Disclaimer: Alright guys here we go again with another chapter to the third installment of the series. We are trying to post up a new chapter weekly, so far I think we're making great progress considering where we are in the story. So Sega and I hope you enjoy this chapter that we worked so hard on. Oh I'm going to go ahead and state that if you have visited the site and saw the cards and read the effects that have, then you might see something slightly different on here. For the duels that took place in this chapter, we had to alter some cards so the duels would flow smoothly together, it's not a big change, just a slight rewording of the effect. Other than that….Oh wait the site has been updated thanks to Sega and her brilliancy. So if you guys want to go ahead and check it out, the link is on both mine and Sega's profile. Ok now I think that's all of it, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter!

Me: Stupid Sega…

Jesse: *Sighs and looks at me* What did she do to you this time?

Me: She gave my favorite pair of underwear to the dog.

Jaden: She did what now? *tries to hold back his laughter*

Me: You heard me, Jaden. And not only did she give the dog my underwear, she had the damn dog shred it and then she gave it back to me! IT WAS COVERED IN DOG SLOBBER! GROSS!

Chazz: That's nothing, Dragon Dofus. Just the other day, I invited her for lunch at a nice restaurant. I told her she can get whatever she want from the menu, but she had to pay half the bill.

Jesse: *looks at him* I'm guessing she didn't pay huh?

Chazz: You damn right! After eating all that food, she gave me the excuse that she had to use the potty room, so I waited and waited and waited some more. That bitch made me pay the whole effing bill!

Jaden: *Shakes his head* Well since everyone is talking about Sega…

Jesse: Not you too Jay.

Jaden: I'm sorry Jesse, but your girlfriend promised me that she was going to pick up my dry cleaning.

Me: Did she do it?

Jaden: Yeah, but she brought me the wrong clothes. She handed me a wedding dress. What the hell am I going to do with a wedding dress!

Chazz: Wear it?

Jaden: Very funny.

Me: Damn Jaden, just damn. *looks at Jesse* I know you got something about her too Jesse, so you might as well spill.

Jesse: *looks at his wrist and whistles* Oh gee look at the time. I have a date with Sega in 5 minutes. Gotta go! *runs out the room, before me, Jaden and Chazz could tackle him down*

Me: Bastard…When he comes back, we're making him talk. *sees the others agree* Until then, time to start the chapter.


Chapter 24
Dark Truths, Ixion Revived

[On the uncharted island off the coast of the U.S.]

There was a dark storm hanging over the almost uninhabitable island. The ocean's mightiest waves crashed powerfully against the high cliffs and rocky shores of the island. In the sky, lightning and thunder put on a show along with the hard, cold raindrops that were fired like arrows from the black clouds, to which they battered and bruised the small island with all their might.

Such a storm like this is perfect for Hugo, one of the live beings on this battered island. He stood by a large, decorated window in the corner of his castle home, watching the storm as it took over the morning sky, ocean and earth.

He looked deathly pale, something he noted when he saw his reflection on the window. He should be, especially after what had just recently happened.

This morning, he was awakened by the apathetic guards of the castle, who demandingly told him that his presence is requested by the masters. The guards were here to escort him to their corridors. Bewildered by the sudden information and to why the masters requested his presence urgently, Hugo agreed, though a part of him was deathly afraid and wanted him to refuse to their request. But he had no choice. He was appointed a temporarily leadership role by Xavier and the masters agreed to his choice. Hugo must make an impression and this was a perfect opportunity.

He was escorted to the main corridor, which is forbidden to everyone but Xavier, waited until the word was given to him to enter inside the masters' chamber, to which he was sweating bullets. He entered and for the first time, he laid eyes on the three masters that he and his family are gratefully in their debt to.

It was such an exciting feeling; it scared him nearly to death, when three pairs of red eyes gazed down at him. Is this how Xavier feels when he meets with the masters every time?

Hugo closed his eyes as his mind ran back to those images of the masters and his thoughts circled around what was spoken inside the chamber. One of the conversations still sends chills up his spine.

"They want me to retrieve the guy…" Hugo began to say as he watched the raindrops batter the glass window. He sighed. "Kids are troublesome. To think, someone like him pulled off what he did and actually escape from here. Especially after…" A shiver took over his body.

Hugo sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment. "To hear…and see something like that… Why me? I mean…" He paused in mid-thought. "…Maybe I'm just not cut out for such a responsibility. It might be too much for me." He finished, shaking his head.

"How does Xavier do these kinds of things?" Hugo groaned loudly, placing a hand on his head that ruffled up his bangs.

Suddenly, a memory of Xavier telling him why he chose Hugo in the first place entered his mind and Hugo couldn't help but smile that the leader of his family selected him out of everyone, even Orion, to be his right-hand man.

"There's no point of backing out now. Xavier chose me for a reason. He believes in me. He has faith in me." Hugo declared in his mind as he walked away from the window and down the corridor's hallway that lead to a part of the castle he has past many times before. "The Masters...they have faith in me as well." He mentally stated as a look of determination glimmered in his red eyes. "Very well then, I will not let any of them down!" He shouted in his mind as he stopped in his tracks and raised his head up, his eyes shining with hope and dreams as an angelic light, out of nowhere, shined down on him and his glorious determination.

"What are you doing Hugo?" An irritated voice asked behind him, making the man nearly jump out of his skin and breaking the wondrous and angelic moment he just had.

Whirling around, his heart still beating rapidly against his chest, Hugo came face to face with Rebecca. "Reb…Rebecca!" He stammered, as the said person gave him a quizzical look. "Don't…don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed, clutching his chest.

Rebecca shook her head in response. "I'll keep that in mind next time, Hugo." She said as she looked at her family member. "Anyways, what are you doing here in this dump of a place? I thought you, out of all people, would be with Xavier on his little mission to the outside world." She asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Hugo looked at her for a moment before he turned away from her and straighten his clothes. "It seems you are not aware of my present status, Rebecca." He began, trying to sound political in front of the long, white hair girl, who just looked at him confused. "If you must know, I was given the task to be leader of our family for a day." He stated, but didn't continue as he heard Rebecca broke into fits of laughter.

"What? You, leader of our family?" Rebecca laughed. "Yeah right." She wiped a tear from her eye.

Hugo turned to face her again and glared at her, but then softened his gaze and gave her simple smirk. "Don't believe me. Ask Xavier and the masters themselves." He smiled when Rebecca looked at him bewildered. "The masters approve of me being temporarily leader of our family while Xavier is away. In fact, I just had a formal meeting with them." He finished.

Rebecca crossed her arms again. "You don't say." She tried to sound amazed by his statement.

"I do say." Hugo responded before he continued. "I have met them Rebecca and they are truly wonderful people." He stated before he let out a cough to change the conversation. "And what about you Rebecca? What keeps you here? Surely you would have left with Orion and the others." He asked her, only to receive a shrug from her as a response.

"Orion is a big boy. He doesn't need me to take care of him." Rebecca simply stated. "Besides, I have my own problems to worry about, especially right now." She said as her eyes began to fill with worry.

Hugo took note of the sudden change in her expression and tone. "What's wrong? Something's troubling you?" He inquired.

Rebecca looked down at the ground and then back at Hugo. "I can't find Stephanie anywhere." She claimed, making Hugo's eyes widen at the statement. "I have been looking for her since this morning. I'm sure she didn't leave with Orion. She was with me when we said goodbye to him and the others. After that, I haven't seen her since. I figure she went back to her room, so when I went to go check, she wasn't there." Rebecca said, lowering her gaze back to the floor. "I looked everywhere. I don't know where she has gone." She closed her eyes as she finished.

Hugo sighed, closing his eyes as well before reopening them. He looked at Rebecca, who was worried about the youngest of their family. "Rebecca…about Stephanie…" Hugo began as Rebecca looked at him. He sighed once more. "Today, when I met with the masters, they told me that Stephanie…" He paused to look away from Rebecca.

"Stephanie what, Hugo? What did the masters tell you?" Rebecca demanded, glaring at him slightly.

"You see…Stephanie…she's not exactly on the island right now." Hugo started to say but Rebecca cut him off.

"What do you mean she's not on the island?" Rebecca questioned, her own red eyes slightly narrowed as she looked at him.

"Well…Stephanie kind of left the island." Hugo responded as Rebecca's eyes widen.

"What…?" Rebecca said bewildered. "That…That can't be right!" She shouted at Hugo as he raised his hands up in defense.

"Now, now Rebecca calm down." He tried to reason with her. "I said the same thing when the masters told me." Hugo stated.

"She's too young to out there by herself Hugo!" Rebecca interjected.

"I know, Rebecca, but it's the truth. I saw it myself. The masters showed me images of her using the transportation room." Hugo explained. "The masters are pretty upset that she left the island without their permission. She's in very big trouble." He added as Rebecca shook her head in disbelief.

"This is unbelievable…" Rebecca mumbled, placing a hand on her forehead. "Stephanie knows better than this. What could have possibly got her to think that she get up and leave here without letting anyone know?" She asked frustratingly.

Hugo shrugged. "It's probably because of that human girl." He stated as Rebecca glanced at him.

"Human girl…You mean Michelle?" Rebecca asked, causing Hugo to nod his head. Rebecca groaned. "That explains it."

"It seems that Stephanie decided to follow Michelle to New York City, an area I'm sure you're familiar with." Hugo remarked, not noticing Rebecca's eyes widen a bit and slightly turned away as if she was in deep thought.

"New York, huh?" Rebecca thought out loud as she walked past Hugo in a hurry.

Surprised, Hugo turned his head to look at her. "Where do you think you're going?" He asked, but Rebecca ignored him. "Rebecca!" He shouted as he trailed after her.

"What do you think?" Rebecca replied angrily. "I'm leaving to go and get Stephanie and bring her back." She stated before Hugo walked past her and stopped in front of her, making her stop in her tracks. "Step aside Hugo." She said, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry Rebecca, but if you leave here to go and bring her back, you'll be in trouble with the masters too." Hugo said, glaring back at her. "I can't just let you leave without permission from the masters."

"Listen Hugo, I don't have time to get permission! Stephanie's out there doing who knows what! I have to bring her back and no one is going to stop me!" Rebecca retaliated. "Not even you." She added as she walked past Hugo, bumping shoulders with him.

Hugo whirled his head around to look at Rebecca. He growled, only to stop and sigh. "Since I have to go New York City anyways..." He thought as he looked up.

"Very well then, Rebecca, since you plan on leaving here, at least let me come with you." Hugo suggested, making Rebecca stop walking and turned to look at him quizzically. He approached her, standing behind her as he continued. "If I come with you, I can probably talk the masters out of punishing you…Just like how Xavier does for Paulo all the time." He added as he slightly turned his head back to gaze at her. "But you must promise me that you won't go looking for trouble because of a certain someone." He paused when Rebecca narrowed her gaze at him and opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "I mean it Rebecca." Hugo assured. "Go after her and you can forget me trying to help you out of punishment."

Rebecca sighed and crossed her arms. "Fine…Let's just go and bring Stephanie back." Rebecca said as she started to walk away from Hugo again.

Hugo nodded and proceeded to follow her, unknowingly noticing a small smirk appearing on Rebecca's face as they walked towards the transportation room to head to one of the well-known modern cities in the world, New York City.

[Back to the Duel near Industrial Illusions]

Alexis stared at Jaden, knowing victory was within her reach. "It's over Jaden." Alexis said to herself as she looked at her Galaxy Angel and then back at Jaden. "Thanks to Goddess's Special Ability, she gains 100 attack points for each Fairy-type monster in my Graveyard!" Alexis explained as her female monster was powered up by the three fairy monsters in the graveyard, giving her an attack power of 3300.

"Jaden, I told you I could beat you and this card will prove it. I activate the Equip Spell Card, Fairy Meteor Crush!" Alexis shouted as she activated a card in her hand.

Fairy Meteor Crush
Card-Type: Equip Spell
Effect: When a monster equipped with this card attacks with an ATK that is higher than the DEF of a Defense Position monster, inflict the difference as Battle Damage to your opponent's Life Points.

"Fairy Meteor Crush?" Jaden said out loud as Alexis smirked at him and then pointed towards his Universal Hero Trident that was in defense mode.

"You see, Jaden, since my monster has higher attack points than your monster's defense points, you take damage equal to the difference." Alexis explained.

"Difference, what difference?" Jaden inquired, looking at Alexis with confusion.

