Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

Chapter 11: Designer and Duelist

I know, I know. ANOTHER LONG WAIT. But I was traveling a lot lately, plus I had a case of Duelists Block that would've made even Yugi shake his head.

I just set up a Beta Reader Account (Horray for shameless plugging!) If you ever need a sounding board, or are just too lazy to check for typos yourself, lemme know!


Jaden left the next day and for a while, things went on peacefully at Duel Academy. Or at least as peaceful as things could go on that particular island...

Sandra strode through the library, hoping to find something good to read, when she saw something that made her stop dead.

Sara was sitting at a table, which was on the verge of collapsing thanks to the colossal amount of books stacked on top of it.

As Sandra watched, Sara leapt up raced over to the bookshelf and yanked an impossibly thick book off the shelf. She staggered back to the table and wrenched the book open. She scanned a page for a moment, hurriedly scribbled a note then dashed off, returning with several more books.

Sandra only vaguely knew Sara, mostly from seeing her hanging around that poser Issac. But even so, behavior like this in such a usually quiet girl was enough to pique her curiosity

"Sara?" Sandra stepped forward.

Sara barely glanced up from a paper she was scribbling on.

"Oh, hi. Sandra, right?"

"Right...what's going on here?"

Sara leapt up again and rooted through the mountain of books until she found the one she was looking for.

"Is this for your database?"

"Not exactly..."

Sara looked horrible. She was pale, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair appeared as if she had just emerged from a tornado.

"So, what is all this?"

"I really don't have time to explain. So if a monster is strong enough..." She trailed off, flipping through the book like a maniac.

"How long have you been at this?" Sandra asked.

"I don't know how long, I haven't had time to eat since I got up and..."

Sandra rolled her eyes and grabbed Sara by her arm. "Come on" She groaned, dragging Sara away from her precious books. Sara stretched out towards the stacks.

"But if you'll just let me..."

"Come!" The look in Sandra's eyes and the tone in her voice brooked no argument.

Sandra pulled Sara to the Academy cafeteria and shoved her into a chair.

"Stay" She commanded and left. She returned in time with a tray piled high with sandwiches, fruits and several cartons of juice. She sat it down in front of Sara and took the seat across from her.

"Eat"

Sara nibbled at a sandwich before drawing a slim book from her pocket. "Well...at least I can get a little work in..."

Sandra ripped the book out of her hands. Sara looked shocked and a little frightened.

"...at least I still have my bookmark in my place..." She said hopefully.

Sandra rolled her eyes again and pulled the bookmark out.

Sara's face fell. Sandra pointed the bookmark at her. "Eat" She commanded again.

Sara returned to her meal. She ate slowly at first, then with increasing speed as if she hadn't realized just how hungry she was. She finally finished the last crumb before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Thanks" She exhaled.

"Talk" Sandra commanded.

Sara took a last sip of juice before speaking. "You know that I'm here studying to become a card designer, right?"

Sandra nodded.

"Well, a position just opened at Industrial Illusions and Pegasus has offered it to the DA student with the highest grades"

Sandra scowled. "With all the studying you do, you should be a shoo-in"

Sara laughed. "I wish, I actually have perfect grades and as it figures there's only one other student who has perfect grades as well"

"So?"

"So, they've decided that we should Duel for the position. Winner take all."

"And..."

A note of panic entered Sara's voice. " And I've never dueled before in my life" She wailed.

"I mean, I know the basic rules and all, and the concept. But I don't have the slightest clue how to actually play! I don't even have a real deck! That's why I was reading all those books, I figured I could find some tips or secret strategy to help me win. God knows I'll need it!"

"Why?"

"Don't you know who I'm going to be dueling? Lily?"

Recognition dawned on Sandra's face. "She's not some perky Obelisk, is she?"

Sara nodded. "She's the top duelist on the island besides Issac too! Plus..."

Sandra growled and stood up. She grabbed Sara by her arm and started pulling her off again.

Sara stopped rambling long enough to ask. "Where are we going?"

"To see Issac" Sandra replied curtly. "He'll help. Or else I'll rip his head off and feed it to him"


When the two girls barged into the two Silfer's room they found Rusty moaning on the bed and a fuming Issac standing next to him.

"What happened?" Sara asked.

"Hot-dog eating contest" Issac snapped.

"He won?"

"Almost, he got disqualified"

"How do you get disqualified from a hot dog eating contest?" Sandra sneered.

"Oh, I'll tell you how" Issac said heatedly, turning to the two girls. "He finished his plate off just fine, way before Trey. You know, that Ra?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So...Mr. Hollow Leg here ended up eating Trey's hot dog's too!"

