather appeared. "Now, attack his Disk Commander with Burstfire!"

Burstinatrix formed two massive fireballs in her hands, then drew her hands back and flung them at the flinching Disk Commander. But suddenly Drake shouted: "Big mistake, runt! I activate my trap card, D – Counter!"

As Drake's card flipped face-up, a huge shield appeared around Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, deflecting the attack right back at Burstinatrix! Before she could respond, she got blasted away with a massive explosion! "WHOA!" Janus cried out. "What the heck was that?"

"That, amateur, was the effect of my D – Counter trap," Drake replied, a triumphant smirk on his face. "It activates whenever one of my Destiny Heroes is selected as an attack target—then, the attacking monster is destroyed. Tough break."

"Hmph…Zander definitely didn't have THAT card in his deck," Ricardo recalled.

"Urgh…" Janus took a look at the five remaining cards in his hand. "All right, then. I'll set two cards facedown, and that's it for the time being."

"You mean, that's all you can do at all!" Drake mocked him as he drew his next card. "Well, Janus, you may have somewhat made it big in the World Championships, but now it's time somebody forced you back into the kiddy league where you belong—and that somebody is going to be me! And I have just the card to do the job right…"

He held up the card he'd just drawn. "Now, watch and learn! I'll sacrifice Destiny Hero – Disk Commander, Destiny Hero – Fear Monger, and Destiny Hero – Malicious, to summon an even more powerful monster to decimate you…come forth, Destiny Hero – Dogma (ATK 3400, DEF 2400)!"

All at once Disk Commander, Fear Monger and Malicious all transformed into balls of shining light! As everyone looked on in awe, the three light balls swirled around the field, then suddenly collided into each other as one—and an even brighter light shone from Drake's side! "Ack! Turn down the lights, man!" some of the students complained even as they shielded their eyes.

Only Drake and Jasmine didn't seem much affected. "Young master…" Jasmine breathed.

"Yes. He is here, now." Drake nodded and smirked, showing teeth.

At length the light died down, enough for everyone to lower their arms…and what they saw astounded them. "Oooohhh…"

For now, on Drake's side, was a giant in dark armor, with humongous bat's wings spreading over the entire width of his side of the field and a sharp blade protruding from his right wrist. "And now, little cretin," Drake announced, even as his smirk grew wider, "your destiny is written and sealed—to be punished by me! Now, time to take you out of dueling for good! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

As the duel between Janus and Drake continued with everyone watching in awe, the stats were shown: Both players still had an intact 8000 life points, but now Drake had two cards in hand while Janus held three, and on the field Drake had his just-summoned Destiny Hero – Dogma in Attack Mode while Janus only had two cards facedown in his magic/trap slot. And it was still Drake's turn.

At length Drake stopped laughing. "True, Destiny Hero – Dogma's summoning conditions are rather hefty…I have to offer three monsters, including at least one other Destiny Hero, on my side of the field in order to Special Summon him…but his power more than makes up for that. So, Janus…wet your pants yet?" he needled Janus.

"Why? Just because you summoned that guy?" Janus scoffed. "Please—like I'm going to scare so easily."

"Seems you're not fully aware of your situation…but don't worry, I'll bring it home to you, even if it's by force!" Drake held up another card from his hand. "Now, I activate the magic card Monster Reborn, to bring back my Destiny Hero – Disk Commander from the Graveyard!"

At once Disk Commander reappeared in a blaze of light. "Uh, excuse me, but why'd you bother bringing him back?" Janus asked, frowning.

"For his special effect, that's why!" replied Drake. "You see, if my Disk Commander is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, I get to draw two cards!" And this he did swiftly, so now he held three cards in hand. "But now it's about to get significantly worse for you…"

"What?" Natasha said in disbelief. "What does he mean? How can Janus's trouble possibly get any worse than it already is?"

"Perhaps, Natasha…it would have been better if you didn't ask…" Ricardo said slowly.

"Now…" Drake held up one of his cards. "I'll use my Normal Summon and offer Disk Commander as a tribute to summon a stronger monster—Destiny Hero – Dasher (ATK 2100, DEF 1000)! Come forth, Dasher!"