Alexis face-palmed. "You really aren't good in math are you?" She sighed as she shook her head. "Well that is to be expected. Let me say it in a way you can understand. My monster's attack points minus your monster's defense points equals to how much your Life Points are going to drop. Got it?" Alexis looked at her Slifer boyfriend, who scratched his head.

"I still don't get it." Jaden said, making Alexis groan in frustration.

"Then how about I just show you!" Alexis shouted. "Galaxy Angel Goddess, let's end this duel! Attack that Universal Hero with Fairy Meteor Crush!" She commanded as Galaxy Angel Goddess's golden, mechanical-like wings started to glow brightly, along with her right fist. With her right fist glowing with the tremendous power of meteor, Galaxy Angel Goddess leaped off one foot and launched herself with a quick burst of speed towards Jaden's Universal Hero Trident.

"It's over Jaden." Alexis said slowly as she watched her monster get closer to Jaden's. "This duel is over."

"Sorry Lex, but I can't let that happen." Jaden said as he thrust his hand towards his facedown card. "I activate the Trap, Depth Amulet." Jaden said, surprising Alexis a bit as the card flipped face up on the field, revealing itself.

Depth Amulet
Card-Type: Continuous
Trap Effect: When your opponent's monster declares an attack, you can discard 1 card to negate the attack. Destroy this card during your opponent's 3rd End Phase after activation.

"What does that do?" Alexis asked as Jaden picked up a card from his hand.

"It lets me stop your monster's attack but I also have to send a card from my hand to the Graveyard." Jaden explained with a grin as he did just that, sending the card he picked up from his hand and inserted it to the Graveyard slot.

As soon as he did, the trap glowed brightly and an amulet with various colored stones appeared in front of Universal Hero Trident, and it too glowed brightly, blinding the attacking Galaxy Angel Goddess.

Alexis growled when her Goddess returned back to her original place, failing to destroy the Universal Hero monster and inflicting serious damage to her duelist's boyfriend. "Why are you trying to postpone the inevitable, Jaden? You know I'm going to beat you, so I can prove to you that I'm strong enough to protect you and everyone else!" She declared.

Jaden look back at Alexis with his grin slowly fading. "Alexis…Alexis, listen to me. You don't need to prove to me that you can protect me or anybody. I already know you can." Jaden began as Alexis just stared at him. "I mean come on, you've been there for me lots of times. So many times I've lost count." Jaden continued, but it seemed that Alexis didn't want to hear any more.

"Jaden." She replied slowly. "Jaden just stop it." She continued as she lowered her head and stared at the ground for a second. "You and I both know that through all the problems we've been through, it's been you pulling me out of harm's way, but you always seem to catch the bad side of it. I can't allow that to keep happening, especially to you." She said as she picked up a card from her hand. "That's why I have to win this duel, not just to prove to you that I can protect you, but also to myself." Alexis said as she lowered her card on to her duel disk.

"I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Alexis finished as she looked up at Jaden, staring at his face, the face that was trying to understand her words. The face that was trying to understand where she was coming from, considering that he didn't really need help in getting out of situations, at least that what she's thinking.

Alexis LP – 3900
Cards in hand – 0
Monsters on the field – 1
Galaxy Angel Goddess – ATK/3300 DEF/3000
Face-Down Cards on the field – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 1
Fairy Meteor Crush – Equip Spell
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 9
Galaxy Angel Kosmo (Monster Card)
Cyber Angel Benten (Monster Card)
Machine Angel Ritual (Spell Card)
Galaxy Angel Delana (Monster Card)
Galaxy Barrier (Trap Card)
Cyber Tutu (Monster Card)
Galaxy Angel Archer (Monster Card)
The Perfect Storm (Trap Card)
Galaxy Angel Thalia (Monster Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Jaden LP – 2400
Cards in hand – 2
Monsters on the field – 1
Universal Hero Trident – ATK/1800 DEF/900
Face-Down Cards on the field – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 1
Depth Amulet (Continuous)
Cards in the Graveyard – 4
Unknown Card
Quick Summon (Spell Card)
Universal Hero Cybernoix (Monster Card)
Chivalry (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Alexis…" Jaden said sadly as he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "I'm telling you that you are strong enough and you already protected me through a lot of things, but I guess it's going to take more than my words to prove to you." Jaden replied as he picked up a card from his hand.

He looked back at Alexis and down at the card he picked up and sighed. "I play the Spell Card Pot of Greed." Jaden said as the Spell appeared on the field in front of Jaden. "This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck and add them to my hand." Jaden explained, even though Alexis already knew what the card effect was.

With that, Jaden drew 2 more cards from his deck and added them to his hand. "Sweet. For my next move, I summon Universal Hero Teenage Calypso back to the field!" Jaden shouted as a light shot up beside his Universal Hero Trident and out popped Universal Hero Teenage Calypso again.

"And that's not all. With Universal Hero Teenage Calypso on my field again, I can Synchro Summon another monster from my deck!" Jaden shouted. Just like before, Teenage Calypso became tuning circles as she jumped into the air with Universal Hero Trident jumped through them. "With the power of ice, a new hero will freeze all enemies in her wake!" Jaden chanted as his Hero became four star-like orbs and a bright stream of light burst out of the field. "Synchro Summon! Universal Hero Arctic Calypso!" He shouted as a new Universal Hero appeared on the field, freezing the ground she touched when she appeared.

Universal Hero Arctic Calypso
Card-Type: Synchro/Effect Monster
Attribute: Water | Level: 7
Type: Warrior
ATK: 2400 | DEF: 2100
Description: "Universal Hero Teenage Calypso" + 1 or more non-Tuner WATER monsters
During the turn this card was Synchro Summoned, neither player can activate face-down Spell/Trap cards. While this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot activate Spell/Trap/Monster Effect that targets this card. During the End Phase, return this card to the Extra Deck and add 1 "Universal Hero Teenage Calypso" from your Graveyard to your hand and you can select 1 random card from your opponent's hand and destroy it.

Universal Hero Arctic Calypso, just like Cyber Calypso, appeared to be the older version of Calypso but with shiny, long, silver hair that flow past her waistline. Her entire outfit consisted of a dark blue leotard with ice-themed armor on her shoulders, arms, legs and most of her torso. She glared icily at Galaxy Angel Goddess, though the other female monster was larger than her.

"What? Another one!" Alexis shouted in shock as Jaden brought a new Calypso-themed monster to the field.

"What kind of deck did Pegasus give him anyway?" Alexis thought to herself as Jaden was getting ready to continue his move. "It doesn't matter because after this turn I'll end this duel. Just wait and see Jaden." She finished in her head.

"My, aren't we having a bad day?" Alexis' eyes widened as the same voice from before, when she was roaming the halls of Industrial illusions, spoke in her head. "Tell me something. Do you actually think you can win?" The voice continued to taunt.

"Get…Get out of my head." Alexis thought back, clutching her head with one hand, not daring to talk out loud and have Jaden think something was wrong with her. "Why…Why are you in my head…Who are you?" She asked mentally, not really expecting the voice to answer back.

"What does it matter to you?" The voice replied back, sending a slight shiver down Alexis' spine."…What does it matter to you?" It echoed just like before. "You should be winning… You should be winning." The voice continued to taunt. "Aren't you strong enough? …Aren't you strong enough?" The voicewouldn't let up as Alexis continued to take on its messages as well, trying to keep her focus on Jaden.

"I already told you get out of my head!" Alexis shouted in her mind. "I won't let you stop me from beating Jaden, now back off!" She mentally screamed, but what followed her slight outrage statement was an eerie chuckle that seemed to echo throughout her head.

"You aren't strong enough... You aren't strong enough… You can't win… You can't win… You're still weak… You're still weak... So pitiful... So pitiful..." The voice echoed as Alexis gave Jaden a look of determination. "Don't worry though… Don't worry though… I will take care of you…I will take care of you…Until then…Until then… Stay alive… Stay alive..." The voice finished as it slowly faded away and vanished from Alexis' mind.

With the voice gone, Alexis breathed deeply as she thought back to what just happened. "I don't know what you are or where you came from and why you're toying with me, but I'll take care of you when I finish with this." Alexis thought as she looked back at the field and to Jaden, who looked at her strangely and concerned.

"Alexis…Alexis are you alright?" He asked out of concern, noting that she was looking strange and stressed a moment ago. "Maybe we shouldn't finish this duel. Besides, you proved yourself enough already." Jaden tried to reason with her once more, but Alexis wasn't having it.

"Stop it Jaden!" Alexis shouted angrily, causing Jaden to take a step back. "I told you to stop looking at me like I'm a fucking pitiful case! I'm just as good as you and just as strong and I'm going to prove after this turn! Now make your move and quit worrying about me!" She snapped as Jaden, who was taken back by her uncharacteristic outburst, finally realizing that this is what she wanted and talking was really not going to do anything.

Sighing once and silently regretting what he's going to do next, Jaden continued on. "Alright. I guess I have no choice." Jaden said slowly as he picked up a card from his hand and sighed again. "If this is what you truly want right now…I play the Equip Spell Card, Assault Armor!" Jaden shouted as he placed the card on in his hand on his duel disk, allowing it to show up on the field.

Assault Armor
Card-Type: Equip Spell
Effect: Equip only to a Warrior-Type monster that is the only monster you control. It gains 300 ATK. During your Main Phase, you can send this equipped card to the Graveyard. If you do, the equipped monster can attack twice during the Battle Phase this turn.

"Assault Armor can only be equipped to Warrior monsters like Arctic Calypso here, plus it gives her 300 extra attack boost." Jaden explained as Arctic Calypso was powered up by the Equip Spell in the form of orange-yellow lightning-like aura around her, her attack points now reading at 2700.

"So what of it?" Alexis replied somewhat smartly. "Your monster is still weaker than mine."

"True, but that's not all it does." Jaden remarked. "See, I can activate another effect it has by sending it to the Graveyard." He explained as the orange-yellow lightning aura on Arctic Calypso vanished. "And even though Arctic Calypso is back to her original attack points, she can attack twice in one turn." Jaden finished as Alexis stood there with her arms crossed, not looking a bit amused at the move that Jaden just made.

"It won't do you any good if my monster still has higher attack points than yours." Alexis stated as she looked at her boyfriend, who just smirked at her ignorance to what he was about to do.

"That's why I'm not finished." He said.

Alexis' eyes widened at his statement, her arms loose as she stared at Jaden in shock. "Wha…What?" She asked.

Jaden smirked some more as he pulled out a card from his hand. "Yep, I activate the Spell Card O-Oversoul!" Jaden shouted as he slammed the card on his duel disk, making it appear face-up on the field."

O – Oversoul
Card-Type: Normal Spell
Effect: Select 1 "Elemental Hero" Normal Monster in your Graveyard and Special Summon it.

"I'm pretty sure you know what this card does, Alexis, but I'll go ahead and explain it anyway." Jaden said as Alexis just looked at him and gritted her teeth, not knowing what Jaden was really planning. "The Spell O-Oversoul lets me summon one Elemental Hero normal monster from my Graveyard." He started but Alexis cut him off.

"But you didn't play any…" She started to say, slowly realizing how Jaden managed to pull it off. "…That card you sent to the Graveyard to stop Goddess' attack…That was an Elemental Hero wasn't it?" Alexis said slowly as she looked at Jaden.

Jaden nodded and continued on with his explanation. "Yup and I bet you don't know who's making an appearance." Jaden said as Alexis started to glare at him.

"No matter what you do, Jaden, you can't get out of the mess you're in. I told you this duel is over." Alexis retaliated, but Jaden shook his head.

"I don't think so. And if you don't believe me, watch this. From my Graveyard, I Special Summon my buddy, Elemental Hero Neos!" Jaden shouted as a white light shot up besides Arctic Calypso and out came the famous Elemental Hero that was known and loved by many, Elemental Hero Neos.

Elemental Hero Neos
Card-Type: Normal Monster
Attribute: Light | Level: 7
Type: Warrior
ATK: 2500 | DEF: 2000
Description: A new Elemental Hero has arrived from Neo-Space! When he initiates a Contact Fusion with a Neo-Spacian his unknown powers are unleashed.

"Dammit." Alexis thought to herself as Jaden's signature Hero appeared on the field in front of her, standing alongside his other Hero monster. "Leave it to Jaden to think of something, but it's still not good enough to beat Galaxy Angel Goddess… So what could he be thinking?" She asked herself as Jaden was getting ready to play the last card he had in his hand.

