Chapter 7: Battle of the Brains

Bastion was in his dorm he was preparing his deck, calculating the odds of what Lucien Angel would use of course the second name gave it away however he was confused what happened today. In a flashback Dr. Crowler was sorting out who people were duelling who, all except for Alex due to the reason he had defeated Axel yesterday and is still unable to awaken from his unconsciousness, everyone was in the main hall even Michael who is now fully recovered from his sleep. "Now students, Sheppard has given me a list of people to duel each other. Alex Alpha you do not need to be here!" Crowler reminded him, but Alex was smiling regardless "I'm only here to see who my opponents might be facing. I don't see anything wrong with that." "Very well, if you insist." Crowler then looked at his list on top of the list was a very interesting choice it was Bastion and Lucien, strange enough Lucien hasn't duelled once in this tournament but Bastion however has won three duels and lost two duels. "Bastion Misawa and Lucien Angel, you two will be the next to duel. You may duel tomorrow at any location you choose, as long as it's not indoors and that you both agree on the location. That goes for the rest of you." Bastion and Lucien looked at each other they gave themselves the same look, the look of challenge. My first duellist, I hope this one is challenging by the duels I've seen from these other duellists, they wouldn't last ten minutes in my Academy. Lucien thought to himself, in his Academy Lucien was always looking up his opponent's deck seeing the traps, monster type and finally the threats. He never uses any other cards to use for his advantage, his deck is always the same one Fairy type. Hmm Lucien, I have heard of him before.

Earlier on before night time Bastion logged on to a search engine he typed down Lucien Angel, no records were found "That's odd, why would Lucien not be on the internet." He checked the tournament profiles and he logged on to Lucien's profile, he saw his deck type it read Fairy deck. That's obvious, but I need more information about his deck. He clicked on existing cards, only to see that no cards have been played at least, not yet. Clever, he hasn't duelled so that I won't know what cards he's using. Looks like I'll have to try and use my usual strategy, just try my best. Lucien on the other hand, was looking up the cards that Bastion used nothing interesting but his tactic's were questionable, looks like someone was thinking. "Interesting so there are people who are actually using their brains. I think this duel might be interesting, his test results are equal to that of mine." He yawned it was late at night he took off his reading glasses, he had bad eyes he could see perfectly however when he was reading a book or on a computer he has to wear his glasses. He turned off his computer and slipped into bed "My opponent best be ready, because my deck is ready for anything!" Bastion realised the time it was 00:10 Am on his digital clock there was no point in looking up his opponent anymore he set his alarm for 7 Am and he went into bed.

Next day, Jessie was running around the Duel Academy he was looking for his next opponent he enjoyed duelling and to see what moves his opponent would use, a bit like Jaden except for a few differences. Jessie would do well in tests, Jessie would always find some way to entertain himself that was about it, Jessie is supposed to be duelling an Obelisk Blue who is running a Thunder deck a very rare deck to come across which made him even more excited than usual. "Whoo Hoo! I so can't wait my deck is so ready to take on my opponent isn't that right guys?" Everyone said that they were ready and prepared for their duel Jessie would do his best regardless. Syrus was looking around for his opponent a Ra Yellow, he had no idea what his opponent would be "Aww man, I hope I do well in my duel." He slapped himself on the face, he's been always saying things about his deck and saying how weak he is "This is not me, if I'm going to get anywhere I'm going to have to try harder, no wait I will try harder!"

