Disclaimer: All official Yu-Gi-Oh! GX characters & cards are property of VIZ, Shonen Jump, and Konami.
This fic a joint project with one of my friends, Comic Master Alpha.
New ban rules implemented as of May 9, 2008.
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EPISODE 1-14
Number Crunchers
The next stage of the Teacher Tournament was a series of duels against the teachers that weren't heads of the dorms. With nearly seventy-five percent of the student body now out of the competition, the remaining duels would be conducted in a single day. The students would compete against the teachers in any order that they desired. Mikey, Max, Sammie, and Coltyn were all sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria with a roster of the remaining teachers in front of them.
"The history teacher, Mr. Edwards, runs a Warrior deck that relies on equip cards," Mikey noted as they examined each of the teachers one by one.
"The math teacher, Mr. Higsby, has a deck based on level monsters," said Sammie.
"Monsieur Bonaparte the French teacher runs an Exodia deck," Max chimed in.
"Mrs. Rivers the music teacher has a Chain deck while Ms. Phillips the art teacher runs a vanity deck," said Coltyn.
"Is that all of them or are we missing some?" inquired Mikey.
"Well I'm sure the home economics teacher has something to do as well, but we don't have much on her yet," answered Sammie.
"Well now that we've got a list of the teachers, you just need to decide which order you want to duel them in," said Max. A loud explosion suddenly broke the meeting as everyone looked towards the door.
"That came from shop class, didn't it?" asked Mikey.
"Let's go check it out." Coltyn stuffed the roster into his jacket and ran out of the cafeteria with the others right behind him. They arrived at the shop classroom to behold Boot-Up Soldier Dread Dynamo and Stronghold the Moving Fortress equipped with Yellow Gadget and Red Gadget facing off against a Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon and Tyrant Dragon with smoking coming out of its mouth.
"Kaiba," muttered Mikey.
"I set a card facedown and end my turn," Saito declared. The shop class teacher, Mr. Gizmo, drew his card and played it.
"I summon Red Gadget in attack mode and use its effect to bring a Yellow Gadget from my deck to my hand. After that, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Saito then drew his card, took three cards from his hand, and then sent them to his graveyard.
"I discard three monsters to my graveyard in order to Special Summon Montage Dragon in attack mode." There was a violent rumble and a massive blue and white three-headed dragon appeared and roared (ATK/? DEF/0), "Montage Dragon's original attack strength is the sum of the levels of the monsters I discarded multiplied by three hundred. Tyrant Dragon was a level eight monster as was Felgrand Dragon and Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon was a level ten monster. That's a total of twenty-six. Multiply that by three hundred and my Montage Dragon has an attack power of seventy-eight hundred. And now I play Dragon's Mirror. I remove my three Masked Dragons and two of my Troop Dragons from my graveyard from play and fuse them into Five God Dragon." A vision of all five dragons appeared briefly over the field before being pulled into a mirror with a golden dragon-shaped frame and emerging as one massive five-headed dragon. (ATK/5000 DEF/5000)
"Now I activate my facedown Heavy Storm to wipe the field clean of all Spells and Traps." As a powerful hurricane blew over the field, Mr. Gizmo's two facedowns and his Stronghold the Moving Fortress were blown away.
"Montage Dragon, destroy his Red Gadget," ordered Saito, "Power Collage!" The three-headed dragon opened its mouths and unleashed a mighty blast from each that combined with one another into a massive beam and blasted the small red robot to pieces, ending the duel.
"If you were going to win the duel with just Montage Dragon, why did you bother summoning Five God Dragon?" asked Mr. Gizmo.
"Much like money, if you have power you should flaunt it," Saito answered smugly, "I'll be leaving now. I've still got the other teachers to decimate." As he left a fire suddenly lit up in Sammie's eyes; one that Mikey was all too familiar with.
"He's not gonna get the best of me," she swore as she put on her Duel Disk and turned to the shop class teacher, "I'm your next opponent!"