Jaden looked at the last card in his hand and then looked at Alexis and slowly lowered it. The card in his hand will definitely guarantee him victory, but at what cost? Throughout the entire duel, he tried to reason with Alexis but to no avail. It's not like him to try and stop a duel from ever happening. He loves a good duel just like everyone else, and a part of him is excited to duel Alexis again, but this duel with her… it's not like the other times he dueled her before. Alexis is trying so hard to prove herself to him, a feat that she already, countless of times, proven to him. She's strong, confident, and most of all, a really talented duelist, all traits he admired her for. But why is she so adamant in proving herself to him?

"Alexis...I…I..." Jaden couldn't find the words he wanted to tell Alexis, but she knew what Jaden was trying to say, but she didn't want accept it.

"No, it's not over yet Jaden…You haven't beaten me and you won't." Alexis retaliated. "So just play the damn card. I'm ready for whatever you can throw at me." She continued.

"Alexis are you sure? I mean…I know..." Jaden was trying to find the right words, but the fact that he was stalling wasn't helping.

"Just make the move already!" She screamed.

He sighed. "…Alright then." Jaden said as he placed the last card in his hand on his duel disk. "I activate the Equip Spell card Neos Force…" Jaden said somewhat solemnly as the new card equipped itself to Elemental Hero Neos automatically.

Neos Force
Card-Type: Equip Spell
Effect: Equip only to "Elemental Hero Neos". It gains 800 ATK. When it destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original ATK of the destroyed monster. During the End Phase, shuffle this card into the Deck.

"With this card equipped to Elemental Hero Neos, he gains 800 extra attack points, bringing his attack up to 3300 just like your Galaxy Angel Goddess." Jaden explained as Neos let out his signature battle shout as his attack points matched Alexis' Galaxy Angel Goddess. "Alright Elemental Hero Neos, attack Galaxy Angel Goddess with Neos Force!" Jaden commanded as Neos' right hand glowed with power. He quickly leapt into the air and pulled his arm back, getting ready to eliminate Galaxy Angel Goddess on the other side of the field, ready to fight back at the attacking Hero.

"I don't think so! I activate my face-down card…" Alexis tried to say, but suddenly, Arctic Calypso, who wasn't attacking, just standing there, quickly blew a breath of snow at Alexis' face-down card, freezing it in complete ice. Alexis looked in shock to what the Ice monster has done and stared at her bewildered. "What…What did she do? Jaden, what did she do to my face-down card!" She shouted at Jaden, who had a small, but apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry Alexis, but you can't activate anything, thanks to Arctic Calypso's Special Ability." Jaden replied. "See, throughout this whole turn, neither one of us can activate any face-down cards."

"What!" Alexis shouted, taking a step back.

"So that means it's an all out attack so go for it Neos!" Jaden shouted as Neos continued on with his attack on Galaxy Angel Goddess, who readied herself instantly with a counter attack similar to Neos.

Both their fists glowed brightly as their powerful attacks connected with one another, both monsters glaring at each other, not wanting to back down. In the end, it was too much for both of them, their attacks on each created a small explosion that covered the field in front of the two duelists, who shielded themselves from the smoke and dust.

"What was the point in that Jaden? They had equal attack points." Alexis said as she looked on the field, but then saw Jaden smirking at her when he looked up as well.

"Sure they were, but that wasn't the real reason why I played Neos Force in the first place. See, when Elemental Hero Neos destroys a monster and sends it to the Graveyard, Neos Force deals damage to your Life Points equal to the original attack points of the monster Neos destroyed." Jaden explained as Alexis's eyes nearly became the size of dinner plates because of what Jaden just said.

"But that means…I take 3000 points of damage!" Alexis cried out.

Jaden could only nod as a transparent Neos appeared on the field, making Alexis take a step back from the monster as it readied itself to deal serious damage to Alexis and her Life Points. "Sorry Alexis." Jaden said as the transparent Neos unleashed one powerful punch to Alexis, striking her Life Points.

"Ahhh!" She screamed despite Neos not really hitting her just her Life Points. She fell down to the floor on one knee and tried to regain her breath as she looked at the corner of her eyes and saw her Life Points dropping fast.

She couldn't believe it. Jaden somehow managed to get the best of her and get her Life Points down to almost zero, just when she was one turn away from beating him. She chuckled a bit to herself as she stood up straight again. She should have known. Jaden's the type of guy, even when put into a corner like this, he still manages to find a way. "But still." She said to herself as she glared at him. "He's still not going to beat me."

"Alexis, you ok?" Jaden said concerned.

Alexis sighed. "I thought I told you to quit worrying about me." She said sternly.

"Yeah I know but…" Jaden replied though he didn't finish his sentence.

Alexis sighed again as she looked at the field to recap what's going on. Her new signature monster was gone. Her face-down card was frozen in place. Jaden had Arctic Calypso on the field. The odds were not in her favor. "Alright I'll have to think of something or I'm done for." Alexis thought as she gritted her teeth at the situation that she was in.

"Don't think this is over yet Jaden! I'm still going to win! I activate Galaxy Angel Goddess' Special Ability!" Alexis declared as Jaden tilted his head at her. "When she's sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Cyber Angel Ritual Monster from the Graveyard to my field! And I think you know which one I'm bringing out! Cyber Angel Benten, come on back!" Alexis shouted, bringing out her last line of defense, Cyber Angel Benten, which she played in defense mode.

The Cyber Angel appeared on the field in front of her duelist, holding her fans up in a defensive manner.

"For now, this is all I can do." Alexis thought looking at her monster as Jaden continued his turn and pointed at the new monster Alexis had on the field protecting her.

"Arctic Calypso attack Cyber Angel Benten!" Jaden shouted as Arctic Calypso held her hand out for a brief moment. "Arctic Impact!" As if on cue, Arctic Calypso shot a barrage of ice shards towards Cyber Angel Benten, shredding her completely and destroying her, even though she just returned to the field. This left Alexis wide open.

"Dammit." Alexis cursed. "Good thing it wasn't a direct attack to my Life Points." She said as she looked up and saw Jaden pointing at her, which caused her to look at him in confusion.

"Now Arctic Calypso attack Alexis directly." Jaden said simply, which in turn, caused Alexis' eyes to widen.

"Wha….Wait a minute!" Alexis shouted, bewildered to what was happening. Arctic Calypso leapt into the air and took a deep breath, and at the same time, gathered all the cold air she could muster.

"Alexis, you didn't forget about that Spell Card I sent to the Graveyard, did you? Remember, it lets the Warrior monster I equipped it to attack twice this turn, which means…" Jaden was about to say, but Alexis already knew where this was heading.

"I…I lost." She said to herself as she looked at the monster who will take the remaining of her Life Points. Arctic Calypso finally finished gathering all the cold air she could take in one deep breath.

Jaden closed his eyes and then reopened them. "Arctic Calypso, let's finish this! Absolute Zero!" He commanded as Arctic Calypso blew a powerful breath of freezing air at Alexis. Alexis, despite her best at shielding herself from the attack, could do nothing to protect the 900 Life Points she had left as it dropped to zero.

The duel had finally come to an end.

Alexis just stood there as Arctic Calypso and the rest of the duel field disappeared from site, while Jaden ran up to her. "Alexis, that was a great duel! You've really gotten a lot better the last time we dueled." Jaden said with excitement in his voice, hoping that it would cheer her up and make her forget why they dueled in the first place. "That deck that Pegasus gave you sure is awesome. You really are one strong duelist Alexis." Jaden finished, winking and pointing two fingers at her as Alexis looked at Jaden and slowly shook her head.

"No I'm not Jaden. I'm still not strong enough to protect you." Alexis replied slowly as she crossed her arms and slowly turned her back towards him.

"Huh? Hey Alexis…Come on you are strong enough." Jaden commented, but Alexis just shook her head again.

She sighed. "Jaden…Let's take some time apart or something. I need to be alone for awhile so I can have some time to think about this. Go back to Pegasus for the time being." She suggested as Jaden looked at her in worry and concern, not really knowing what she meant.

"But…But Alexis…" Jaden was about to call her name again, but Alexis cut him off.

"I mean it Jaden. I need some time alone to clear my head, so go back to Pegasus. I'll meet up with you later." Alexis snapped coldly and without another word and looking at him, she began to walk off in the other direction, leaving Jaden standing still, looking at her with a clueless and hurt expression on his face, seeing the girl of his dreams walk off on him again.

[Back in Chicago]

Rakaia and Damien glared at each other as they readied themselves to start their duel on the unfinished bridge.

Rakaia LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 5
Monsters on the field – 0
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 0
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Damien LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 5
Monsters on the field – 0
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 0
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"I'll finally get to see for myself what all the fuss is about with you is." Damien commented as Rakaia simply smirked.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you'll find out that I'm an exciting person to be around." Rakaia replied as Priscilla floated behind him, with a sweat drop forming over her head.

"Yea… as exciting as a brick wall." Priscilla thought to herself as she watched the duel get under way.

"We'll see about that then." Damien said. "I'll make the first move." He stated as he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. He then picked up another card from his hand and immediately played it on his Duel Disk. "I'm going to start things off with this, Genex Power Planner in attack mode!" Damien yelled as a bright light shined on the field for a moment and then suddenly a small sized robotic-like monster took place of the light.

Genex Power Planner
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Light | Level: 1
Type: Spellcaster
ATK: 300 | DEF: 200
Description: When this card is Normal Summoned, you can add 1 Level 3 "Genex" Effect Monster from your Deck to your hand.

"A Genex monster…" Rakaia thought to himself as he saw the monster as it appeared on the field in front of him. "Never seen a card like that before." He finished as Damien continued with his turn.

"I activate Genex Power Planner's Special Ability!" Damien started as Rakaia and Priscilla, who was invisible to Damien, eyed him. "When this monster is Summoned this way, I can add 1 Level 3 Genex monster from my deck to my hand." Damien explained as Rakaia looked at him uninterested.

"Hey Rakaia." Priscilla called out suddenly.

"What is it?" He asked back telepathically as he watched as Damien added a monster card from his deck to his hand. "Can't you see that I'm in a duel here? What do you want?" He asked irritatingly.

"Hey! You don't need to be so rude. I was just going to ask if you know this guy or not, gosh!" Priscilla shouted back in his head, but Rakaia ignored the attitude she was giving him and decided to answer the question.

"No I don't and I don't need to. This is just another duel and a warm up for me for when I go against Alister." Rakaia replied back mentally as Priscilla turned her head towards him and then back towards the duel.

"I see. But this guy seems to know what he's doing." Priscilla said back as she watched as Damien picked up two cards from his hand.

"To end my turn, I'll play two face-downs." Damien stated as he looked at Rakaia with somewhat of a blank expression on his face, but not so much. "Now it's your move. Let's see if you're actually powerful as Alister claims you are." Damien ended, causing Rakaia's (and Priscilla's) eyes to widen at the name that Damien mentioned.

Rakaia sent a glare at Damien as he spoke up. "So you know that bastard, don't you?" Rakaia asked as Damien smirked at him.

"Yes, but don't get the wrong idea. I rather keep my distance from that guy as much as possible." Damien replied back, but Rakaia wasn't amused by his answer.

"It's a good thing you know Alister because I've been looking for him." Rakaia said as he placed his two fingers on his deck and got ready to draw a card. "I have a message for him and when I wipe the floor with you, you can tell him I'm going to do the same with him." Rakaia ended as Damien smirked at the comment.

"Let's see if you can beat me first." Damien retaliated.

Damien LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 4
Monsters on the field – 1
Genex Power Planner – ATK/300 DEF/200
Cards on the field face-down – 2
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 0
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 5
Monsters on the field – 0
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 0
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"I'll beat you alright." Rakaia said as he drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "But first, tell me what you know about Alister." Rakaia demanded, taking his gaze off his hand and glared at Damien.

Damien raised an eyebrow, giving Rakaia a questioning look. "I don't know much about the guy, other than the fact he's really interested in you for some reason." Damien replied. "But whatever his reasons are is none of my concerns. I came looking for you to see if you're as strong as he says you are." He answered truthfully as Rakaia gritted his teeth and picked up a card from his hand.