He turned back to the moaning Rusty. "I had a rare card riding on you, you idiot!" He berated. "It was worth good money!"

"But...they were so good..."

Sara giggled and Sandra rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, we don't have time for your little sob story, Issac" Sandra said. "Sara here needs help"

"Yeah?" Issac turned back to them. "So what's up?"

Sandra told him the whole story. "So she needs a good deck and she needs to learn how to use it by tomorrow"

Issac nodded. "I was just starting to get bored. This oughta keep me occupied for a while" He turned to Sara.

"What kind of a deck would you prefer?" She shrugged.

"Right then" Rusty leapt down out of his bed. "Let's get to it!" He said energetically.

Issac stared at him. "You were having the non-alcoholic equivalent of a hangover just a few seconds ago. What happened to you?"

Rusty shrugged. "Fast metabolism" He explained.

"Do you ever get bored of living with him?" Sandra asked.

Issac shook his head ruefully. "I'm still having nightmares about the noodle incident"

He bent down and pulled several briefcases from under the bed. When he opened them, they were revealed to be overflowing with cards.

"Where the heck did you get all these?" Sandra breathed in amazement.

Issac smile mysteriously. "Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets" He said enigmatically.

Half an hour later the four of them were sprawled across the room, flipping through Issac's impressive collection. They picked out staples and set aside the other cards they thought Sara might like or need.

By the end of the hour they had collected several dozen cards into neat stacks.

Issac nodded to them. "Go to it, kid"

Sara bit her lip and towards the pile, picking the cards she liked.

"Something like this?" She asked several minutes later.

Issac took the 40 cards from her and looked through them.

He shook his head. "Now way this is going to work, it's just a rag-tag jumble"

Sara hung her head. "So I should just give up then?" She asked in a small voice.

Sandra glared daggers at Issac. He ignored her.

"I didn't say that. This deck may be useless. But I can see a pattern here" He glanced through it again.

"You seem to like Fairies. Right?"

Sara blushed and nodded. "I'm not sure how good they are, or how good I'll be able to use them but..."

Issac and Sandra shared a look, remembering Jumien.

"Oh, don't worry" Issac said. "We know plenty about Fairies"

Now that they knew were looking for, the four duelists sifted through Issac's collection again. Now, when Sara handed Issac the cards she had picked out he simply smiled and nodded.

Rusty spoke up. "Hey, I got an idea"

Issac groaned. "No, Rusty. Remember what happened last time you had an 'idea'?"

"Hey! The blood stains came out!"

Sara paled. "...Blood....stains?"

Rusty shot Issac a look.

"There won't be any blood here, just listen, OK?"

Rusty handed a card to Sara. "Try using this"

Sara took one look at the card and recoiled. "Eeew! I don't want this, it's a Fiend!"

"Just listen" Rusty said patiently and explained. When he finished even Sandra was smiling at the idea.

"O.K. You guys" Issac said turning to the others. "I assume you have your decks with you?"

Sandra scoffed. "Don't insult me" She and Rusty drew their decks from their cases.

"Good" Issac turned back to Sara, holding up her deck. "Time for you to learn how to use this baby"

And so Sara's training began.


It was late when they finished training and the two girls left.

"You made a lot of progress" Sandra commented.

"Not hard when you had none to begin with" Sara sighed.

"Hey, every journey begins with one small step" Sandra said. "You took about two big ones today"

Sara sighed. "I suppose so..." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm starting to see Life Point counters whenever I close my eyes" She moaned.

"You do look ready to drop" Sandra mused. "C'mon, you're crashing at my dorm tonight"

Sara's eyes snapped open.

"Oh...no, I-i couldn't"

"Why not?"

"W-what about your roommates? I-i'd just be in the way!"

"I don't have any roommates" Sandra rejoined. "I've got the whole place to myself, so you'll have plenty of beds to choose from"

Sara opened her mouth to protest again but Sandra cut her off.

"Listen," She said. "If I let you go back to your dorm, chances are you'll bury your nose in a book again and spend all night researching. Then, you won't be able to duel worth a Soitsu tomorrow"

Sara sighed in resignition. "Ok..."


Sandra's dorm was fairly bare. When Sara asked why Sandra shrugged.

"I told you" She said. "I'm the only one living here"

Sara looked around. "All by yourself? It must get lonely, you practically have an entire apartment all you yourself"

"It's not so bad, really" Sandra said, but Sara caught the faintest traces of sadness in her voice.