"Let's go, guys," said Mikey as he started to leave, "It's better not to get in her way when she's like this."
"Screw that. I want in on the action." Coltyn stripped his left arm of the artificial skin and activated his Duel Disk.
"Where are you going first?" Max inquired as he and Mikey turned towards the door as Coltyn ran towards it, "Sammie's already got Mr. Gizmo."
"I'm just going to duel whoever I run into first and work my way from there." And with that, the Ra Yellow left the room.
"Who do we follow?" Max asked as he turned to Mikey, who in turn just shrugged and then jumped out of his skin when a loud crash exploded from behind him.
"Easy win!" he could hear Sammie's voice shout out.
"I think sticking with Coltyn will be safer."
ooo
Alexis was sitting at her desk in her office going over the reports of all the students' DP totals accumulated over the course of the tournament. She was grateful to Mr. Higsby for doing all the calculations in the first phase. But now that he was dueling students, it was up to her to try to work out the math. As she worked, she occasionally glanced at the sofa in the corner of the room. Lying down on it was an eight-year-old girl with dark brown hair tied back into a ponytail. She had the same eyes and ears as Alexis and she wore jeans and a T-shirt with pictures of several popular American superheroes printed on the front. Her socks were stuffed into her shoes, which were sitting next to the couch. She was reading a copy of her latest issue of the comic book The Immortal Iron Fist as she lay there on her stomach with her arms hanging over the end of the sofa holding onto the staple-bound object.
"Cassie, will you please sit properly?" Alexis said firmly as she continued to work.
"No," answered the girl. Cassandra Rhodes, or Cassie for short, was the daughter of Duel Academy Headmistress Alexis Rhodes, who home schooled her in her office. During her early childhood years, she had seen her father Jaden duel in tournaments constantly on television. Every time she saw him and his Elemental Heroes, she felt something stir deep within her. Then one day on a vacation to Los Angeles, her family passed by a comic store and a cardboard standee of Iron Man in the front window caught her eye. After browsing the store for a few minutes, she noticed that a lot of the heroes on the comics resembled her father's Elemental Heroes. It was then that Jaden explained to her that his heroes were actually based on American superheroes. Ever since that day, Cassie had become an avid comic book fan and collector.
"Did you finish that homework I assigned you?" Alexis asked.
"Yes," answered Cassie as she turned the page in her comic.
"So where is it?" the headmistress of the school inquired.
"Somewhere," was the response.
"Where?"
"Over there."
"Cassie, don't get smart with me. Where is your homework?"
"I don't wanna get it now." Cassie blew a bubble with her sugar-free bubblegum and immediately popped it back into her mouth, "Mom, why did you even bother holding this tournament? Can't these kids just learn the new rules like normal people?"
"First of all, Cassie, they're all older than you. And secondly, your definition of 'normal' is not the same as everyone else's," answered Alexis, "The only reason you're here is because you were too smart for regular school and the principal thought you needed more of a challenge. But because of Duel Academy's age limit, you couldn't enroll here as a student. So I had to home school you myself." The head of Duel Academy pushed aside of stack of papers after completing them and proceeded to another one.
"Cassie, from the looks of things we may very well have two winners in this tournament," she said to her daughter, "So decide on which one will win, I want you to duel them with me."
"You mean as a tag team?" Cassie asked.
"Yes."
"I guess. But it depends on whom we're dueling. Are they even gonna be worth my time?"
"You should never judge a duelist before you duel them," said Alexis.
"Whatever." Cassie turned the page in her comic book and continued reading.
ooo
Two of Coltyn's Solar Flare Dragons were all the boy had to keep his Life Points from being wiped out by his opponent, Mr. Edwards, who had his Gearfried the Swordmaster equipped with Fusion Sword Murasame Blade and Gilford the Legend armed to the teeth with three Axe of Despair cards and a Vicious Claws in play.
"Make your move, Coltyn," the history teacher said.