"So nothing huh? Figures as much, but as for how strong I am, you're about to find out." Rakaia assured. "First, I'll start off by playing Dragon Weiler in attack mode!" Rakaia shouted as he placed the card on his Duel Disk, making a light appear on the ground in front of him.

Without a second to waste, a new monster jumped out onto the field as the light disappeared. Its appearance was that of a bulky, dog-like dragon with smooth scales and hardly any horns or protrusions coming of its body. And like its dog-like appearance, it stood on all four legs with a short, stubby tail. It was brown all over, with a beige underbelly and muzzle.

Dragon Weiler
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Earth | Level: 4
Type: Dragon
ATK: 1500 | DEF: 1200
Description: Once per turn, you can send 1 Monster card from your hand to the Graveyard to have this card attack twice during the Battle Phase. When this card you control is sent to the Graveyard by battle, you can Special Summon 1 Dragon-Type Normal Monster from either player's Graveyard.

The new Dragon monster howled and then got into a stalking pose, like it was ready to pounce on prey, as Rakaia picked up another card from his hand. "Next, I activate Dragon Weiler's Special Ability! By sending a monster card from my hand to the Graveyard, he can attack twice." Rakaia explained as Dragon Weiler let out a roar and lunged towards Damien's sole monster. "With that said and done, say good bye to your little hand pact microwave and a good chunk of your Life Points! Dragon Weiler, take it down!" Rakaia shouted, but Damien just chuckled in amusement as he thrust his hand over one of his face-down cards.

"And he said you were something to see." Damien responded with a small smirk. "I activate my face-down card, Negate Attack!" He shouted as his face-down card flipped face-up on the field in front of him.

Negate Attack
Card Type: Counter Trap
Effect: You can only activate this card when your opponent's monster declares an attack. Negate the attack of that 1 monster and end the Battle Phase.

Dragon Weiler opened its mouth wide enough to take a chunk out from Genex Power Planner, but suddenly a barrier appeared as the dragon dog made contact and caused it to yelp in pain as it retreated back to Rakaia's side of the field.

"I pretty sure you know what this card does so I'm not going to bother even explaining it." Damien commented as Rakaia just smirked and picked up another card from his hand.

"Alright then, have it your way since you seem confident about all this." Rakaia added. "I set one card face-down and end my turn." He finished as Priscilla watched what just transpired.

"Rakaia, do you really think he's telling the truth about Alister? I mean, we don't even know who this guy is and what he knows about you." Priscilla asked as she turned her head towards Rakaia.

"To be honest with you, Priscilla, I don't know either. Still, it doesn't change the fact that he knows that bastard." Rakaia replied back. "Don't worry though. I'll find out what he really knows and where Alister is hiding before this duel is over." Rakaia stated as he glared at Damien for a brief moment. "Because if this guy is playing in any part of Alister's game, then I'll break him here and now." He finished, sending a slight smirk at Priscilla, causing her to nod her head in agreement.

"I know you will Rakaia, just be careful. There's no telling what this guy got planned for you." Priscilla added.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are actually worried about me." Rakaia replied. "Isn't that cute of you?" Rakaia said sarcastically, making Priscilla blush furiously.

"Grrrrr… I'm not worried about you at all! Just win the damn duel so we can go and destroy the lab already!" Priscilla shouted, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Angry much?" Rakaia replied back as he returned his focus back to the duel at hand.

Damien LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 4
Monsters on the field – 1
Genex Power Planner – ATK/300 DEF/200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 1
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 3
Monsters on the field – 1
Dragon Weiler – ATK/1500 DEF/1200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 1
Unknown Monster Card
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Damien drew a card from his deck and added it to his hand. "I hope you're ready." Damien stated, looking at Rakaia. "To start off, I'm activating my face-down Spell, Machine Assembly Line!" He shouted as his face-down card flipped face-up on the field in front of him.

Machine Assembly Line
Card Type: Continuous Spell
Effect: All face-up Machine-Type monsters on the field gain 200 ATK. Each time a Machine-Type monster(s) on the field is destroyed, place 2 Junk Counters on this card. You can send this card to the Graveyard to select and Special Summon 1 Machine-Type monster in from your Graveyard, whose Level is less than or equal to the number of Junk Counters on this card.

"With this card on the field, all Machine-type monsters get a little attack boost." Damien started but Rakaia didn't look impressed as Damien continued. "Next, I summon R-Genex Overseer in attack mode!" Damien shouted as another light shot up on the field right beside Genex Power Planner, revealing another robot-like monster.

R-Genex Overseer
Card-Type: Tuner Monster
Attribute: Dark | Level: 2
Type: Spellcaster
ATK: 200 | DEF: 100
Description: When this card is Normal or Special Summoned, you can Special Summon 1 Level 3 or lower "Genex" monster from your hand.

"R-Genex?" Rakaia said to himself.

"Next, I activate Overseer's Special Ability!" Damien continued. "I can Special Summon another monster from my hand so long it's a level 3 or lower." He explained as he selected a card from his hand.

"This guy is planning something." Rakaia thought, making Priscilla look at him for a moment.

"You may be right Rakaia. Those monsters are not even Machine-Type and they are far too weak to take on Dragon Weiler. He's definitely up to something." Priscilla added. "Are you ready for whatever he's got planned? No doubt he's going to sacrifice a couple of those monsters. You know that right?" She asked him.

"Priscilla I'm not a rookie, you know. Of course I know what he has planned…Or at least, I know he's going to summon something powerful. That's the basic in this kind of situation." Rakaia answered as Priscilla looked away from him and crossed her arms with an attitude.

"Well, excuse me Mr. I'm a Big, Bad Professional Duelist… but if I recall, you were not exactly good at dueling prior to our little accident at the lab." Priscilla commented but Rakaia ignored it and kept his focus on Damien. She went on despite him ignoring her. "Besides, it's been a long time since I have seen a duel, so don't take too long if you already have plan on winning this thing. We have business to take care of." She finished as Rakaia shifted his gaze towards her for a brief moment and then returned it back to Damien.

"Don't you think I know that already?" Rakaia said as he continued to watch as Damien made his move. "And for your information, I have gotten better in dueling since you last saw me. I'll prove it by winning this duel." Rakaia ended as Priscilla nodded her head at him in agreement.

"Now I bring to the field, Genex Worker, in attack mode!" Damien shouted, as Overseer's ability allowed him to gain a third monster on his field. Another light appeared next to the other side of Genex Power Planner and revealed another robotic tank-like monster.

Genex Worker
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Wind | Level: 3
Type: Machine
ATK: 1200 | DEF: 1200
Description: You can Tribute this card to Special Summon 1 "Genex" monster from your hand.

"Since Genex Worker is a Machine-Type monster, he gets a small attack boost." Damien told Rakaia as the said monster felt its attack increase to 1400. Looking satisfied, Damien picked up a card and inserted it to his Duel Disk. "I think I'll stop here for now. I play one card face-down and end my turn." Damien finished, indicating he was done with his turn.

Damien LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 2
Monsters on the field – 3
R-Genex Overseer – ATK/400 DEF/100
Genex Worker – ATK /1400 DEF/1200
Genex Power Planner – ATK/500 DEF/200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 1
Machine Assembly Line (Continuous)
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 1
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 3
Monsters on the field – 1
Dragon Weiler – ATK/1500 DEF/1200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 1
Unknown Monster Card
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia chuckled a bit darkly as he looked at Damien. "You're gonna regret not trying to bring out something stronger than those pieces of junk." He told Damien, who shot him a smirk.

"I don't regret anything." Damien simply stated.

"Whatever." Rakaia said, closing his eyes for a moment. "Tell me something, Damien. You said that Alister was interested in me for some reason. What exactly does Alister know about me?" Rakaia asked, still intent on getting some answers from Damien.

Instead of answering back right away, Damien just stared at Rakaia and then slowly shook his head. "I already told you, I don't know why he's interested in you and quite frankly, I don't care. It's none of my business." Damien replied back. "But I do know one thing. Alister isn't the point of this duel. I told you the only reason we're having this duel is because I want to see if you're as strong as he said you are, other than that everything else is irrelevant." Damien spat as Rakaia's stare turned into a glare as he picked up a card from his hand.

"Is that so?" Rakaia returned as he continued to glare at Damien. "So this duel is just to fulfill some senseless purpose you have, all because you heard a rumor about how good I am or whatever." Rakaia snapped back. "If that's the case, then considering the circumstances that I'm in, this duel would be pointless." Rakaia replied as Damien's eyes widened for a second at the comment Rakaia just made. "I don't know about you." Rakaia continued on. "But I'm pressed for time and trust me, that's one thing I don't have on my side at the moment and you're standing in my way!" Rakaia shouted as he pointed at Damien as he continued on with his talk. "Now if you know something about Alister or where he's hiding for that matter, tell me or I promise you I will break every bit of will you have to duel and make sure you never pick up a card again!" Rakaia shouted again, this time with anger rising in his voice.

Damien couldn't help but look slightly shock at Rakaia's outburst for a moment before a smirk slowly formed across his face. "Do it then." He replied back, brushing off Rakaia's threats as Rakaia gritted his teeth for a second and then smirked back at him.

"Hmph, you had your chance to save yourself from a disappointing defeat." Rakaia said as Priscilla looked at him and could tell his blood was starting to boil over.

"Rakaia…" Priscilla said to herself as Rakaia started his turn.

"My move!" Rakaia shouted as he drew a card from his deck and placed it with the other cards in his hand. He then picked another card from his hand, placing it on his Duel Disk. "First I'm bringing out Lava Burst Dragon in attack mode!" Rakaia shouted as the said dragon monster appeared on the field next to Dragon Weiler.

Lava Burst Dragon
Card-Type: Tuner Monster
Attribute: Fire | Level: 4
Type: Dragon
ATK: 1300 | DEF: 800
Description: Once per turn, you can remove from play 1 Normal Trap Card from your Graveyard. This Card gains 500 ATK until the End Phase of your opponent's turn. If this card on the field is destroyed, you can Special Summon 1 "Glacier Burst Dragon" from your Graveyard.

Lava Burst Dragon was a dark orange-red, bipedal dragon of human height. It had white, flame-like stripes on its body and two pairs of small, budding wings. The tip of its tail was in flames and its feet heated the ground it was standing on. When it opened its mouth, drops of lava fell to the floor.

After his monster appeared, Rakaia selected a card from his hand. "Next, I'll activate the Spell, Double Summon!" Rakaia shouted again as he slammed the Spell on his duel disk, causing the card to appear on the field in front of him.

Double Summon
Card-Type: Normal Spell
Effect: You can Normal Summon 1 additional time this turn. You can only gain this effect once per turn.

"This card lets me summon another monster to the field!" Rakaia stated as the card glowed and out came another dragon. "I summon Powered Tuner in attack mode!" He yelled as the blue, winged dragon roared and floated next to the other side of Dragon Weiler.

Powered Tuner
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Water | Level: 4
Type: Dragon
ATK: 1400 | DEF: 1000
Description: This card gains 500 ATK for each face-up Tuner monster on the field.

Damien simply looked at the new monsters Rakaia just summoned and immediately knew what was coming next. "A Synchro Summon huh?" He said to himself.

"Now that I have what I need on the field, I can do this!" Rakaia exclaimed as he pointed towards his two dragons he just summoned. "I tune my Powered Tuner with Lava Burst Dragon!" He continued, as his monsters began to the Synchro Summoning process, while Damien looked on. "The destructive flames of pure chaos will awaken as a new breed of power breaks free from its shackles! Synchro Summon! Break free, Swift Chaos Dragon!" Rakaia chanted as a gust of wind took over the entire field, causing Damien to shield himself from the wind.

Suddenly, a dark gold colored dragon with dark purple wings and plenty of armor on its armor, shot out of the ground, roaring as it made its appearance. It had horns coming out behind its eyes, sides of its mouth, and on its nose. It also had blade-like armor on its legs, shoulders and even on its wings.

Swift Chaos Dragon
Card-Type: Synchro/Effect Monster
Attribute: Dark| Level: 8
Type: Dragon
ATK: 2500 | DEF: 1800
Description: 1 Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner Dragon-Type monsters
When a Dragon-Type monster you control other than this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, inflict 500 damage to your opponent. When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 level 5 or lower Dragon-Type monster from your Graveyard in face–up Defense Position. The Special Summoned monster cannot be changed to Attack Position as long as this card remains face-up on the field.