Sara sat cross-legged on Sandra's bed, both girls having already changed into pajamas.

"Say" Sara asked. "What do you think of Issac?"

Sandra froze while brushing her hair. "Why do you ask?" She resumed brushing as if nothing had happened.

Sara shrugged. "I don't know, you two just seem to really hate each other"

Sandra snorted. "Please, we've got every reason to. Issac is a pompous jerk. Didn't you see the way he was strutting around here before I beat him?"

Sara frowned. "I wouldn't call that being pompous..."

"You wanna bet? Some of the girls told me that when they tried talking to him he totally blew them off!"

Sara bit her lip. "It just seems to me like you'd be better friends..."

Sandra spun towards Sara so fast her brush went flying.

"What?!" She asked, incredulous. "How'd you figure?"

"You're both great duelists..."

"So were Kaiba and Yugi, but they hated each others guts!"

"...You're both incredibly stubborn..."

"Are not!"

"...and from the way you put it, you both look down on others"

Sandra was silent for a moment. "I don't look down on others..."

"Yes you do! Remember all those comments you made about him being a Slifer?"

"I was just trying to get under his skin!"

"Doesn't matter!"

Sara looked at Sandra for a long moment, then shook her head.

"I should've emphasized the 'stubborn' part more" She mumbled as she slid off the bed.

In the doorway, she turned. "You and Issac are more alike than you think. Get to know him, who knows, you might end up liking him"

Sandra turned out her light and flopped onto the bed. She could hear Sara doing the same in the next room over.

She stared up at the darkness. She refused to admit it to herself, but she had a sinking feeling, that Sara was right...


Rusty and Issac were waiting near the Academy's main entrance early the next morning. Rusty sat on one of the monoliths lining the walk up to the main door. Issac on the other hand was pacing back and forth nervously.

"Geez, settle down will ya?" Rusty yawned. "You keep that up, you'll wear a groove in the rock! I don't see why you're so nervous, you're not the one dueling"

"I can't help it" Issac said. "I keep worrying there's something vital I forgot to tell her, or some awesome strategy I overlooked"

Rusty sprawled back across the statue. "We've done all we can for her" He said. "We dueled her so much I thought she was going to drop by the time she and Sandra left yesterday. Our part is done, the rest has to come from herself"

Issac glared at him in exasperation. "Since when did you become such a deep thinker?"

Rusty Smirked. "Hey, one of us has to keep a cool head and think things through. Especially when you start acting like a psycho, or in this case an old mother hen" Then he grew serious.

"How did you get all those cards anyway? You said you only got away from the Clan by the skin of your teeth"

Issac grinned mysteriously. "I told you, never--"

"--Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets, I know"

Still, though. I knew he was hiding something else from me, now I just have to figure out what...

Rusty was about to ask another question, but Issac was spared the interrogation by the arrival of the two girls.

Rusty frowned. "I figured you'd show up separately"

"Sara crashed at my place last night. She had some stuff she wanted to talk about" Sandra explained.

Issac raised an eyebrow. "I hope you two wern't up all night painting each others toenails. Sara's going to need to be well rested for this"

Sandra looked down her nose at him and did'nt deign to reply.

She turned to Sara.

"I forgot to give you this last night" She said, handing Sara a card.

"I figured it'd go well with that one idea Rusty had"

Sara looked at it and smiled. "Hey, thanks"

Rusty slid off the sculpture. "Well, whatever" He shrugged. "Let's do this"


Surprisingly only a few people were waiting in the stands in the arena. Most of the teachers were there, as well as Chancellor Rhodes and a few of Sara's friends.

Issac clapped a hand on Sara's shoulder. "Good luck" He said. "We're all rooting for you" Sara looked pale, but she nodded and headed towards the arena anyway.

Lily spotted them from the arena where she was waiting. She waved at them energetically and hopped up and down.

"You know" Sandra muttered. "I'm almost hoping for Sara to lose. That way we won't have to put up with Miss Flower down there"

"Sandra!" Issac snapped, shocked.

"Ok, Ok" Sandra grumbled. "I didn't mean it...sheesh"

Sara reached the arena.

"Hey!" Lily squealed. "How's it going?"

"Um...O.K....I guess" Sara smiled weakly.

Lily wasn't fooled for a second.

"Oh, don't worry" She cooed. "You're gonna do fine, let's just have fun, alright?"

"Sure" Sara's smile became a little more stable.

Chancellor Rhodes approached.

"Are both of you ready?" She asked.

Both Obelisks nodded.

"You both know the stakes of this duel" Rhodes continued. "The winner will continue on to become a Duel Monsters card designer at Industrial Illusions, agreed?"