Disk Commander vanished from the field again—then suddenly a loud screeching sound of tires on pavement could be heard as, out of nowhere, a robotic monster with wheels for hands and feet zoomed into view! "Okay! Now everything's in place for me to kick your ass! Go, Dasher—use your Battering Slammer!"

Destiny Hero – Dasher crouched down to such an extent that he almost resembled a car, and his tires screeched on the ground again. Then suddenly, he shot forward, slamming into Janus so hard that the young duelist was knocked to the ground and his life points sharply depleted to 5900! "Aaaagh!" Janus cried out in pain.

JANUS: 5900; DRAKE: 8000

"Janus! Hang in there!" Natasha cried.

"Wrong advice to be giving him, twerp—you should be telling him to give up and beg for mercy!" Drake sneered. "Now, Destiny Hero – Dogma, do your thing!" And Dogma spread his wings, rocketing forward and slashing Janus across the chest! Janus got knocked back down to the ground, wincing with his agony even as his life points went down even further.

JANUS: 2500; DRAKE: 8000

"Ouch…that HAD to hurt…" Ricardo flinched at the sight of Janus on the ground in pain.

"Now, I believe I'll end my turn," said Drake. "Oh, and before I forget, at the end of a Battle Phase during which Destiny Hero – Dasher attacked, he switches to Defense Mode." And just like that, Dasher crouched down so that he resembled a car once again. "Now you can go ahead, little Janus…not that it'll do you much good."

"Yay! Go, Drakey-wakey!" the girls in the crowd cried out.

Slowly standing up, Janus shook his head to clear it. "Pfft…that all you got? The other Destiny Hero user I fought in Dueltropolis packed a meaner punch than this!" he grunted.

Now Drake scowled. "I'd mind my tongue if I were you," he warned Janus. "Especially considering what your odds are right now—you're faced with two of my strongest Destiny Heroes, so it's not a good idea to badmouth them any. Got it?"

"Yeah! You tell 'im, Phoenix!" several of Drake's fans shouted.

Janus gritted his teeth. "All right, it's about high time I shut your little fan club up! And I'm gonna do it with this turn!" With that, he drew his next card, giving him four in hand…

…but suddenly, taking everyone by surprise, Destiny Hero – Dogma dashed forward and slashed Janus yet again! "AAAH!" Janus screamed as, inexplicably, his life points went down to 1250.

JANUS: 1250; DRAKE: 8000

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What happened? Janus, are you okay?" Natasha exclaimed.

"Yeah…I'm fine…I think…" Janus held the place where Dogma had just assaulted him, wincing as he felt stinging pain course through his entire body.

"Oops, looks like I forgot to mention Dogma's other effect," Drake remarked with mock concern. "When he's Special Summoned, then during my opponent's following Standby Phase he cuts their life points in half. But by duel's end, that's not all he'll be cutting in half…" And his eyes flashed with warning in them.

"Yeah, well, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm still in one piece—and this duel's still on!" Janus announced. "And now, it's time I took back the advantage! First, I'll activate the magic card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck!"

Swiftly he drew his two cards, so now he held five. "Ahhh—I like what I'm seeing in my hand!" he grinned. "Okay, Drake…now I'm gonna summon my Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird (ATK 800, DEF 600) in Attack Mode!"

Moments later, there appeared on the field a red-feathered humanoid hummingbird with big white wings. "Ha! And that's your grand play?" Drake taunted Janus. "He's barely got any ATK points worth mentioning!"

"It's not always about the ATK points, Drake," Janus told him. "Observe! My Air Hummingbird's effect allows me to, once per turn during the Main Phase, increase my life points by 500 for every card you're holding in your hand…and since you've got two cards right now, that's 1000 points added to my life points!"

"WHAT?" Drake exclaimed in disbelief. But just then—much to his consternation—honeysuckle plants seemed to grow out of his cards! Air Hummingbird wasted no time, swiftly flitting from one flower to the next…and Janus's life points, in the meantime, rose by 1000 points.

JANUS: 2250; DRAKE: 8000

"Whew! Janus got his life points back up in the nick of time!" Natasha heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yes, but it's not over yet," Ricardo told her. "Unless Janus has a plan in mind, he's just made himself a sitting duck."