"Alright, I will." Coltyn drew his card and his face suddenly brightened up, "I sacrifice my Solar Flare Dragons and summon Infernal Flame Emperor." Two of his dragon's vanished and in their place rose a massive flaming liontaur. (ATK/2700 DEF/1600)
"Now by removing from play Fire monsters from my graveyard, I can use his effect to destroy the same number of spell and trap cards as the number of cards I removed." Coltyn's Duel Disk ejected his three UFO Turtles, Raging Flame Sprite, and Ultimate Baseball Kid and he placed them in his pocket before a massive wave of fire erupted up and destroyed the warriors' weapons.
"Next I remove from play my Solar Flare Dragons to summon two Spirits of Flames." After sending two more cards to his pocket, Coltyn summoned two red demons, "Now I play Monster Reborn to bring back Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective and I'll sacrifice the Spirits of Flames to power it up by a thousand attack points for each sacrifice. Infernal Flame Emperor and Gaia Soul, attack!" In one swift blast, both of Mr. Edwards' monsters were destroyed. However, all was not finished. As soon as Coltyn ended his turn, his Gaia Soul was destroyed, which triggered his three Backfire cards to take effect and hit the teacher for five hundred points each dealing enough damage to deplete his Life Points.
"Very well done, Coltyn," Mr. Edwards congratulated, "Alright, next please."
"Nice work, Coltyn," said Mikey as he, Coltyn, and Max left the classroom.
"Who do you have next?" the redhead inquired.
"I'm thinking Mr. Higsby," answered Coltyn, "People are talking about him using monsters that nobody's ever seen before. I'd like to find out for myself."
"Sounds good. Let's go." Mikey led the way and the three teenage boys arrived at their destination. Mr. Higsby the math teacher was currently free, so when the trio arrived, he immediately stood up with his Duel Disk.
"Ready to take me on then?"
"I sure as hell am," was Coltyn's response as he readied his Duel Disk. They performed the traditional Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who would go first and Mr. Higsby won.
"I'll be going first," declared the math teacher.
"Fine, let's do this."
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Coltyn: 8000
Mr. Higsby: 8000
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"I draw!" Mr. Higsby drew his first card; "I set one monster in defense mode and end my turn."
"That's it?" Coltyn drew his card, "Eh, I guess I'll work with it. I summon UFO Turtle in attack mode." He played his card and summoned a turtle with a UFO in place of its shell. (ATK/1400 DEF/1200)
"UFO Turtle, attack his monster." The Machine monster opened its mouth and shot a laser at the facedown card on the other side of the field. It revealed itself to be Flying Kamakiri #1.
"When Flying Kamakiri #1 is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can Special Summon one Wind monster with fifteen hundred or less attack points in attack position," explained Mr. Higsby, "And I choose my Armed Dragon LV3." A small orange and grey dragon appeared and growled. (ATK/1200 DEF/900)
"I set down two cards and end my turn," Coltyn finished.
"My move then." Mr. Higsby drew his next card and proceeded with his turn, "And first I'm going to evolve my dragon on my Standby Phase. I sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV3 to Special Summon Armed Dragon LV 5 from my deck!" The small orange dragon suddenly grew and transformed into a big brute of a dragon covered in spikes, its hide now red instead of orange and its grey scales now turned black. (ATK/2400 DEF/1700)
"Now to use its effect," Mr. Higsby continued, "By discarding a monster from my hand, I can destroy one monster on your field with attack points equal to or less than the monster I discarded. And I'll be discarding Ultimate Insect LV3 with its fourteen hundred attack points." Once the card was sent away, the spikes on Armed Dragon LV5's back shot out and zeroed in on Coltyn's monster.
"I activate Backfire!" the boy quickly declared as he revealed one of his facedowns. As soon as his UFO Turtle was destroyed, the resulting explosion hit Mr. Higsby with fiery repercussions.
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Coltyn: 8000
Mr. Higsby: 7500
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"But first I'll summon Dark Lucius LV4 in attack mode." And with that, the math teacher brought out a dark fiend in spiked armor (ATK/1000 DEF/300), "Armed Dragon LV5, attack with Dragon Talon Terror!" The big dragon lumbered over to Coltyn and slashed him across the chest with its claws.