"Agreed" They chorused.

"Then whenever you're ready"

"Ready?" Lily asked.

"No," Sara sighed. "But here we go anyway..."

"DUEL!"

Sara: 4000 LP

Lily: 4000 LP

"I'll let you start off" Lily mused as she scanned her hand

"Thanks" Sara pulled a card from her deck and, after a quick glance, slid it into the corresponding slot.

"I'll start by Summoning the Dunames Dark Witch!(1800/1200)"

With a glimmer of light, a pretty, brown haired fairy appeared on Sara's field. She opened her eyes, smiled, and spread her silver wings and floated into the air.

"Next, I'll equip her with Cestus of Dialga!"

Dunames raised one hand in the airand a lattice of light danced around it. In a few seconds the light had solidified into a band of engraved gold that twisted around Dunames hand.

"Thanks to it" Sara explained. "Dunames get's 500 more attack points!"

Dunames Dark Witch: (1800--2300/1200)

"And now, I"ll end my turn by playing The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Sara held the card up. A bank of clouds rolled in and covered the field. At the same time a massive temple made from white marble rose behind Sara, casting a soft, yet piercing glow across the field.

"Thanks to it" Sara said, admiring the hologram. "I take no damage in a battle involving Fairy-type monsters"

Lily giggled. "Impressive" She said. "But now it's my draw, and I'll summon my D.D. Warrior in defence mode!"

A young warrior with bright red hair and a crazy-looking suit of armor crouched on Lily's side of the field.

"I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn"

"This ain't good" Issac mumbled.

Sandra turned to him. "Did you know what kind of deck she ran?"

"Of course not!" Issac snapped. "If I had, I would've prepared her for something like this"

"Uh, mind cluing me in on what's going on here?" Rusty asked, confused.

Issac gnawed on a thumbnail. "Lily's deck is one the specializes in removing cards from play"

Rusty frowned. "So? Yours and mine do the same thing"

"But Lily's deck is one that revolves around it, ours just use it as a side bonus. You've never seen a full on D.D. or Different Dimension deck in a duel have you?"

Rusty shook his head.

"Keep watching then, if in the right hands, as I'm assuming Lily's are, they can be devastating. Take that D.D. Warrior of Lily's for example, it removes from play any monster that battles with it, as well as itself"

Rusty whistled.

Sara knew all about D.D. decks and was rightfully worried.

I'd better push my advantage, while I still have one. She though to herself as she drew.

"I'll also equip Dunames with the equip spell Big Bang Shot!"

A blue aura surrounded Dunames as Sara continued.

"Now, thanks to Big Bang Shot, Dunames inflicts piercing damage and gains another 400 attack points!"

Dunames Dark Witch: (2300--2700/1200

Lily's eyes narrowed. Not bad. She thought. Severely damaging me AND recovering a good chunk of life points in one fell swoop. It won't be enough though, not with what I have planned--

She was jolted out of her reverie as Sara struck.

"Dunames! Attack the D.D. Warrior!"

Dunames took flight. Light gathered around the Cestus and she leveled it at the warrior. A golden beam of energy shot out, peircing through the D.D. Warrior's side, and continuing on to strike Lily head on.

The warrior grimaced in pain, but before he was destroyed, he leveled his sword at Dunames, firing a ruby-red beam at the angel.

Dunames screamed in pain from the blow, both monsters shimmered like reflections in a rippling pond before vanishing into a stream of golden sparkles.

Lily had been knocked back a step from the ferocity of the blow, while Sara had been surrounded by a gentle green glow.

Sara: 5700 Life Points

Lily: 2600 Life Points

Rusty laughed triumphantly. "How's that?" He cheered. "If she keeps dueling like this she's got it in the bag!"

Sandra stared at him as if he were nuts. "Are you crazy?" She asked.

"Sara may have struck a blow, but she's left herself wide open!"

Rusty shrugged. "Meh. Details, I'm sure she's got something planned.

Sara slipped a card into her disk. "And now I'll summon my Light Effigy! (1500/0)"

A swirling nimbus of light motes glided from the sanctuary behind Sara to alight on her field.

"See?" Rusty said. "She's got herself covered"

But apparently not.

"I activate my trap card!" Lily exclaimed as the brown backed reverse card opened. "Bottomless Trap Hole! Now your effigy is removed from play!"

The Effigy shimmered for a moment, before vanishing as quickly as it had arrived.

Rusty swallowed.

Issac raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"

"Sara's in trouble alright"

The three students looked up to see Chancellor Rhodes approach and take a seat next to them.