"Hey, Ricardo, have a little more faith than that, huh?" Janus called to him. "If you really must know, I do have a plan! And it's going to come in the form of a certain magic card I'm holding in my hand right now…"

"Bah! You've got nothing!" Drake scoffed.

"Don't I?" Janus returned. "Then perhaps I should show you directly! Now…I activate the magic card, Fake Hero!"

"Fake Hero? What the hell is that?" Drake wondered aloud.

"It's a magic card with a nifty power," Janus explained. "It allows me to Special Summon one Elemental Hero monster from my hand to my side of the field. And right now I have one I'd like to summon…my Elemental Hero Neos (ATK 2500, DEF 2000) in Attack Mode!"

A bright cone of light shone on Janus's side of the field…and then, when it subsided, right there in front of him was a white, humanoid alien creature with red markings all over his body and a blue gem in the center of his chest. But Drake just looked at the new arrival with contempt. "Is that supposed to impress me? Because I'm telling you right now, it's not!" he roared.

"Well…I will admit that Fake Hero carries a side effect with it," Janus acknowledged. "The monster it allows me to Special Summon can't attack this turn, and is also returned to my hand at the end of the turn. And in any case, it's also true that your Dogma's got more ATK points than Neos does. But with what I've got planned, that's nothing I need to worry about!"

"What?" Drake cocked an eyebrow.

"Let me tell you a little something about my Elemental Hero Neos," said Janus. "He's got a nice little power that sets him apart from any other Elemental Hero—a power called Contact Fusion. See, when he's on the field with a Neo-Spacian monster, in this case my Air Hummingbird, then I'm able to perform a Fusion Summon using them as the Fusion material that's needed—without having to use a Polymerization card!"

Drake's eyes widened at this revelation. "No way!"

"Got that right!" Janus was smiling now. "All I have to do is return the two monsters in question to my deck to perform the Contact Fusion—and that's what I'm going to do now! Neos, Air Hummingbird, use the power of Contact Fusion and form…Elemental Hero Air Neos (ATK 2500, DEF 2000)!"

Elemental Hero Neos and Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird both jumped up high, flying into the sky and colliding with each other. And—a shower of colorful sparks exploded from their collision! Drake looked at the spectacle with his eyebrow still cocked. All right…now what?

A moment passed…then, floating down to the ground was a completely different monster. He had Neos's physique, but sported crimson-red feathers all over his body and two angelic white wings on his back. "Oh, wow…that's so utterly cool…" Natasha breathed.

"Indeed," Ricardo nodded. "Too bad Janus never got to use this form of Neos during the Dueltropolis tournament—it might've especially made the difference between loss and defeat during his duel with Yugo Muto in the semi-finals."

Drake carefully scrutinized Air Neos—and scowled. "And here I thought he was actually going to be a threat," he remarked. "But he's no stronger than regular Neos was just now."

"Really?" Janus smiled at Drake. "Because as far as I recall, Air Neos has a special effect: if my life points are lower than yours, which they are at the moment, his ATK is increased by the difference."

Behind Drake, Jasmine's eyes widened. "But…Master Drake's life points are 8000 right now…and 8000 minus 2250 leaves 5750…"

Drake blanched. "Which means that featherbrain's ATK will be…8250!"

"Glad to see you can do math!" Janus laughed, even as Air Neos's ATK skyrocketed to 8250. "Okay, Air Neos, show his Destiny Hero – Dogma who's the real tough guy! Vermillion Typhoon!"

Flapping his wings, Elemental Hero Air Neos took flight, going several meters over the playing field. Then, he began flapping his wings with a fury, creating a vicious hurricane-force wind that tore into Dogma and ripped him apart! "AAAGH! MY MONSTER!" Drake bellowed, even as his life points shot down drastically.

JANUS: 2250; DRAKE: 3150

As the life point score changed, Air Neos's ATK shifted accordingly, to 3400. "Great! So even though Drake's life points have been brought down, Janus's monster still gets extra ATK because his effect's still active!" Natasha noted.

"Yes, since Drake's got 900 life points more than Janus at present, Air Neos's ATK is likewise increased by 900 points," said Ricardo. "This is really working in Janus's favor! He just may still have a chance now!"