Priscilla looked at the new dragon in amazement. "Whoa…I never heard of Synchro Summoning." She looked at Rakaia, though he didn't look back as he had his full gaze on Damien. "Is that a new way of Summoning monsters Rakaia?" The spirit girl asked, since she was not aware of the major changes to Dueling since she passed on.

Ignoring her, Rakaia pointed to one of Damien's monsters. "You're in for a world of hurt Damien! Swift Chaos Dragon! Attack his R-Genex Overseer with Chaos Hyper Blast!" Rakaia ordered as Swift Chaos Dragon gave a loud roar as it opened its mouth and began to charge up its attack that look sort of like a dark red ball of fire. Without further delay, the dragon finally fired a fiery hyper blast at the small, robotic looking monster, engulfing it in pure red flames.

"Argh!" Damien groaned as R-Genex Overseer was destroyed, too weak to survive the attack. "I'm starting to see why Alister finds you so interesting, Dragon Duelist." Damien spoke as 2100 points of damage was dealt to his Life Points. The older duelist gritted his teeth when he looked at his 1900 Life Points, before thrusting his arm forward. "I activate my Trap, Damage Condenser!" Damien shouted back as his face-down card flipped face-up on the field, revealing itself.

Damage Condenser
Card Type: Normal Trap
Effect: You can only activate this card by discarding 1 card from your hand when you take Battle Damage to your Life Points. Special Summon 1 monster from your Deck with ATK equal to or less than the Battle Damage you took, in Attack Position.

Rakaia looked at Damien with slight confusion as Damien began to explain his Trap's effect. "Thanks to your attack, this Trap allows me to summon a monster from my deck that has an attack equal to or less than the damage I received from your monster. Although, the only drawback is that I have discard a card from my hand, but it really makes no difference." He explained as he did what he just explained, discarding a card from his hand and took a card that was flushed out from the middle of his deck. "Now I Special Summon to the field, Genex Searcher, in attack mode!" He shouted as a light shined in the same place where his R-Genex Overseer once stood. Suddenly a large, mechanical body was revealed and it looked like a body made of different parts.

Genex Searcher
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Earth | Level: 4
Type: Machine
ATK: 1600 | DEF: 400
Description: When this card is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, you can Special Summon 1 "Genex" monster with 1500 or less ATK from your Deck in face-up Attack Position.

"Seriously? What's up with him summoning weak monsters?" Priscilla remarked. "Rakaia, I don't think this guy is dueling you seriously!" She said, looking at Rakaia, who said nothing and continued to glare at Damien.

"Thanks to Machine Assembly Line on the field, Genex Searcher gets a 200 attack boost. But that's not all." Damien began. "See, each time a Machine-Type monster is destroyed, this Spell gets 2 Junk Counters. You're probably wondering why…" Damien explained before he was cut off.

"Grrr…No one cares!" Rakaia interrupted him as he pointed to the next monster he had his eyes set on. "Dragon Weiler, take out his Genex Power Planner! Wipe it off the field!" Rakaia commanded as Dragon Weiler gave a loud howl and charged towards the tiny machine monster, its mouth wide open and its fangs glowing red. It then clamped down on Genex Power Planner's body, causing it to burst immediately.

Damien gritted his teeth again as the destruction of his monster dealt him 1000 points of damage to his Life Points, leaving him with only 900 left.

"Alright Rakaia!" Priscilla cheered, unheard to Damien.

"Hmph. If this is all you can do, then I'm not impressed." Rakaia said as he crossed his arms and glared at Damien. "And the fact you are wasting my time with this duel is starting to piss me off." Rakaia finished as Damien looked at Rakaia and shook his head again.

"And yet, you still don't know what's going on, do you?" Damien said, smiling somewhat as his Spell glowed and two robotic junk pieces attached themselves to it. "That's 2 more Junk Counters, thanks to you, giving me a total of four Junk Counters, just in case you can't count." Damien said, adding a little insult to Rakaia's comment.

"Doesn't matter to me." Rakaia replied. "This duel is just about wrapped up anyway, so it won't matter. So now if you're done adding Christmas decorations on your little Spell Card, I think I'll end my turn and see what you got left in that deck of yours." Rakaia said rudely as Priscilla looked at him and could tell that his personality nearly did a complete 360.

Damien LP – 900
Cards in hand – 2
Monsters on the field – 2
Genex Searcher – ATK/1800 DEF/400
Genex Worker – ATK/1400 DEF/1200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 1
Machine Assembly Line (Continuous) – 4 Junk Counters
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 5
Genex Power Planner (Monster Card)
Unknown card
Damage Condenser (Trap Card)
R-Genex Overseer (Monster Card)
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 4000
Cards in hand – 1
Monsters on the field – 2
Swift Chaos Dragon – ATK/2500 DEF/1800
Dragon Weiler – ATK/1500 DEF/1200
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 4
Lava Burst Dragon (Monster Card)
Powered Tuner (Monster Card)
Double Summon (Spell Card)
Unknown Monster Card
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Rakaia, this isn't like you." Priscilla spoke up, more confused and concerned about her friend and his attitude change towards the person that he was dueling. "Why are you so riled up?" She asked him as Rakaia didn't even look at her, but answered her telepathically anyway.

"This guy knows Alister, Priscilla. I'm sure he knows something about what's going on…and even if he doesn't, he's wasting my time…Wanting to duel me just because Alister spread some rumors about how strong I am or something. If anything, Alister probably knows I don't have a lot of time to waste and sent this guy to stall me." Rakaia replied with a hint of hate in his tone.

Understanding Rakaia's mindset, Priscilla nodded. "So this guy…He could be a part of Alister's little game then?" Priscilla responded back, causing Rakaia to nod his head slightly. "Then if that's the case, you need to take him down and quick." Priscilla ended as she looked at Rakaia and then back towards Damien, who couldn't see her.

"This guy…Wasting the precious time Rakaia has left to stop us from going back to the lab. Hmm..." Priscilla thought to herself. "If what Rakaia said is true, what the hell is in that lab that Alister doesn't want us to find out." She wondered as she looked back at Rakaia again. "Whatever it is, if Rakaia doesn't end this duel quick, we probably never get the chance to find out." Priscilla finished thinking to herself as she turned her head back to the duel.

"My turn!" Damien shouted as he quickly drew a card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "First I'll activate Genex Worker's Special Ability!" Damien shouted as the card he drew was placed on his Duel Disk. "I can tribute it to Special Summon a Genex monster in my hand…" He explained as Genex Worker disappeared from the field and a larger, more robotic looking monster stood in its place. "And I choose this, Genex Solar, in attack mode!" Damien shouted.

Genex Solar
Card-Type: Effect Monster
Attribute: Light | Level: 7
Type: Machine
ATK: 2500 | DEF: 1500
Description: This card can be Normal Summoned by Tributing 1 "Genex" monster. Each time a face-up "Genex" monster(s) you control is sent to the Graveyard, inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

A tall, robotic man-like machine with jet plane wings, and blue and gold colorations stood its ground in front of Damien. Thanks to Machine Assembly Line, Genex Solar's attack points went up to 2700. "Since a Genex monster was sent to my Graveyard, I can activate Genex Solar's Special Ability. I can deal 500 points of damage to you." Damien explained as Genex Solar shot a quick blast of solar energy from his hand towards Rakaia, making direct contact with Rakaia's Life Points, which dropped by 500 points.

Unfazed by the damage done to him, Rakaia scoffed at Damien. "500 points? That's it? You won't beat me with that kind of trick." Rakaia retaliated with a smirk.

Damien returned the smirk back. "Trust me, I haven't finished yet. Those 500 points were just the beginning." Damien assured as he picked up another card from his hand. "In fact, let me start by summoning Genex Controller to the field in attack mode!" Damien shouted as another small robot monster, that looked more like a remote control of some sort, appeared on the field beside Genex Searcher.

Genex Controller
Card-Type: Tuner Monster
Attribute: Dark | Level: 3
Type: Machine
ATK: 1400 | DEF: 1200
Description: As a master of all powers of elements, this is one of the few Genex monsters that can communicate with its companions.

Ignoring the power boost Genex Controller received from his Spell, Damien smirked as he stared at Rakaia. "Things are now starting to fall into place." He said. "I tune my Genex Controller and my Genex Searcher!" He shouted as the two monsters he mentioned turned into Synchro circle rings and Level stars. "To Synchro Summon Genex Ally Triforce!" Damien finished as a new Machine-Type humanoid Genex monster, with a blaster gun as an arm, jumped out of the ground and landed on the field next to Genex Solar, ready for battle.

Genex Ally Triforce
Card-Type: Synchro/Effect Monster
Attribute: Dark | Level: 7
Type: Machine
ATK: 2500 | DEF: 2100
Description: 1 "Genex" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters
This card gains the following effects based on the Attributes of the non-Tuner monsters used in this card's Synchro Summon: *EARTH: If this card attacks, your opponent cannot activate any Spell/Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. *FIRE: If this card destroys a monster by battle, inflict damage to your opponent equal to that monster's ATK. *LIGHT: Once per turn, you can select 1 LIGHT monster in your Graveyard and Set it in face-down Defense Position.

Just like Genex Solar before him, the Spell, Machine Assembly Line, gave Genex Ally Triforce a power boost to 200 points, bringing his attack equal to that of Solar's. Damien smirked as Genex Solar readied itself to send more solar blasts to Rakaia. "Since two more Genex monsters were sent to the Graveyard, you take 1000 points of direct damage to your Life Points, thanks to Genex Solar's Special Ability." Damien explained as Rakaia gritted his teeth. "Genex Solar, let's bring down his Life Points some more!" Damien commanded, receiving a nod of approval in response from Genex Solar. The said monster gathered Solar Energy in both of his hands and then fired them at Rakaia like before, blasting him with 1000 points of damage to his Life Points.

"Arrgghh!" Rakaia cried out as he felt his Life Points drop, but it wasn't that reason he cried out that way. "Damn it." Rakaia said to himself, closing his eyes and clutching his chest slightly while Priscilla looked at him with worry.

"Rakaia!" She shouted mentally. "Are you..." She began to say, but Rakaia cut her off.

"I'm fine Priscilla. It's nothing really." Rakaia assured her telepathically, opening one eye to look at her. "He's just getting lucky." He finished as he regain his strength. Priscilla looked at Rakaia with concern, and then back at Damien. She could tell that this duel was really starting to heat up.

"I'm not done with you yet, Dragon Duelist." Damien spoke up, gaining Rakaia's attention. "Don't forget. My new Machine monsters get an attack boost, making them much stronger than your pathetic lizards." Rakaia slightly gritted his teeth as Damien pointed towards the Dragon Duelist's Swift Chaos Dragon. "Genex Solar, obliterate his Swift Chaos Dragon! Solar Powered Barrage!" Damien shouted as the rockets on Genex Solar came on, making the monster fly at a high speed towards Rakaia's Swift Chaos Dragon. Using its speed, the monster then send a barrage of Solar powered punches at the large dragon, who tried to defend itself but fail short and became a victim of Solar's attack as it exploded and Genex Solar returned back to its place on Damien's field.

Rakaia cringe a bit as his Life Points took another hit, dropping by 200. "Shit…He's better than I thought." Rakaia thought to himself as Damien pointed at Rakaia's other monster on his field, his Dragon Weiler.

"Genex Ally Triforce, attack his Dragon Weiler and clear it off the field!" Damien ordered as his Genex Ally Triforce aimed his blaster gun at Rakaia's Dragon Weiler and fired three, separate blasts towards the dragon dog. The Dragon dog yelped in pain upon impact as the blasts overwhelmed it and caused another large explosion on the field, making Rakaia cover himself from the smoke, as his Life Points took another hit again and dropped by 1200.

Damien held a smirk on his face as the smoke was cleared off the field. "Impressed now, Dragon Duelist?" Damien said, sounding satisfied with his work.

"I think I'm going to activate my Dragon Weiler's Special Ability." Rakaia responded, causing Damien to look at Rakaia in slight confusion. "When Dragon Weiler is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon 1 Normal Dragon-Type monster from my Graveyard." He explained as Damien continued to look at him confused.

"But you don't have such a card in your Graveyard." Damien remarked, making Rakaia smirk at his statement.