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Coltyn: 5600
Mr. Higsby: 7500
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"Dark Lucius LV4, it's your turn now!" Right on the teacher's command, the fiend rushed in and punched Coltyn.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 7500
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"Ouch," said Mikey, "He took a lot of damage and it's only the third turn."
"That Armed Dragon is a problem, though," replied Max, "As long as Mr. Higsby has the power to destroy monsters like that, Coltyn's going to be in trouble."
"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn," concluded Mr. Higsby. Coltyn then drew his card and analyzed the field and his hand for a moment.
"I set a monster and end my turn."
"Is that it?" Mr. Higsby asked as he drew his card, "I summon The Calculator in attack mode!" He played his card and summoned a small red robot with a blank screen for a face and several buttons on its chest. (ATK/? DEF/0)
"Let me explain. The Calculator's attack points is equal to the sum of all the monster levels on my side of the field multiplied by three hundred. The Calculator himself is a level two creature and I also have Dark Lucius LV4 and Armed Dragon LV5. That makes eleven. Eleven times three hundred is thirty-three hundred." There was a massive spark as the Calculator's screen suddenly lit up as it furiously typed on its chest and the number on it shot up it thirty-three hundred, "Armed Dragon LV5, attack his monster!" On Mr. Higsby's orders, the large dragon lashed out with its arms and slashed Coltyn's facedown. Upon its destruction, it was revealed to be another UFO Turtle. But before its effect would activate, Backfire took effect.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 7000
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"With UFO Turtle's effect, I bring out Solar Flare Dragon," announced Coltyn as one of his fiery serpentine dragons appeared on the field (ATK/1500 DEF/1000), "Next I activate my facedown, Inferno Reckless Summon." At that moment, two more Solar Flare Dragons appeared on the Ra Yellow's field.
"And by the effect of your spell card, I summon my deck's only other Armed Dragon LV5," said Higsby as another dragon appeared, "raising The Calculator's attack points up to forty-eight hundred." All eyes turned as The Calculator quickly typed away at the keys on its chest and the number on its face changed.
"But now that I have my dragons out, you can't attack any of them."
"True." Higsby took a card from his hand and set it down, "I'll end my turn there then. And since my first Armed Dragon LV5 destroyed a monster, I can now send him to my graveyard to Special Summon Armed Dragon LV7!" His dragon evolved again and turned into an even deadlier beast covered in bladed armor. With one monster now evolved by two levels, his Calculator's attack power rose by another six hundred point to fifty-four hundred.
"Now it's my turn." Coltyn drew his next card; "I summon Flame Ruler in attack mode." A blue-haired man in a fiery robe appeared and summoned two fireballs into his hands. (ATK/1500 DEF/1600)
"Flame Ruler, attack his Dark Lucius LV4," ordered Coltyn, "Spell Fire!" The fireballs that Flame Ruler had conjured were thrust forward and launched into the spike-armored fiend.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 6500
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With one level four monster gone, The Calculator quickly recalculated its attack points to deduct twelve hundred from it and it became thirty-six hundred.
"I'll set a card facedown and end my turn," declared Coltyn, "And with that, my Solar Flare Dragons each deal five hundred points of damage to you on my End Phase." Searing flames erupted from below Mr. Higsby and dealt some heavy fire damage to him.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 5000
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Mr. Higsby then drew. He was disappointed to see that he had no monsters with fifteen hundred attack points or more for him to discard. However, he did have a card that would change that.
"I will now Sacrifice my Armed Dragon LV7 and evolve it to its next stage of progression! I special summon Armed Dragon LV10!" The Armed Dragon LV7 grew again and changed into a bipedal crimson-skinned dragon in black armor, which boosted The Calculator up to forty-five hundred attack points (ATK/3000 DEF/2000), "And now I shall use its effect."