"Chancellor" Issac greeted her. "Why isn't hardly anyone else here?"

"I knew that this was Sara's first real duel" Rhodes said, never taking her eyes from the girl. "I saw no need to add to her anxeity by having several dozen sets of eyes on her"

Issac nodded appreciatively.

"I have to admit" Rhodes continued. "You three did an impressive job of training her"

Issac's head snapped towards Rhodes. "How'd you know?" He demanded. "I thought I said no more spying!"

"Issac" Rusty hissed, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"I wasn't spying" Rhodes said, nonplussed. "I knew that since you were friends, you would do everything you could to help her out"

She turned to Issac, meeting his gaze. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Issac sighed and nodded. "Sorry" He mumbled.

Meanwhile, Sara was thinking hard. She had made a critical error, but things wern't irreparable. Not yet anyway.

"I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn" She said as the holographic representation appeared.

"And I'll start mine by summoning the D.D. Assailant!" Lily exclaimed, summoning the monster without even looking at her newly drawn card.

A lithe, white garbed ninja dashed onto Lily's field, wielding an oversized blade etched with runes.

"D.D. Assailaint! Attack!"

The assassin struck, swinging the same-sized blade with ridiculous speed and accuracy.

Sara: 4000 Life Points

Lily: 2600 Life Points

Sara gasped as the blade passed through her, knocking both the wind and a good chunk of life points from her.

"And to finish my turn I'll activate two Continuous Spell cards!" Lily said. "The first is called Soul Absorption. Now, whenever a card is removed from play, I get 500 life points!"

Sara swallowed.

"And the next is Dimensional Fissure! So from now on, instead of being destroyed, all monsters are removed from play"

The three friends up in the stands looked at each other. Yeah, that was going to hurt...

"M-my draw" Sara panted. That was stupid of me, I've gotta stop rushing, I've got time, this deck can hold out for as long as it needs to.

She looked at her new card.

"I activate Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards at the cost of discarding two!"

Sara took her time making her decisions before finally sliding a pair of cards into the graveyard.

"I summon Agido in defense mode!(1500/1300)"

A large orange oval with wings and a single golden eye winked into existence on Sara's field.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What's that thing gonna do? In case you'd forgotten, my Assailant is still stronger"

Sara shrugged. "Doesn't matter, my sanctuary will still protect my from any damage"

Lily narrowed her eyes. That's right....she's up to something, but I'll bite. Who knows? Could be a challenge...for a change.

"It's my move!" Lily barked, pulling the top card from her deck.

"I play the Dimensional Alchemist! (1300/200)"

This time then monster that was summoned was a figure wearing a suit of silver armor laced with gold.

"And he's got a handy effect too! Once per turn I can remove from play the top card on my deck..."

Lily flipped the top card over and held it up.

"...and in return, he gains 500 attack points!"

Dimensional Alchemist: (1300--1800/200)

"Plus, thanks to my Soul Absorption, I recover 500 life points!"

Sara: 4000 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

"Now, Dimensional Alchemist, Attack Agido!"

The Alchemist held up his hands and a swirling vortex of blood-red and midnight-blue appeared between them. Lily held the card out and it was quickly sucked into the swirling portal. As it did so a red aura surrounded him.

The Dimensional Alchemist turned back towards Sara and stretched his hands out. The card shot out from the portal and smashed straight through Agido like a bullet through a glass pane.

Sara: 3700 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

As Agido's shards fell, a silver dice dropped from the remains.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"That's Agido's special effect" Sara explained as she stooped to pick the small cube up.

"Now I get to roll this, and special summon from my graveyard a monster whose level is equal to the number I rolled" Sara said as she tossed the dice lazily into the air. The chrome block swelled in size as it came down so that everyone there could see the result.

When the dice stopped spinning three dots stared up at the onlookers.

Issac smiled, nodding in a satisfied fashion.

"That should do the trick"

Rusty looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, Sara just rolled a three. A monster that's that low a level can't be that much help"

"Think so?" Issac asked. "Just watch"

Sara fanned her deck and chose a monster. "I summon The Agent of Force - Mars! (0/0)"

An angel with striking red hair and blood red robes strode down the sanctuary's steps, a massive war-hammer in one hand.

Rusty was about to speak again but Issac cut him off.

"Keep watching..."

"Zero attack points?" Lily was as perplexed as everyone else. "What can--"

She was cut off as several bolts of pure light shone from the peak of the sanctuary and struck Mars' upraised hammer, causing him to glow a deep blood red..