On the other side of the Island Aster had just won his opponents he was facing two duellists by himself, they were too easy for him. "That's game, now get moving!" Aster was slightly in a mood, who could blame him he saw Alex dominate Axel and torn him apart with his monsters. Aster moved on thinking to himself Alex, sometime soon you'll have to duel me whether you want to or not. Just above him was Alex looking at him he seemed impressed by Aster's moves and play, however he thought to himself Aster, you must understand I'm doing this for a reason. If you cannot understand then I'll make you understand soon enough, but if you wish to duel me then that's fine. Jaden had just saw a shy little duellist his name was Gareth Miles another arrival from another Academy "Hey Mate! You're from another Academy aren't you?" Gareth turned his head to see Jaden he was surprised that Jaden was talking to him "Oh hello, you must be Jaden Yuki aren't you?" "Sure am!" He smiled as he readied his duel disk "Hey let's throw down and get our game on." But Gareth seemed as nervous as Syrus was he backed away slowly as he was looking around "Erm sorry Jaden, but I have a duel appointment to get to." Jaden sighed as he was disappointed that he wasn't going to get a practise duel "On alright then, see ya around." Gareth nodded and he ran into the forest it was steep and very damp probably wet as well, but Gareth didn't seem nervous at all even as he saw Vincent in front of him. "So you're the fool, I'm up against!! Ha you're a sight for sore eyes." But Gareth smiled surprising Vincent a lot "Careful... There's more to me that meets the eye, even pleasant things can get ugly!" He gave him a sinister smile which caught Vincent off guard however he wasn't very impressed "In that case let's get this duel started."

The wind blew and Lucien and Bastion met up it was right outside of Ra Yellow, Lucien was waiting for Bastion the whole time "So you're the genius from Ra Yellow? Do you know what you are in for?" Bastion smiled as he prepared his duel disk he handed out his deck "I can imagine a few things, but for now I wish to remain surprised." Lucien nodded he could understand what Bastion wanted, it was something simple nothing much or hard to ask for Lucien took his deck from his Duel Disk. He placed his glasses on "You'll have to improvise with me, I have to wear these in order to read. I prefer that my opponent shuffles my deck and vice versa." Bastion didn't hesitate he walked up to him and they both took each other's deck and shuffled them, they both took each other's deck and got to a further distance Lucien smiled "Let's do this!" "Let's!" Bastion surprised there was no one to see this duel, the two didn't want to be disturbed "Duel!" the duel began with 4000 life points each. Lucien prepared to draw his card "The smartest I.Q goes first, Draw!" He drew his card and played it immediately "I'll start with Harvest Angel of Wisdom in attack mode!" An angel appeared on the field with gold amour on her body she was holding a horn (Atk/ 1800 Def/ 1000) Bastion knew by now it was a fairy deck, but there might be something else special about it. "I finish off with two cards face down and I end my turn."

Bastion drew his card without any reason to wait "My draw! I start by summoning Magnet Warrior Sigma Plus!" A orange machine warrior appeared on the field (Atk/ 1800 Def/ 1500) it had a plus shield on it and Lucien was wondering Odd he summoned a monster with the same attack, but will he be willing to attack? "I set two cards face down and I end turn. I'm not going to attack you, I know it's a trap." Lucien smiled with guilt he blushed as he looked at his deck "Guilty as charged, but however that's your opinion your foolishness has left you open. But then again I can't possibly know what cards you have." Bastion smiled he knew that this duel will get intense sooner or later.

"My draw!" Lucien quickly drew his card he looked at it, seemed like a card that could give him an edge he can't just wait for Bastion, that would be a stupid move. "I summon Bountiful Artemis in defence mode." An object that looked white appeared on the field it had it's arms in an X position ready to block an attack (Atk/ 1600 Def/ 1700) "Now Wisdom attack his monster now!" The Angel blew her wings towards Bastion's monster the wind was about to hit it but Bastion wouldn't allow that "You've activated my trap card Magnet Force Plus. Which means that your monster gets a plus symbol and that means your monster can't do battle with mine, as you know plus won't work with itself." But Lucien had other things on his mind as he smiled "Then I activate my trap card Solemn Judgement, just by paying half my life points I can negate anything you throw at me." But why what was the point, now he's only got half his life points remaining? Bastion was trying to think of Lucien's reasons but he didn't bother to come to a conclusion as the wind tore the Magnet apart, and the staff of it destroyed Wisdom. "Now I activate Wisdom's effect, when she's destroyed in battle I can add a counter trap card to my hand." As Bastion sees Lucien's life points go to 2000 he sees that Lucien pulls out Negate attack, he then shuffles his deck then points to his other monster. "Now I activate the effect of my other monster, whenever a counter trap card is activated when Bountiful is on the field than I can draw one card from my deck." He draw his card and shuffles his hand quickly "I set 1 card face down, end turn."