"No you don't. I activate my facedown Compulsory Evacuation Device and return Armed Dragon LV10 to your hand!" A large machine appeared and quickly swallowed up the big dragon before launching it into the air and back into Mr. Higsby's hand, causing The Calculator to drop down to twenty-one hundred attack points.
"I set a card and end my turn," the math teacher announced. Coltyn then drew and smiled at what he saw.
"I sacrifice my Flame Ruler to summon Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch." Flame Ruler was set ablaze like a sacrificial offering and was replaced by the massive fire monarch (ATK/2400 DEF/1000), "I select the card on your right." Mr. Higsby revealed the card and it was the Armed Dragon LV10 Coltyn had bounced back to his hand.
"Since that was a level ten monster, you take a thousand points of damage," the teen declared as Thestalos threw a fireball straight into Mr. Higsby.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 4000
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"Thestalos, suicide on Armed Dragon LV5!" ordered Coltyn, "Royal Fire!" Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch launched another fireball and Armed Dragon LV5 retaliated with a slash from its claws. Both creatures hit each other and both were destroyed, leaving The Calculator as the only monster on Mr. Higsby's field while also inflicting five hundred points of damage from Backfire.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 3500
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"Solar Flare Dragon, attack it." A steady jet of flame shot out towards The Calculator.
"I activate Negate Attack." Mr. Higsby revealed his trap card and a vortex swallowed up the attack before all three dragons shifted into a complacent position, signaling the end of the Battle Phase.
"Well it was good while it lasted." Coltyn played one of his cards. Once that was done, the black-haired teen ended his turn and his Solar Flare Dragons inflicted another fifteen hundred points of damage.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 2000
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"Wow. Coltyn's really turned this duel around," Mikey commented.
"I won't celebrate yet if I were you, Mikey," said Max as Higsby drew his card. It turned out to be Pot of Avarice and he played it immediately. He selected Armed Dragon LV3, both Armed Dragon LV5s, Dark Lucius LV4, and Flying Kamakiri #1. After he returned them to his deck, he drew two cards and smiled.
"Here comes something new for you, Coltyn. I start by playing Level Modulation. With this card, I can bring back one LV monster from my graveyard at the cost of it not being able to attack or having its effect activated on this turn. In exchange you get to draw two cards." As Coltyn added two cards to his hand, Mr. Higsby brought out Armed Dragon LV7. This raised The Calculator up to twenty-seven attack points.
"Now I summon Sinister Sprocketer in attack mode!" In a flash of light, a small black gear-like creature with a long chain wound around its body appeared. (ATK/400 DEF/0) The Calculator typed on its own chest furiously to enter in the data as its ATK went up to an even three thousand attack points.
"What the heck is that?" Mikey asked.
"I wonder that myself," answered Max, "Never seen that before."
"It's a new type of monster called a Tuner," explained Mr. Higsby, "And with it I can perform a new kind of summoning. Just watch. Sinister Sprocketer, tune up Armed Dragon LV7." Dark Sprocketer flew over to Armed Dragon LV7 and unwound its chain. The massive dragon grabbed onto it with both hands and wound it around one arm.
"Now I sacrifice both my Armed Dragon LV7 and Sinister Sprocketer to perform a Synchro Summon!"
"What's a Synchro Summon?" asked Mikey.
"Don't ask me," replied Max.
"A Synchro Summon is a new kind of summoning," said Mr. Higsby, "By sending one Tuner and one or more other monsters, I can bring out a new monsters whose level is equal to the sum of the levels of the monsters I tributed. Since that was eight in total, I get to bring out a level eight monster." He reached into his Fusion Deck and took out a white card.
"Colossal Fighter, come out!" There was a loud rumble as a giant golden robot burst out of the ground and then punched it. (ATK/2800 DEF/1000)
"What the hell is that thing?" asked Coltyn.