The Agent of Force - Mars: (0/0--600/600)

"As long as The Sanctuary in the Sky is on my field, and my life points are higher than my opponents, Mars gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points"

Lily snorted. "Big help that is, thanks to our life points being so close, your fairy has hardly any attack points to speak of!"

"Mabye he doesn't right now, but what about after I activate this?" Sara flipped a switch on her disk and her trap card rose to activate itself.

"Aegis of Gaia! Now for as long as this card is face up, I get 3000 free life points!"

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

"Not to mention Mars getting power-up as well!"

The Agent of Force - Mars (600/600--3600/3600)

Mars swelled in size until he stood nearly seven feet tall.

"Now Mars!" Sara commanded. "Show them why you're the angel of force!"

Mars raised his massive hammer high over his head and swung it down with a devastating blow, crushing the Dimensional Alchemist like tin.

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 1300 Life Points

"And sice the gap in our life points increased" Sara cheered. "Mars gets even stronger!"

Lily shook her head to clear the stars from her vision, that last attack had packed a wallop and sent her reeling.

"But don't forget" she countered. "Since my Dimensional Alchemist was destroyed and removed from play, I get 500 life points!"

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 1800 Life Points

The Agent of Force - Mars: (3600/3600--5400/5400)

Rusty chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "Looks like Sara's got this one in the bag"

"I wouldn't count on it" Chancellor Rhodes murmured.

Rusty looked confused. "Eh?"

"Sara may be doing well" Issac said. "But this is still only her first real duel and apart from us Lily's the top duelist in the school" He gave Rusty a quick glance. "I suggest saving the victory dance until this duel is over"

"But my victory dance is awesome" Rusty whined.

"Awesomely bad mabye" Issac snorted.

"I set one card and end my turn" Sara said.

She'll end me if I don't start playing like I mean it soon. Lily thought as she drew. But for the time being, this card should help me end that overgrown feather-brain of hers.

"I activate the Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Issac raised an eyebrow. "Told you Lily hadn't had her say yet, this duel just got a whole lot more interesting..."

The blue tornado demolished the Sanctuary like a gale blowing through a pile of flour.

As the last white marble stone fell to the ground, Mars's attack fell with it.

The Agent of Force - Mars (5400/5400--0/0)

"What's going on?" Sara asked in bewilderment, staring at her de-powered monster.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Mars's attack point boost only remains in effect while the Sanctuary in the Sky is in play. It's your own monster, you should know stuff like that. What, is it your first duel or something?"

Sara chuckled weakly. Fourtnately, or mabye unfortunately, Lily didn't notice because she was making her own move.

"D.D. Assailaint take out Sara's Mars!"

The ninja slipped gracefully forward, dispatching the crimson angel with a swipe of it's sword.

Sara: 5000 Life Points

Lily: 1300 Life Points

Sara grunted as she took the full force of the blow. Simultaneously, Mars vanished into a stream of golden motes.

"I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn" Lily announced.

"Looks like Lily's making a comeback" Sandra noted. "Sara may be in the lead, but Lily's got the advantage"

Rusty looked worried. "Yeah, if Lily keeps this up, Sara's toast!"

"You're forgetting" Issac said."She may've been toast to begin with, considering who she's dueling.."

Nobody responded to that,

No monsters, no traps and a next to useless hand. Sara groaned inside. This next draw better be a good one...

"My Draw!" Not bad, but not good either let's see how this goes...

"I'll activate Pot of Greed! Which grants me two fresh cards. And I couldn't have asked for better ones.

Sara looked up into the stands and flashed a thumbs-up.

Rusty grinned. "Oh, yeah. Girl's about to let loose"

Issac remained skeptical. "Let's see if this idea of yours could actually work, for once"

"I activate my trap card! Sara announced. "Miraculous Descent! Now I can summon one of my monsters who has been removed from play, and I pick Light Effigy!(1500/0)"

A stream of golden sparkles descended onto the field before turning to silver and swirling into a semi-coherent form.

"Light Effigy has a special effect that when it's tributed for a Light monster, the tribute counts as two! So say goodby to Effigy and hello to the Guardian Angel Joan(2800/2000)!

The entire room suddenly shone with pure light.

"Woah!" Lily was forced to cover her eyes, as was everyone else in the room. After several seconds, the light dimmed.

"Sara, what the heck was--" Lily turned and beheld the angel that graced Sara's field. She was tall, with flaming red red hair. She wore a simple white robe, edged with gold. Joan smiled gently across the room, and for a few seconds, everybody there felt warm, safe and contented.