Wait a minute, now I understand his deck isn't just a fairy deck it's also a counter deck as well. Bastion smiled impressed of his opponent's tactic, now he had to think of one quickly or Lucien will get the better hand of him "My draw!" Bastion draws his card closes his eye to think Now one of those face down cards is Negate attack, the other must be a card to protect it I'm guessing with Magic Jammer. "I activate my Face down card Mystical Space Typhoon, I target the card that you set." But as Bastion expected Lucien activated his face down card "Not if I activate Magic Jammer, I discard my Cestus of Dalga card. Then I draw a card to replace it." He discarded cestus of Dalga and drew one card from his deck that's when Bastion pointed to him "Just as I expected, now I summon my Magnet Warrior Omega Minus in attack mode." A purple machine monster similar to the orange version except it was holding a sword and had a Minus shield on it (Atk/ 1900 Def/ 600) All I have to do and attack it's true my attack should fail with Negate attack face down, but then I won't be complaining next turn. Bastion plotted but Lucien didn't seem to be bothered he was looking at his current hand, it was useful to him regardless of what his opponent thought. "Go Omega, attack his Bountiful with lightening slash!" Lucien smiled "I activate my trap, Draining Shield!" bastion was horrified, it wasn't the card he thought it was then he remembered Lucien shuffled his hand before he set a card therefore he rushed into conclusion. I should have realised that Lucien might have other ways to stop my attack, stupid! The sword came in contact with the shield and Lucien quickly explained "You didn't think I would waste Negate attack on one monster did you, for shame I thought you were better than this. Draining Shield negates your attack and adds your monsters attack points to my life points." That meant that Lucien was now on 3900 only 100 life points away from full health. Bastion grunted "I end my turn."

Lucien drew his card and said nothing he smiled of what card he had obtained and immediately played it "I activate my favourite field spell, The Sanctuary in the sky!" The field changed it was now cloudy full of mist and a temple was right behind Lucien, Bastion then smiled "Clever move, that means that your Fairy's can't give you any battle damage." Lucien nodded "I concur, however that's not what else it can do. But I'll leave you to find that out for yourself. I summon Nova Summoner on the field, next I set 1 card face down and I end turn." A fairy came on Lucien's field it had some sort of emerald in the middle with a pink shine on its body. (Atk/ 1400 Def/ 800) Bastion shrugged he knew what Lucien's plan was and he had to admit it was a clever play What is it that he wants? Surely he can't be... Of course he wants me to destroy it, so he can get out something stronger. Bastion smiled as he reached for his card.