"Okay, then," said Janus. "Now, I'll set one more card facedown, and end my turn…"

As he said that—all of a sudden Elemental Hero Air Neos vanished in a burst of red light, startling everyone! "O…kay…" Ricardo blinked.

"Uh—what just happened?" Natasha wondered, dumbfounded.

Janus hung his head a little; his hair partially overshadowed his brow. "During the End Phase of a turn when I initiated a Contact Fusion with Neos and a Neo-Spacian, the resulting Fusion monster is returned to my Fusion deck. That's the only real weakness of the Contact Fusion, generally speaking."

Initially as surprised as everyone else at Air Neos's disappearance, Drake slowly formed a grin on his lips. "Well, well, well…so after all that, your Neos monster didn't have any guts to stick around. He was just for show. Well, too bad." Then he took his turn and drew his next card, giving him three in hand. "And that's a weakness that you're going to pay for now—with your life points!"

"Oh, dear," Ricardo's eyes narrowed as he observed the scene.

"All right—here I go!" Drake declared. "First, I'll shift my Destiny Hero – Dasher back into Attack Mode!" And just like that, Dasher stood up tall, ready to fight again.

Then suddenly Drake grinned. "Hey, Janus—remember the Destiny Hero – Malicious that I tributed to summon my Dogma—you know, the one I Special Summoned from my deck by removing his twin in the Graveyard from play? Well, now I can remove that second copy of Malicious from my Graveyard to Special Summon a third one from my deck…in Attack Mode!" And as the shadowy silhouette of the second Malicious vanished from the Graveyard, the third one appeared, spreading his wings and raking his claws along the ground.

"And together, they've got enough power to take you out of this duel for good!" Drake announced. "Now, my Destiny Hero – Malicious! Lead the way and chop his life points down to size!"

Malicious pounced forward, flapping his wings to grant himself an extra burst of speed as he flew towards Janus's side of the field. "Janus, watch out!" Natasha screamed.

"Don't worry – I got it covered!" Janus yelled. "Now I activate the trap card, Negate Attack! This'll stop your monster's assault and bring an end to your Battle Phase at the same time!"

Almost instantly a huge red vortex opened up on Janus's side of the field. Unable to stop in time, Malicious disappeared right into it—and reappeared moments later, back on Drake's side, even as Destiny Hero – Dasher gave him a confused look. Drake himself did not look pleased. "That card…that was the card you set just a moment ago," he groaned. "Still, you lucked out there—not gonna happen again. Well, anyway, I'll set one card facedown, and that'll do for the moment."

"Hey, kid! Just let Drake whip you and be done with it, already!" some of the students were now shouting.

"Ricardo…the crowd's getting ugly…" Natasha whispered in a fretful voice.

"Then that simply means Janus will have to bring this duel to an end, and quickly," Ricardo replied.

In the meantime, Janus was drawing his next card, so now he had two in hand. "Hmmm…okay…well, then. I guess I'll just set one monster in Defense Mode, and end my turn for now."

"Unfortunately, shrimp, this is going to be your last turn!" Drake vowed, even as he drew his card to again give him a total of three. "And now, I'll tribute Destiny Hero – Malicious, and summon in his place…Destiny Hero – Double Dude (ATK 1000, DEF 1000), in Attack Mode!"

Malicious vanished from the field—then standing in his place was a thin man clad in a fedora and a dark suit, wielding a stylish walking cane in one hand. "But that's not all I've got," Drake assured Janus. "Next, I'll activate my trap card: D – Chain! This card will now be treated as an Equip Magic card, and I'll equip it to my Double Dude to increase his ATK by 500 points!"

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a long length of chain with a curved blade on one end wrapped itself around Double Dude's cane, at the same time increasing his ATK to 1500. "And now, time to attack you once again!" said Drake. "And just in case that monster of yours has a high DEF, I think I'll take it out with my Destiny Hero – Dasher first!"

Dasher transformed into his car mode again and zoomed forward, ramming into Janus's facedown monster and revealing it to be a huge rock golem with a red helmet for a head. The golem was swiftly broken into powdery pieces by the force of Dasher's attack! "Ha! That was your Elemental Hero Clayman (ATK 800, DEF 2000)…and now he's nothing more than rubble!" Drake chuckled. "Now your life points are wide open!"