"Colossal Fighter is a Synchro Monster. Basically, I can use them to maintain level count while I make room for more monsters. So The Calculator maintains its three thousand attack points. But there's more. Since I used Sinister Sprocketer to Synchro Summon a Dark monster, I can destroy one face-up spell or trap card on the field and I choose Backfire." Coltyn's trap card exploded, "Unfortunately, I can't attack because of those Solar Flare Dragons. But I will soon enough. So I end my turn for now."
Best not to underestimate him, thought Coltyn as he drew his next card.
"I play Foolish Burial and I'll send Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 to my graveyard. Next I play Level Modulation to bring it back." As the black dragon appeared, Higsby drew his two cards. After that, Coltyn ended his turn and his Solar Flare Dragons' effects kicked in again.
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Coltyn: 4600
Mr. Higsby: 500
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Higsby then began his turn and drew.
"I play Lightning Vortex!" he announced. The math teacher discarded a card from his hand and a torrent of lightning came crashing down and wiped out all of Coltyn's monsters.
"Now I play Monster Reborn to resurrect the card I just discarded. Come back, Greed Quasar!" In flash of light, a silver fiend with armor shaped like a demonic skull appeared (ATK/? DEF/?), "Greed Quasar's original attack and defense are equal to its own level multiplied by three hundred, making it twenty-four hundred. Plus every time it destroys a monster by battle, its own level increases by that of the destroyed monster. And since Greed Quasar is level eight, that adds another twenty-four hundred attack points to The Calculator, bringing its power up to fifty-four hundred." The small robot typed away on its chest and its attack points on its screen shot up to the appointed number.
"The Calculator, attack Coltyn directly!" ordered Mr. Higsby, "Statistic Static!" The Calculator opened its left hand and sparks shot up between its fingers. The sparks grew wilder and more unstable before a massive blast of electricity was unleashed and streaked across the field until it struck Coltyn, depleting the remainder of his Life Points in a single blow.
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Coltyn: 0
Mr. Higsby: 500
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"I lost..." Coltyn's Duel Disk reverted back into his arm as he gathered up his cards and shuffled them back into his deck.
"You did well today, Coltyn," said Mr. Higsby, "The truth is that you're not the first one to lose against me today. In fact, not one person has won. Like you, every single one of them was taken by surprise by my Synchro and Tuner monsters."
"What exactly are Synchros and Tuners, anyway?" asked Coltyn.
"A brand new type of card," answered Mr. Higsby, "Tuners are needed to bring out Synchro monsters, which reside in the Fusion Deck until they're needed. Here, this site will tell you everything you need to know about them." He quickly scrawled an URL on a piece of paper and handed it to Coltyn.
"You came very close to winning, Coltyn. Your strategy is amazing. I'll see you in class. Okay, next please!"
As Coltyn left, Mikey and Max joined him.
"Hey Coltyn, you bummed about being knocked out of the tourney?" asked Mikey.
"A bit," was the answer, "but I'll feel a lot better once I start reading up on Synchro and Tuner monsters."
"Sounds like it'll be useful knowledge," the brunet commented.
At the end of the day, all the students gathered outside the school's front entrance to hear the announcement by Chancellor Rhodes.
"Congratulations to all of you for coming so far," she said to the entire school, "For most of you, making it past the first round turned out to be a lost cause. For others, you made it but lost quickly. But it gives me great pleasure to announce the finals of the Teacher Tournament. Samantha Korangar and Saito Kaiba! These two shall be facing me tomorrow in the school's main arena. Thank you for your participation and I wish our two finalists the best of luck."
As the students applauded, a silent tension rose up between Sammie and Saito. The two of them glared at each other with the fire of competition in their eyes.
Whoever wins this will be the true number one, thought Sammie. Saito just gave her the "It's on!" look, turned around, and left. The challenge had been set before them and the stronger of the two would then be determined.
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Next Week on Yu-Gi-Oh! GNext
The Teacher Tournament finals have arrived. Sammie and Saito will be forced into a tag team to determine which of them is the best. Who will it be? Find out next Friday on Yu-Gi-Oh! GNext!