It was Sara who broke the spell. "Next, I'll play Polymerization! This let's me fuse Marie the Fallen One with The Forgiving Maiden to create St. Joan!(2800/2000)"

The Joan who stepped out from the fusion portal was a dead ringer for the angel standing next to her. Only this time, Joan was dressed in a plain suit of white armor which was also gilded with gold and in both hands, she gripped a large sword.

"Now for my part of the plan" Sandra grinned.

"Your part?" Rusty asked. "Wha--?"

"And next, I activate Brothers in Arms!"

"Oh" Rusty said. "That part"

"In this case, I suppose the proper term would be Sisters in Arms" Sara mused looking at Sandra's card. "But it's not like it matters at this point anyway. Brothers in Arms has two effects, but for them to work, I need two monsters on my field with identical attack and defense points"

She glnaced up a the two Joans. "Check"

"Then I have to send both of them to the graveyard and I gain Life Points equal to their Defense points, all the monsters on your side of the field are destroyed, and you take damage equal to their Attack points"

Sara looked up and met Lily's eyes. "This is the end" She stated.

Got that right. Lily mused.

"Lets go!" Sara slammed the card into the slot.

The Guardian Angel spread her arms and wings and glided into the air above Sara, as she did so a stream of golden dust descended on her, replenishing her Life Points. As the dust fell however, she faded from sight.

St. Joan on the other hand, was nowhere as subtle. With a shout she seized her sword and charged at Lily, slashing through her D.D. Assailaint as she did so before leaping at Lily and dealing a smashing blow as she exploded.

"Yes!" Sara cheered. Rusty had leapt to his feet and started cheering also. Only Issac, Sandra and Chancellor Rhodes remained in their seats. All were looking grim.

"What's wrong?" Rusty asked, still grinning. Issac nodded towards the arena. "Take a look"

The smoke had thinned just ebnough to reveal Lily, still standing tall.

Sara: 7000 Life Points

Lily: 200 Life Points

Sara stood there, staring.

Lily folded her arms. "You played a good game, Sara. But it ends here"

"H-how....did...you?" Sara stammered.

"Survive?" Lily asked. She held up a trap card. "Option Hunter. When a monster of mine is destroyed, I gain Life Points equal to his attack. Which was just enough to help me survive"

Rusty collapsed back into his chair, pulling at his hair. He recognized the look on Lily's face. It was the same look that had graced his may times, just when he was about to make a miraculous comeback against impossible odds.

"I believe it's my draw" Lily said simply. "I activate my final trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! Now in return for half my Life Ponts, I get tro revive all my monsters that have been removed from play!"

Sara: 7000 Life Points

Lily: 100 Life Points

With a blast of light, the Warrior, Assailant and Alchemist returned, each looking ready for revenge.

"Impressive, yes" Sara said, barely managing to keep the wavering from her voice. "But I'll still survive"

"Not once I summon the strongest monster in my deck, you won't!" Lily exclaimed, placing a single card in her disk.

"I Tribute my D.D. Warrior in order to Summon the White Horned Dragon(2200/1400)!

The warrior sank into the floor and with a deafening roar, was replaced by a massive red dragon. The dragon spread its wings and craned it's neck to get a look at Sara, it's silver horn shining in the light.

"When he's summoned," Lily said, looking up at her monster, "I get to remove from play up to five spell cards in your graveyard, and then my dragon get's 300 attack points per card!"

A beam of pure light shot from the dragon's horn and struckSara's graveyard, as it did so, the beam turned gold and the dragon swelled to an even more massive size.

White Horned Dragon: (2200--3700/1400)

At Lily's nod, both the Assailant and Alchemist attacked, striking Sara with sword and spellrespectively, causing Sara staggered from the force of the blow. Sara steadied herself and looked up at Lily. Lily gave her a nod of respect. "I enjoyed our duel" She said. "it's not often I get to enjoy a challenge like that. Thank you"

Sara nodded in return.

Lily raised a hand and pointed up at her dragon.

The dragon let out a roar and opened it's mouth. It's horn began to glow as a shining blast built in it's jaws.

"Strike!" Lily commanded.

The dragon fired, sending a torrent of energy at Sara that sounded something like a hurricane and a freight train combined.

The blow struck, knocking Sara clean off her feet and blowing away her life points like wet tissue.

Sara: 0000 Life Points

Lily: 100 Life Points

Issac, Rusty and Sandra raced down onto the field before the last tremors of the blow had quelled.

Sara got to her feet as they reached her and Lily walked forward also.