Rakaia chuckled a bit. "That's what you say." He simply stated, making Damien's eyes widen as Rakaia went on. "Say hello to one of the best monsters in my deck! I Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Rakaia shouted as a light shot up on the field, followed by the famous appearance of the famous Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

Red-Eyes B. Dragon
Card-Type: Normal Monster
Attribute: Dark | Level: 7
Type: Dragon
ATK: 2400 | DEF: 2000
Description: A ferocious dragon with a deadly attack.

Rakaia slightly smiled at his trademark dragon "And Red-Eyes, say hello to mincemeat." Rakaia said as Red-Eyes gave a loud roar, symbolizing its dominance.

"Hmph a waste of time." Damien said as he looked at the dragon and then at Rakaia before he smirked. "Your pet dragon is still weaker than the both of my monsters. Hmph, this duel won't last any longer, and with that said, I'll end my turn." Damien said as Rakaia glared at Damien.

Damien LP – 900
Cards in hand – 1
Monsters on the field – 2
Genex Solar – ATK/2700 DEF/1500
Genex Ally Triforce – ATK/2700 DEF/2100
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 1
Machine Assembly Line (Continuous) – 4 Junk Counters
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 8
Genex Searcher (Monster Card)
Genex Controller (Monster Card)
Genex Worker (Monster Card)
Genex Power Planner (Monster Card)
Unknown Card
Damage Condenser (Trap Card)
R-Genex Overseer (Monster Card)
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 1100
Cards in hand – 1
Monsters on the field – 1
Red-Eyes Black Dragon – ATK/2400 DEF/2000
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 5
Dragon Weiler (Monster Card)
Swift Chaos Dragon (Monster Card)
Lava Burst Dragon (Monster Card)
Powered Tuner (Monster Card)
Double Summon (Spell Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Rakaia are you ok?" Priscilla asked, still worried about what just happened to Rakaia. "He just literally brought you down over half of your Life Points in just one turn." Priscilla pressed on as Rakaia continued to glare at Damien, while drawing a card from his deck.

"My turn!" Rakaia shouted as he looked at the card he drew.

"I know that Priscilla." Rakaia answered back, taking his eyes off the card and looked at Damien for a moment. "This guy is a lot better than I thought he'd be, but it doesn't matter because I'm still winning this duel. Just watch me!" Rakaia shouted mentally as he looked at the card he drew from his deck.

"I play the Spell Card, Pot of Greed!" Rakaia shouted as he slapped the card on his black and red Duel Disk, causing a large, green jar with a grinning face on it, appear on the field.

Pot of Greed
Card Type: Normal Spell
Effect: Draw 2 cards from your deck.

"Desperate, are we?" Damien smiled a bit.

"This duel isn't over by a long shot and I'm going to prove it!" Rakaia retorted back as he drew two extra cards from his Deck. He looked at the cards he drew and smirked. "Starting with this." Rakaia finished as he took one of the cards in his hand and played it. "I summon Baby Star Dragon in attack mode!" Rakaia shouted. Just like all monsters before, a white light shot up and revealed a small, black dragon with yellow markings. It had no front arms, only powerful wings.

Baby Star Dragon
Card-Type: Tuner
Attribute: Dark | Level: 2
Type: Dragon
ATK: 500 | DEF: 400
Description: This card cannot be used as a Synchro Material Monster, except for the Synchro Summon of a "Star" Monster.

"I take back what I said a few moments ago. You really are getting desperate." Damien commented.

"I wouldn't call this next move desperation, Damien." Rakaia continued on, leaving Damien trying to figure out what he was doing next. "You're about to see a monster no one has never seen before!" Rakaia declared.

"A…A monster no one has ever seen before? What are you talking about?" Damien asked out of confusion.

"Yea Rakaia what are you talking about?" Priscilla asked herself as well as she looked at Rakaia, who smirked at Damien and ignored answering their questions.

"I tune Red-Eyes Black Dragon with Baby Star Dragon!" Rakaia shouted as Red-Eyes Black Dragon roared, taking off into the air, with Baby Star Dragon flying underneath him, before it turned into the signature Synchro rings. Red-Eyes roared once more before becoming seven, green stars entering the two Synchro rings as a light illuminated the sky.

"From the never ending darkness shines a new power! Witness as the shining darkness becomes a path of hope! Synchro Summon! Rise, BlackStar Dragon!" Rakaia chanted loudly as the field was consumed by powerful gusts of wind. It wasn't until a loud roar was heard, above Damien's head, that Damien looked up, widening his eyes as a monster-size dragon figure flew down from the clouds and hovered right over the fields, sending more gusts of winds at his face.

The bipedal Dragon didn't resemble nothing like Red-Eyes Black Dragon, though its scales and most of its armor throughout its entire body was black. In addition, the armor had gold trimmings and some of its scales on its long tail were gold as well. On its head were multiple horn-like protrusions, with the largest one settling right it the middle of its head, with a green gem centered between its orange eyes. Its wings are nothing like a typical dragon, looking more like a cape, yet it can extend and fold it like a regular pair of wings. On its shoulder were cannon-like structures attached to its armor and on one of its hands, it held a staff with another gem stone on it. Finally, around the dragon's waistline is a piece of armor resembling a dragon's head, attached to three different strands of gold trimming, black cloths.

BlackStar Dragon
Card-Type: Synchro/Effect Monster
Attribute: Dark | Level: 9
Type: Dragon
ATK: 2800 | DEF: 2400
Description: "Baby Star Dragon" + "Red-Eyes B. Dragon"
When this card destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the Graveyard, gain Life Points equal to that monster's original ATK. Once per turn, you can pay 500 Life Points to destroy 1 monster your opponent controls.

Rakaia's new dragon let out another roar. "Let's see you pull your way out of this one." Rakaia said smirking at Damien, who was staring at the mighty Dragon that stood before him.

[Back in San Francisco]

Chazz glared at Blair, with his Duel Disk activated on his arm as he waited for Blair to accept the duel. "Accept the duel Blair. You won't never understand how I feel right now unless you duel me right here and now." Chazz insisted as Blair shook her head at her boyfriend.

"No Chazz, I can't do that." Blair shot back. "Right now, it's not the time to be dueling each other! What about our friends and everyone at Duel Academy? We don't have time for this!" She shouted as Chazz slowly lowered his arm, but never took his angered eyes off of Blair.

"Our friends? You're talking about our friends who went to look for the guy who caused this problem in the first place!" Chazz shouted, starting to cause a scene.

"He didn't start anything! Stop blaming people when you know it's not their fault!" Blair countered. "How the hell can you sit there and place the destruction of a whole school on one person!" She yelled back. "He's our friend, Chazz! Stop accusing him for something he didn't do!" She finished as Chazz retaliated.

"IT IS HIS FAULT!" He yelled back forcefully. "If that bastard had just stayed at Duel Academy, then we could have stopped whatever it was that destroyed our home! Don't you get it Blair! If it wasn't for Rakaia, we wouldn't be in this mess!" He finished his argument as Blair took a deep breath and looked at him for a second and answered back calmly.

"Then why did you leave Duel Academy to come after him then?" Blair asked him calmly, causing Chazz to look at her dumbfounded for a moment.

"Huh? Well I…Uh…" Chazz tried to find the words to answer Blair, but he was proving to be on the losing end of this argument.

"If you were really worried about whether or not Duel Academy would be okay without you, you would have stayed there to protect everybody." Blair argued as Chazz stared at her intently as she continued to talk. "But no. Just like the rest of us, you came along to find the person you knew was, and is, your friend. You're just as worried about Rakaia as we are." Blair finished arguing, giving Chazz the chance to finally react again.

"That's a lie!" Chazz retaliated. "I'm not in the least bit concerned about what happens to that jerk. I came so when I find him, I can knock some sense back into him for leaving us the way he did!" Chazz continued giving his own argument. "He called us weak Blair. He told me that he had no use for us! I tried to reason him but he decided it would better for him to leave us!" He continued to argue. "Isn't that enough to see that he abandoned us all!" He finished as Blair shook her head at his statement.

"No! No it's not!" Blair shot back. "You left because you knew Rakaia needed help and you wanted to help him, just like we all do!"

"No I don't!" Chazz shouted back. "I want to show him that I'm not weak! I want to show all of you that I'm not the third wheel when it comes to Jaden and Rakaia! I'm better than both of them! I left to prove that fact to Rakaia!" Chazz screamed as Blair just stood there and stared at Chazz in disbelief. Sadness was slowly creeping into her heart, but so was irritation as realization set in.

"Is that why you left?" Blair said slowly as she looked at Chazz. "You left all because you want to prove to everyone you're not weak. Is that it? You didn't leave Duel Academy to help a friend that probably needs all the help he can get. You're not worried about Duel Academy or anybody in Duel Academy for that matter. All this time, it was just all about you, wasn't it?" She asked again in the same tone as Chazz stood his ground and stared back at his girlfriend.

"That's right. I had to find out if I was strong enough or not. I am the Chazz and I'm going to reclaim my spot back and stop whatever is going on here without the help of Jaden and Rakaia. I'll prove to all of you that I'm the strongest one here." He indicated as he pointed to himself. Blair just stood there for a second, giving Chazz a cold solemn stare as she extended her left arm with her Duel Disk on it, activating it in the process.

"If that's what you really left the island for, then whatever Rakaia told you was probably right." Blair said, but Chazz didn't seem offend by it. "If all you care about is yourself and not anyone else… Then you don't deserve to even speak the name of Duel Academy." Blair said as she grabbed her deck and placed it inside of her Disk.

"So now with this duel, I'm going to make you understand what you really feel in your heart and why I…I…I WILL NOT BELIEVE THAT'S WHAT YOU REALLY FEEL!" Blair screamed at him, with tears threatening to stream down her face as she continued. "I refuse to believe that you, a person of your stature, would even think of something like that! How do you expect me to believe that's all true when I know you're lying! Not just to me, but to yourself! Nobody, not even our friends, believes you're weak, Chazz Princeton! Only you think you are!" Blair finished as she pointed at Chazz, who just looked at Blair and slowly lowered his head as he let her words sink in for a moment.

He suddenly lifted his head back up and looked at Blair again, this time with the same expression he had on his face when he asked her to duel him. "If that's the case, we'll see which one of us is right and which one of us is wrong." Chazz stated as Blair, who, at first, didn't want this to happen, nodded in agreement as the two got in their respective positions and glared at each other.

"DUEL!" They both shouted in unison, staring at each other as 4000 Life Points appeared on both on their Duel Disk. Both determined to prove each other wrong about the path they have chosen.

[Near the Austin Airport]

After escaping Mya's grasp, Alexia ended up at her destination, the Austin Airport. She walked into the main entrance of the airport, which looked more like a mall than anything else. It had two levels, with a large set of stairs and a bunch of stores that were either gift shops or fast food restaurants.

"Alright Celeste, I think we're safe…for now." Alexia asked to Celeste telepathically, as she slowly made her way through the airport. "I don't know though. I have a feeling that she isn't far behind us." She added as Celeste nodded her head and flapped her wings once, while she stayed in her duelist's thoughts.

"Aye, My Lady. I believe you are right." Celeste added. "I can sense their presence closing in on us." The large phoenix Hybrid warned as she looked at her duelist's mental form that stood in front of her.

"Well we've come this far. Now, all I got to do is get on the plane back to California and we can meet up with the rest of the gang there." Alexia replied as she started to walk up the stairs of the airport to get to the second level. "Then we can go to Chicago and get Luna and Neveah and drag Rakaia back if necessary." She finished as Celeste lowered her head for a second at the thought of the Dragon duelist, but not for Rakaia himself, but the Dragon that he has in possession.

"Don't worry about him Celeste." Alexia assured, knowing what her hybrid was thinking. "He'll work out something before anything bad happens." She stated as Celeste looked at her partner mentally.

"Aye, I sure hope you're right, My Lady." Celeste answered back as Alexia reached the top of the stairs, but suddenly stopped walking when she felt a presence that was right behind her, but at the bottom of the steps that she just walked up. "My Lady…" Celeste said suddenly, her eyes dilating for a moment.

"Yea…I know." Alexia said back telepathically as she turned around to see Mya standing at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at her.

"So you found me again, I see." Alexia started off as Mya just stood there with her arms crossed. A small smirk appeared on her face as Mya stared up at the Phoenix duelist, who looked down at her from the top of the stairs.

"How long do you plan to keep running away from me, Alexia?" Mya asked, this time in her regular voice.

"My Lady." Celeste called out in Alexia's mind. "I can feel the Hybrid that she has in her possession…" Celeste explained as Alexia closed her eyes and let out a deep breath, deciding to speak out loud this time.