"Not quite, Drake—for you've triggered my trap!" Janus rebutted. "I activate—Hero Signal! When one of my monsters is destroyed in battle, this card allows me to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my hand or my deck to the field…and I'll use it to summon another Clayman from my deck, in Defense Mode!"

From Janus's activated trap, a huge searchlight with a stylized letter H shone out over the field…then, the next thing Drake knew, a second Clayman was crouched on Janus's side of the field. "But I'm not done yet," Janus continued. "Next, I'll activate my other trap card, Hero Ring! Now, when this card's activated, it's treated as an Equip card and gets equipped to one of my Warrior-type monsters that has 1500 ATK or less…and as long as it stays on the field, your monsters that have 1900 ATK or more can't attack that equipped monster!"

"Heh…those two cards have been sitting on Janus's side of the field for a good while now," remarked Ricardo. "And now, he finally gets to use them. Good for him."

"Yeah, right! You just got lucky, is all!" Drake snarled. Then just as suddenly, he took a deep breath. "Well, all right. I can wait. Kicking your butt is only going to take a little while longer, but I can afford to wait. So, I'll just end my turn now." And as he said this, Dasher shifted into Defense Mode as per his effect.

"Willing to wait to finish me, are you? Well, keep waiting!" said Janus, drawing his next card so he now held two. "All right—now I'll summon my Elemental Hero Sparkman (ATK 1600, DEF 1400) in Attack Mode!" And then, moments later a flash of lightning shot down on his side of the field, taking the form of a man in blue and gold armor that crackled with electricity.

Then Janus held up the last card in his hand. "And now, I can activate this Magic card, Light Laser! It can only be equipped to a Light-attribute, Warrior-type monster…and since Sparkman fits the bill, he'll be the one I'll equip it to!"

A moment later Sparkman found himself holding an oddly-designed laser gun. "And here's the best part about it," Janus went on. "If a monster is equipped with the Light Laser, any monster that does battle with that equipped monster is removed from play at the end of the Damage Step! So, Sparkman, blast his Destiny Hero – Dasher into oblivion!"

"NO!" Drake yelled out.

But Sparkman was acting quickly on his master's call, pointing the business end of the Light Laser at the defending Dasher. He fired a massive beam of light from the gun, consuming Dasher and causing him to explode into a million pieces! "And now, that major threat's gone for good!" Janus announced.

"Way to go! You got him good, Janus!" Natasha cheered.

Ricardo, however, didn't look so ready to celebrate. Sure, he may have gotten rid of that Destiny Hero – Dasher, but Drake's not out of the game yet…

Drake's hair overshadowed his eyes. "Why…you…little…prick…!" he hissed between his tightly clenched teeth. "How DARE you do that to my monster? I'll grind your face into the dirt just for that little stunt you just pulled!"

"Oh, sure, throw a fit because you're losing," Janus scowled. "You may be a champion duelist, but you're definitely not a sporting one. What kind of image are you trying to portray for your fans, dude?"

Drake raised his head; his eyes were narrowed into slits. "Listen to me, and listen well," he said darkly. "Losing at the game I'm best at is an annoyance. Losing at the game I'm best at to an amateur is an embarrassment. But losing at the game I'm best at to YOU—THAT IS AN UNPARDONABLE SIN! And I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to make sure that THAT does not happen! Now, I draw!"

Swiftly he drew his next card so that he now held three—and stopped short. Then, ever so slowly, the angry look on his face melted away…replaced by a sadistic grin. "My, my, my…guess now I'll be able to pull out all the stops…"

"Huh?" Janus blinked.

"That's right, buddy-boy," Drake replied. "As soon as I play this card I've just drawn…you had better be aware that your destiny will come here and now, and will be made a reality even if I have to shove it down your throat! Now, prepare yourself!"

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neomage: And here's the end of this new Chapter 2—an amalgamation of Chapters 3 and 4 from their original format! And now, those of you who remember this duel can enjoy this new, longer format…and the next chapter's coming up shortly, so stay tuned!