"Are you OK?" Rusty asked concernedly. "That was some blow"

"I'm OK" Sara laughed.

"Yeah, sorry about that" Lily giggled, immediately reverting back to her old perky ways. "I guess I kinda got carried away. I meant what I said, you know. That was the best duel I've had in a long time. I don't mean to sound big-headed or anything, but compared to me, everyone else here except for you guys are total pushovers. It was really getting boring"

"I'll bet" Issac commented. "You really did do well Sara, I trained you myself and even I can hardly believe this was your first duel!"

Lily's eyes grew to dinner plate proportions. "What?!" she squawked. "This was your first duel?!"

"Well, I only just started yesterday" Sara said shyly.

"Forget about being a card designer!" Lily said. "You should go into the Pro Leagues! You'd own the place!"

Sara smiled. "Thanks but, no. It took this duel to make me realize what I've been lacking as a designer. I mean, how am I supposed to know what kind of cards a duelist needs if I don't duel myself? You go on to Industrial Illusions" She said to Lily. "I'll be back here at DA next year, this time, as a duelist!"

Rusty nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Looking forward to it"


Damien, Danor and Lucien stood in in Damien's "office" watching the assembled workers busy with their construction.

"So" Lucien mused. "That's it?" Lucien stood taller than Damien, with long dark hair that reached half-way down his back.

Danor adjusted her glasses. "That's it" She confirmed. "The workers have been informed tat it's a device that is being constructed in order to protect us from the rogue Clan member"

"Yeah" Lucien turned to Damien who had been silent all this time. "About that, what are we gonna do? We've tossed half our best duelists at him and he or his friends have annihilated every one of them!"

"We keep trying" Daminen said simply. "Give it time, we'll wear them down"

"Time is the one thing we don't have!" Lucien snapped.

"Lucien" Damien said, looking at him calmly. "Relax. I have everything under control"

Lucien glared at him heatedly. "Whatever" He said, turning. "I'm going to take on Issac myself"

"You will do no such thing!" Damien said sharply.

"Give me one good reason why not" Lucien growled.

"I'll give you two" Damien turned to him. "First off, it was your job to capture Issac when he first fled. You failed. Miserably."

Lucien's lip curled into a snarl.

"Secondly, I need you here to keep up appearances. Remember, the people think Issac is the evil one and are afraid of him. We need you here to 'protect' them"

"Bue what are we going to do?" Lucien insisted. "You know as well as I do that we're running out of time. If all Three aren't here when the time comes our chance will be ruined and we will never have another opportunity"

"My, my Lucien" Damien said dryly. "Anyone would think that you were merely making some thinly-veiled foreshadowing for the readers of some crappy fan-fic"

Lucien stared at him. "What?"

"Lucien. Relax. We just need to find someone who is willing to face the great Issac head-on for the safety of his or her clan"

Damien turned back towards the construction ongoing. "Thats all"

Danor squared her shoulders resolutely. "If I may, Sir?"

Damien turned towards her, a semi-amused look in his eye. "Yes?"

Danor adjusted her glasses. "Sir, I've analyzed every attempt to bring Issac in. I've studied every deck used by him and his cohorts as well as their tactics and I believe I've formulated a fool-proof plan to subdue all of them"

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Do you now?"

Danor nodded. "Yes, Sir. And with your permission I would like to begin work on it"

Damine rubbed his chin. "You've always been a hard worker, Danor" he mused. "You've always looked hard at every angle and been able to discern the perfect solution"

He turned to her. "Very well. You have my full permission to employ any method the bring the traitor Issac to justice"

Danor bowed slightly. "Thank you,Sir" She turned and started to leave, then turned back.

"It...may take...some time....to prepare and execute it, Sir" She said hesitantly.

Damine turned and gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, don't worry, Miss Danor"

He turned to Lucien. "I have every confidence you will do your job right the first time" He said pointedly.

Lucien's eyes blazed with anger. Without a word he spun on his heel and strode off, long dark hair flowing behind him.

Damien chuckled quietly to himself and turned back to the construction project, hand resting on the hilt of the sword of the Black Luster Soldier.

His time was at hand...


Yay! Done! I've been working on this chapter for a while, but technical difficulties, duelists block and general laziness have all ganged up on me. Again. Sorry. ^^'

And.....YES! I have once again unintentionally broken my record for longest chapter! Geeez....if this keeps up the last chapter will be longer than War and Peace...go figure.

Oh well. Please review or else I'll think nobody loves me, go all emo, start cutting myself, get blood all over the keyboard, and start updaing even slower cause all the keys are gummed up because of the blood. Please?