"Is it starting to stir up again Celeste?" Alexia asked out loud, causing Mya's eyebrow to rise for a split second.

"Aye, My Lady." Celeste answered back telepathically. "We should make our escape while we have the chance. If this is indeed the same Hybrid, then I know it will not attack in this kind of crowd." Celeste continued, but Alexia let out another deep breath and slowly started walking down the stairs towards Mya. "My Lady!" Celeste called out mentally, but Alexia had already made up her mind.

"No Celeste." Alexia said out loud. "I'm tired of running and damn near getting my head pounded into the ground." Alexia replied, as Celeste mentally looked at her duelist and realized that she was right. "I'm standing my ground this time, Celeste. Don't worry, I won't lose this time." She finished as she finally stood in front of Mya, who just smirked at her.

"So you're not going to run away this time? How foolish of you, Alexia." Mya said as she stared at Alexia, who just returned it with a glare.

"No…not anymore. I'm done running from you." Alexia replied as Mya uncrossed her arms and let them fall by her side as an icy blue aura started to form around her.

"Well in that case, why don't we finish where we left off?" She suggested as she held her right hand out to her side, the aura surrounding her hand started to encase with ice.

Alexia just stood there, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a deep breath and then stared at Mya. "Mya…I'm not going to do this." Alexia said as Mya looked at Alexia, bewildered for a second.

"Not going to do this…What do you mean? What makes you think you have a choice?" Mya said as she glared at Alexia, who just shook her head at Mya's statement.

"I mean, I'm not going to fight you like this." Alexia replied as Mya continued to stare at her with a confused expression on her face, but it soon faded away as Alexia continued to talk.

"Whether you're mad at me or not, I know you wouldn't let that anger blind you so much as you would hurt innocent people to get to me." Alexia continued to talk as she looked around the airport and saw people staring at them with worry and fear as they saw ice started to form around Mya's hand. "You see all these people here, if we both fight to our full potential, then we'll do nothing but destroy the place and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't sink that low as to sacrifice all these lives, just to get to me, now would you?" Alexia finished as Mya stared at Alexia for a moment and then slowly brought her arm down, causing the ice to slowly evaporate from her hand.

"You're just as smart as I remember Alexia." Mya answered back. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to let you leave here without realizing all the pain that you put me through." Mya continued as she crossed her arms and glared at Alexia.

Alexia placed her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. "For crying out…What the hell did I do to you?" Alexia somewhat shouted as she opened up her eyes and stared at Mya. "I have no idea what you're talking about. All I know is that I was happy when I saw that you were alive and then you blast me through my house. Not the best kind of reunion, if you ask me." Alexia finished as Mya glared at her.

"You think this is a game don't you?" Mya asked as Alexia slightly tilted her head at her. "You really don't know what I'm talking about do you?" Mya asked as Alexia just shook her head, indicating that she didn't understand.

"Both my mother and father died…One after another…I didn't have anyone to turn to. The rest of my family were too far away to do anything about it, but that's when you came in." Mya started as Alexia waited patiently as she continued her story. "You took me into your family. Hell, you can that they were my family too! Mya continued as Alexia stared at her intently.

"…It was on that day…That day where everything changed." Mya continued.

"My Lady…" Celeste spoke up slowly as Mya was still explaining her story.

"I feel it too Celeste…Her Hybrid's feeding off of her anger towards me." Alexia answered back telepathically.

"It's your fault!" Mya shouted as she pointed towards Alexia, who took a step back at her outburst. "You disappeared and left me all alone! My grandparents didn't even want me to come back after you disappeared…I was like a burden to them! They said I was the reason that my mother died!" Mya shouted.

"Mya…I..." Alexia was about to answer, but Mya cut her off.

"You don't understand the pain I felt, when all I had was myself in this world!" Mya shouted as Alexia closed her eyes as the words Mya shot out started to crush her heart. "You don't know how it feels to be completely alone! Not wanted by anyone!" Mya shouted as Alexia slowly looked up at her and then sighed.

"Mya…I don't know what to say really. It wasn't my intention to leave you out of the family, but things got so crazy…My brother Crayus…He…I don't know how to explain this." Alexia said slowly as she looked down at the ground and then looked back up at Mya. "Mya…I'm sorry I really am…It's just that we went through some crazy things and our family fell apart." Alexia said trying to explain what happened during that time.

"Lies!" Mya shouted, catching Alexia off guard. "You're lying to me!" She yelled at the Phoenix Duelist.

"No that's not true, I'm not…Why would I lie to you, Mya? You know me better than that." Alexia replied as Mya just shook her head and extended her left arm, causing her Ice Blue and White Duel Disk to activate. "If you won't tell me the truth, then I'll duel it out of you." Mya said as she grabbed her deck and placed it inside her Duel Disk. "And since you won't fight me, this will be the only way for me to make sure you feel how I felt…the days you decided to leave me in this world alone…to fend for myself." Mya said slowly as Alexia looked at her and closed her eyes.

"If…that's what you want." Alexia said as she extended her left arm as well, activating her light purple Duel Disk.

"My Lady…Are you sure about this?" Celeste asked as she stared at Mya through Alexia's vision. "There's no telling what tricks she may have up her sleeve." She said worriedly, but Alexia simply nodded mentally at Celeste's statement.

"Don't worry Celeste." Alexia simply replied. "If anything, this is probably the best way for the truth to get out about what happened when our family mysteriously disappeared." She explained to her Hybrid, who looked at her. "Besides, we could probably find out a little something about that Hybrid you were telling me about." Alexia finished as Celeste stared at her duelist mentally and soon nodded in agreement.

"Aye, you're right My Lady. I will follow your decision…Just please…Be careful." Celeste ended as Alexia nodded her head again and then looked at Mya, who returned it with a glare.

"I'm going to make you pay for everything Alexia." Mya said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"And I'm going to make you see the truth Mya…Even if I have to bring you down to do it." Alexia replied as Mya just smirked at her.

"We'll see about that." Mya said as they both looked at each other as 4000 appeared on their Duel Disk and without a second left to waste.

"DUEL!" They both shouted as the crowd in the airport stared at amazement at the duel that was about to take place.

[Inside Madison Square Garden]

Sega checked her Duel Disk and made sure everything, including her deck, was ready to go while Jesse and Tiburscia looked at her worriedly. They were currently in Sega's locker room, located in the depths of the arena, after Jesse and Tiburscia found out about the showdown and quickly rushed over.

"Sega…Um are you really sure about this? I mean, with everything that just happened, do you really think dueling Michelle is the best thing right now?" Jesse asked as Sega ignored him and continued to get ready for the duel that she was about to participate in. "Come on Sega, at least answer me." He stated as Sega turned her head and glanced towards the Crystal Beast duelist.

"Yes Jesse I have no choice but to." Sega responded as she made sure her deck was tightly tucked away in her holster. "This bitch really isn't giving me any options." Sega said as she turned towards the both of them.

"Sega, you don't need to take part in anything pointless." Tiburscia butted in. "There's no reason for you to duel Michelle when you already bested her once." He added as Sega brought her eyes down to the Hybrid tiger that stood on all fours beside Jesse.

"I know Tiburscia, but I just told you I don't have a choice." Sega answered back somewhat annoyed.

"You do have a choice Sega." Tiburscia replied back, causing Sega to look at him. "There's no need to beat a brat such as her again. There's nothing she has over you to make you do this." The Hybrid continued, but Sega cut him off.

"She knows I have a Hybrid, Tiburscia!" Sega shouted suddenly, causing both Jesse and the Hybrid's eyes to widen for a split moment. "If I don't duel her and shut her up, then I'll be up to my neck with people bum rushing me about you." She continued, glaring at her Hybrid. "Not only that, but the fact that I have a Hybrid is supposed to be a secret, so she knows something and I'm going to beat it out of her!" Sega exclaimed angrily as she turned her back on her Hybrid and Jesse, and started to make her way towards the door.

"Wait Sega…" Jesse called out, causing Sega to stop for a second and turn her head towards Jesse. "Tiburscia may be right on this one." Jesse continued. "It may be a good idea to sit this one out. I mean, whose going to believe Michelle anyway? Besides you got better things to worry about." Jesse finished as Sega slightly glared at Jesse after hearing what he had to say.

"I'm not backing out, not now and not ever." Sega started as she turned away from Jesse and Tiburscia again. "Once I'm done with Michelle, I'm going after Reba." Sega stated sternly as she was about to walk off when her Hybrid spoke up, this time in a strict tone.

"Sega, what are you thinking? I told you to stay away from Reba!" Tiburscia yelled towards her as Sega turned quickly and glared at her Hybrid, ready to argue in her defense. "She's too dangerous for you to deal with! Right now, you should focus on trying to find out if your friends are alright." The tiger suggested as Jesse nodded his head in approval at Tiburscia's statement.

"Tiburscia's right, Sega. Worrying about those two isn't going to do anything, but put you in harm's way." Jesse added as Sega gritted her teeth at the both of them.

"Look, I'm not backing out of my duel against Michelle." Sega began to argue back. "The moment I beat that witch, I'm looking for Reba and I don't care what you two say." She added to her argument. "I know that Reba had something to do with Duel Academy being destroyed, I know it. And when I find her, I'm taking her down, no ifs, ands or buts about it." She finished, crossing her arms.

"But Sega, what if she had nothing to do with Duel Academy!" Jesse shot back, causing Sega to look at him as he tried his best to reason with her. "We don't know if Reba was the one that actually destroyed Duel Academy, and for all we know, Reba could be using this to set up a trap or something." Jesse argued while Sega just shook her head angrily.

"I don't care!" Sega shouted back angrily. "I'm going to take her down no matter what! Trap or no trap!" Sega continued, glaring at Jesse.

"Listen to reason, Sega!" Tiburscia stepped in, trying to get Sega to see his and Jesse's way. "Think for a second, will you? If this is a trap set by Reba, wouldn't it be wise not to walk into it?" Tiburscia questioned as Sega directed her attention to the Hybrid. "You could be playing right into her hands, Sega!" He finished, sending a slight glare to his duelist.

"Whether it's a trap or not, Tiburscia, Reba is going to come and look for me anyway. So why not just take the fight to her and find out what she knows?" Sega retaliated, causing Tiburscia to bare his teeth at his duelist as he growled. "Besides I got a feeling she's the reason for a lot of things, but I won't know until I handle this little matter first." Sega said as she was about to walk out on both Jesse and Tiburscia, until she felt a hand around her wrist, stopping her from leaving.

Knowing the hand belonged to, she stopped in mid step and spoke without turning her head to look and see who it was. "Jesse…let go of me." She said slowly as Jesse had the look of determination in his eyes. "No matter what you say, it's not going to change my mind. So just let me go so I can take care of this." Sega finished as Jesse tightened his grip on her wrist and shook his head.

"I can't do that Sega…I don't mind you dueling Michelle, but I can't have you go after Reba." Jesse said seriously as Sega slowly turned her head towards him, casting him a glare.

"And why is that?" She asked as Jesse didn't back down from her glare.

"She's too dangerous Sega. I can't let you get yourself in a situation you can't get yourself out of." Jesse replied back.

"You don't know the first thing about me! I can take care of myself!" Sega shouted as she snatched her arm away from Jesse's grip.

"Sega, will you just listen to me for a second!" Jesse shouted back.

"Why should I!" Sega replied quickly, glaring daggers at Jesse, who glared back at her with the same intensity. "Give me one good reason why I should stand here and listen to you! Because you're telling me that I shouldn't go after the person that may have killed my friends! My only friends! The only people that I'm able to trust over anything! Tell me why I should listen to you! Please give me one good reason! Go ahead, I'm waiting!" Sega shouted out of anger and annoyance, not knowing that she finally started to make the Crystal Beast duelist's blood boil in frustration.

"Dammit Sega, you're so damn stubborn! I'm telling you not to go after Reba because Pegasus told me to protect you from people like her!" Jesse shouted back out of instinct, not realizing what he said until it finally came out of his mouth. His eyes widened as he spoke up again. "Oh…wait…that's not what I meant." Jesse started to say, after noticing Sega's reaction to what he said.

Sega stood there in shock, along with Tiburscia, who stared at Jesse. "You…You…What?" Sega stammered as she continued to look at Jesse with the same shock expression on her face before it changed to an angered expression.