"It's my move!" Bastion smiled at his card it was the perfect tactic to counter Lucien that made Lucien nervous Wait why is he smiling, unless... Sweat poured down Lucien's head as Bastion continued his turn. "I summon my Super Electro Magnet, but in order to summon it I must remove 1 Earth monster from my field and 1 Earth Monster in my graveyard. So Omega and sigma will have to go for now." Swiftly Bastion placed the two monsters away in his pocket and then arrived this huge Magnet appeared on the field with Navy colours around it's warrior body (Atk/ 2900 Def/ 2600) Lucien smiled however confident that Bastion won't hurt him "I'll remind you, since I have The Sanctuary in the sky on the field you can't do battle damage." Then Bastion replied with a grin on his face "I'm aware of it, but who said I'm going to do battle damage." Lucien cringed as Bastion looked in his deck and sent Gamma, Alpha and Beta to the graveyard Bastion then explained "One of Electro Magnet's effects is that I can send 3 Earth type monsters from my deck to the graveyard, to deal 1500 damage to your life points and half the damage is dealt to me." Soon asteroids flew from the sky and hit both Bastion and Lucien, Lucien landed on the ground but quickly recovered Bastion remained standing. Now Lucien had 2400 and Bastion had 3250 life points remaining. "Now to deal with your annoying Bountiful Artemis, Super Electro Magnet attack it now." Lucien was taken aback by Bastion's actions "But why him, you could have attacked Nova summoner?" But Bastion smiled back in his reply he knew Lucien was up to and he wasn't falling for it "Nice try, but when Nova Summoner is destroyed in battle you can summon a monster called Airknight Parshath as long as you have your Sanctuary in play." Lucien chuckled now he knew that Bastion wasn't some duellist who didn't think, he knew that Bastion was a worthy challenger. "Very Good Bastion, I must congratulate you for your knowledge. However I activate my Counter Trap Rightful Decision." Now as Super Manget was charging it's electric attack it faced towards Nova Summoner, which made Bastion sweat. "Rightful Decision, allows me to change the attack of your monster if your attacking a fairy type monster to another. However doing this comes with a risk, the battle damage I receive is doubled." Lucien explained and Bastion noticed what Lucien was planning "But because of The Sanctuary in the sky..." Lucien Interrupted "Yes, I don't get the punishment. So Nova Summoner Protect Bountiful." As Super Magnet fired it's electrical attack Nova summoner took the entire attack, Lucien pointed to Bountiful "Before I can use Nova's effect I activate Bountiful's effect, allowing me to draw 1 card for activating my counter trap." Lucien drew his card then looked at his deck, he faned them out like Poker cards looking for it. "As you said before, I can special summon a fairy type monster. But since I have The Sanctuary in the sky, on my side of the field then I can bring out Airknight Parshath instead." A fairy holding a sword with blue and gold armour appears on the field (Atk/ 1900 Def/ 1400) Lucien felt confident with his faithful monster on the field, but Bastion grinned "My Super Magnet has another effect, by decreasing it's attack by 500. Whenever a monster is special summoned and you have more monsters than me, you must tribute all monsters until you have an equal side on my field." Lucien grunted but seemed impressed with Bastion's play "Then I have no choice, Bountiful I send you to the graveyard. Very clever Bastion, you've broken my combo but however was it worth it?" Bastion looked at his hand and replied "I set 1 card face down, that's all."

Lucien drew his card, he felt happy at his next card Yes my star card, once I use this, the duel is mine and combined with Healing Bliss all I'll have to do is wait for the fireworks. But as Lucien was thinking about his next move Bastion was prepared for the worst With my face down Magic Cylinders however monster he summons should be his down fall. Lucien readied his card in the air as he said with confidence "Now I bring out my Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin, in attack position. Just by tributing my…" A flash of lightening appeared and before both of the duellist's realised the duel was over. "Wait a minute what just happened?" Lucien bit his lip as both duellists were standing but by the look of it, none of them knew what happened or who won the duel. "If you ask me, that light might have represented the Time Stream going in a huge blast." Bastion explained.

Vincent looked to the sky and he heard the screams of monsters screaming and moaning he noticed that the shadows weren't disappearing either they were here to stay. "Finally, the darkness has arrived. Now who will be the first to fall!" The world was in total darkness and everyone was in panic, it had begun Alex's plan had been set into motion.

Today's "Card of the Episode" is…

Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin
Level 7
Light
Fairy/ Effect
You can Special Summon this card by Tributing 1 "Airknight Parshath". During battle between this attacking card and a Defense Position monster whose DEF is lower than the ATK of this card, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent. If this card inflicts Battle Damage to your opponent, draw 1 card. While "The Sanctuary in the Sky" is on the field and your Life Points are higher than your opponent's, this card gains ATK and DEF equal to the difference in Life Points.
Atk/ 2300 Def/ 2000

Next time...

Chapter 8: Going through Hell

As the sky continues to look grim, Yubel warns Jaden that a great force is attempting to brake the barrier's from Death and Life. As a search for Alex Alpha comes into action, Adrian is forced to duel with an unknown Dark Duellist named Drake. Who begins his turn with Probation, preventing Aidran from using Exodius, the Ultimate forbidden God.