"Sega…" Jesse let out a deep breath. "It's not what you think." Jesse began, trying to fix his mistake.

"Oh really? What is it then? Because it's obvious you were sent here to be my damn babysitter!" Sega yelled as Jesse closed his eyes for a moment and tried to calm the situation.

"That's not it Sega. Pegasus…he knows that something evil is going on and the people that are being targeted are the duelists with Hybrids." Jesse explained, while Sega continued to glare at him. "Pegasus knew you would be a pretty easy target since you're alone, so you can say he sent me as backup." Jesse said, trying to make Sega see the situation from a different perspective.

"So you lied to me?" Sega asked him, narrowing her eyes as she looked at him. "Everything you told me before this was a lie!" Sega shouted at Jesse, who raised his hands in defense. "You knew everything! You knew about my Hybrid…about me all along!" She accused him, her temper reaching its melting point.

"No…No that's not..." Jesse stammered, trying to find what to say to the angry girl. "I mean…I did but…" He paused to sigh as he looked at Sega solemnly. "Look, I didn't mean to lie to you, Sega. When I met you, I don't know…I just didn't want to tell you all that. But after getting to know you a little bit, I…I just want to protect you. I don't care what Pegasus says. I don't want to see you hurt, Sega." He said honestly, but Sega didn't buy into it.

"Save it Jesse! I don't need to hear anything else from one of Pegasus's lap dogs." Sega insulted him. "I don't need a babysitter watching over my every move. If all you came to do is sit there and monitor me, then you can leave!" She spat as she turned her back towards Jesse and began to walk off.

"Sega…Grrr…Arrgghh…You don't get what's going on here! The situation is bigger than what you can handle! Just let me explain and I'll tell you everything. I promise!" Jesse yelled back, causing Sega to stop in her tracks and slowly turn her head towards Jesse.

"Promise…Promise!" Sega yelled at the top of her lungs as she turned around and stormed towards Jesse. "Let me tell you one thing about promises, Anderson!" She called him out by his last name, which shocked him a little. "My real friends make promises that they don't break! My real friends will tell me the truth up front and never lie to me unlike some people! When I need help, my real friends have my back! Something that you, someone who called himself my friend from the beginning to only to tell me later that he was only playing pretend, seem to have no respect for!" Sega continued.

"Sega I…" Jesse started but Sega cut him off.

"It's people like you that makes me sick!" Sega interrupted, not giving Jesse a chance to speak. "Playing with someone's emotions just to get close to them and do God knows what!" Sega continued yelling at Jesse. Tiburscia, meanwhile, was more than shock about the information that Jesse said. He sat there and listened to the two go back and forth knowing that he didn't have a place to step in.

"Sega…I'm not like that." Jesse said sadly, but Sega still wasn't hearing it.

"Whatever Jesse. Leave me the hell alone." Sega said, indicating she was through talking to him. "Go back to sitting beside Pegasus' throne chair, waiting for your next meal. I'm going to do what I want and you sure as hell can't stop me!" Sega spat as she turned away from Jesse. "Come on Tiburscia, we're done here." She finished as she walked out the room for the last time, with Tiburscia trailing after her silently as they headed out to duel Michelle, leaving Jesse with his head slumped sadly, feeling like the dog that Sega had just called him.

[Somewhere else in Chicago]

Luna felt like she has been walking for ages, though it was only a couple of hours, trying to find any signs of her Dragon Duelist boyfriend. As planned, she was looking throughout the areas of Chicago, most kindhearted people try to avoid. Despite, searching for hours, Luna was coming empty-handed.

"…Still no sign of him." Luna sighed as she continued to walk around, looking around still. She pasted by worn-down buildings and old, unused roads, that needed to be redone and rebuild. She saw a few people walking about, but they were mostly poor families that could barely keep up with what they had. "This is horrible." Luna said to herself as she continued walking down the street, turning a few corners that led to the back alley way. She remembered this alley way well, since she saw it lead up to the damned laboratory while she was flying on her Dragon.

Deciding not to waste any more time, she walked down the back alley way that took her out of the sight of anyone on the roads. "I could have brought out Magna Dragon, but at a time like this, it wouldn't have been a good idea." Luna said to herself as the alley way she walked out branched out to several alley ways. "Dammit…which way now?" She scratched her head, as she looked from right to left at each pathway and tried to determine which one to follow. "I can't try them all. I need to pick one now. For all I know, the one I pick could lead me straight to where I think Rakaia is heading. So I'm going to pick that one!" She said to herself when she pointed to a path on her left side and started walking down its path.

It took a few minutes but felt like an eternity for Luna. The rocky alley way felt a little eerie, creepy and dark, despite the sun being high out in the sky. It made Luna feel like she was going to be ambushed from behind, so each time she heard something, whether she stepped on broken glass or it was something else, Luna was ready to defend herself if need be, despite her heart racing. "This place is giving me the creeps." Luna shivered, bringing her arms up under her chest and held them there.

Suddenly, she noticed the alley way starting to change from a stoned walkway to a dirt one, decorated with dead or dying grass. There was low fog settling close to the ground, something people don't see during the daytime hours like this. "Ok…this place just got way creepier." Luna commented as she then noticed something else, this time, she stopped walking altogether.

"A graveyard…what in the world…just great." Luna said to herself, shaking her head as she walked slowly into the slightly small-sized graveyard that could pull off the look of a haunted graveyard. It appeared that the graveyard had no keeper, since most of the greenery on the land was dead-black. There were no fences that bordered the entire graveyard. There was only a tall tree, dead just like the other forms of life, and gravestones scattered throughout graveyard with no flowers, indicating that no one has come here for years, if not, at all.

"Who would put a graveyard here in the middle of nowhere?" Luna asked herself as she walked through a dirt pathway that led to several gravestones on the ground. She looked at some of them, only to stop for a second and gasp a bit as she read several of the etchings on the gravestones, jumping from one to another. "Wait! That can't be!" Luna said in shock. Each gravestone she read practically had the same etching displayed: A Name, Birth date and Death date. What shock Luna the most was how close the deaths were to one another and there was something else as well.

"Oh no…They were just kids." She whispered softly. "Some of them were barely even teenagers." Luna said in shock as she felt her breath hitch at such sight. "Oh my goodness…" Luna covered her mouth as she discovered what appeared to be some sort of project number under the name of the kids that perished, along with the word Failure.

"Project 76 Failure…Project 77 Failure." Luna read out loud as she kept going through some of the gravestones to read that all of them said the same thing, except with different numbers on them. "I don't understand…these kids…Were they nothing more than lab rats? How could someone do such a thing?" Luna said as she stood up and looked around the graveyard. "This is cruel." Luna said as she walked through the graveyard some more, noticing several broken gravestones and some graves that were dug out but never had been filled with a casket or a body.

"These poor kids…I…I…I'm so sorry you had to go through this." Luna said to herself as she stepped back a few steps, not even glancing back to see where she was going, only to trip over a gravestone that was in the center of the graveyard. "Ouch…Damn." Luna said as she sat up and saw the gravestone that she nearly cracked her head on.

"Huh who's this?" Luna said as she looked at the words of the name of the person on the gravestone. "Priscilla Naiyamo." Luna said to herself as she lifted herself up and looked at the lifespan that was on her gravestone. "This is horrible…None of these kids deserved to die." Luna said as she turned to the right of the gravestone she was looking, only for her eyes to widen in horror and shock when she saw the gravestone next to the one she tripped over.

The name was clear to her. The year was on there as well, but the words under the year read something different, then all the others.

"Pro…Project 1…Suc…Succ…Success…" Luna uttered, as tears began to cascade off her face, unable to bring herself to read the rest of the gravestone anymore. "This…This can't be real…there's just no way…" Luna barely managed to cry out as she lifted her head up and forced herself to look at the name on the gravestone, despite the tears obscuring her sight.

"There's just no way possible…I…I…Just can't believe it." Luna stammered as her tears continued to run down her face. Not bearing to look at the gravestone anymore, Luna fell to her knees and buried her face in her hands and cried.

[Back to Rakaia VS Damien Duel]

BlackStar Dragon, one of Rakaia's new monsters, roared proudly as it hovered behind Rakaia and glared at Damien and his two mechanical monsters.

"What is that thing?" Damien said as he looked back at Rakaia, who was smirking proudly at the Dragon.

On the other hand, Priscilla stared at the dragon in shock. She couldn't believe that Rakaia, one of her best childhood friends would have such a monster in his deck. "Ra…Rakaia…Wha…What the hell is that?" She said telepathically as she pointed to the large monster, who continued to keep its eyes on its prey. "Where the hell did that thing come from?" She questioned as she looked at the mighty dragon in amazement, but still did not fully grasp the concept of Synchro Monsters.

"BlackStar Dragon." Rakaia answered her mentally. "It's one of the new cards I got a while back. I've been itching to use it during a duel and now's my chance." Rakaia smirked.

"I never have seen a monster that big before in my entire life." Priscilla said back. "It's…It's…I'm at a loss for words here."

Rakaia smirked at Priscilla's comment before he returned his focus on Damien. "What do you think? Pretty nice dragon, huh?" Rakaia asked, hoping to get the same speechless reaction from Damien.

Taking his eyes off the large dragon and looking at Rakaia, Damien closed his eyes and sighed. "Honestly, I've seen grass more ferocious than that dragon." Damien commented.

Rakaia growled at Damien's comment. "Trust me, you're gonna see how ferocious my dragon is." He started as he pointed to Damien. "In fact, let me start by activating his Special Ability! By giving up 500 Life Points, my dragon can take out one of your pieces of junk and wipe it out of existence!" Rakaia exclaimed, pointing towards Genex Solar. "BlackStar Dragon, show Damien that why you're more ferocious than grass!" He ordered as BlackStar Dragon wielded its staff, pointing it at a defenseless Genex Solar. Immediately, the dragon fired a large, black lightning bolt towards Genex Solar, who was obliterated almost instantly and causing a huge explosion on the field. Damien shielded his eyes from the smoke caused by his monster's destruction, and when he looked up, he gritted his teeth and glared at Rakaia.

"Dammit…" Damien thought as Rakaia took away the very monster that Damien was counting on to win the duel for him. "This isn't good…Hmmm…I shouldn't have underestimated him." Damien said to himself as Rakaia then pointed to his Genex Ally Triforce.

"If you thought that was ferocious, you haven't seen anything yet! BlackStar Dragon, let's finish clean up duty!" Rakaia shouted, his dragon roaring in agreement while Damien knew what was coming next. "BlackStar Dragon attack his Genex Ally Triforce with BlackStar Lightning Stream!" Rakaia shouted as BlackStar Dragon opened its mouth, charging up a huge white orb with black lightning sparking out of it. Once it was ready to fire, BlackStar Dragon didn't hesitate, firing the large stream of lightning directly at its target, Genex Ally Triforce, wiping all traces of it from the field. Damien once again shielded himself from the obliteration of his final monster while his Life Points dropped by 100 points, which is not a lot.

"Grrr…Damn you…Dragon Duelist…" Damien growled, glaring at Rakaia, only to widen his eyes a bit when he immediately noticed Rakaia's Life Points shooting back up and out of the danger zone. "How…How's that possible?" Damien asked in shock. "How did you get those Life Points back?"

"It's all thanks to my dragon's Special Ability. See, not only can he destroy one of your monsters by me paying 500 Life Points, but when BlackStar Dragon destroys a monster by battle and sends it to the grave, I get Life Points equal to the attack points of the monster he destroyed." Rakaia explained, his Life Points now reading 3300. "Neat trick, huh?" Rakaia asked sarcastically with a proud smirk on his face.

Damien gritted his teeth at the move Rakaia just made. Not only did Rakaia save himself from being beaten before Genex Duelist's next turn, but he managed to boost his Life Points back up, to a point where it looked like Damien barely touched him at all.

"Nice move there Rakaia!" Priscilla said excitedly to the only person who can hear her. "That was really awesome! Damien doesn't stand a chance now!" Priscilla said again as she looked at Rakaia and smiled at him as he gave her a quick smirk before he refocused himself back on the duel at hand. "With Rakaia dueling like this, this duel will be over in no time, and before we know it, we'll destroy that hellhole of a lab and free everyone's souls that trapped there and save Rakaia's life!" Priscilla thought to herself as she watched as Rakaia stood in front of his powerful dragon confidently as the duel continued on.

Damien growled some more, sending deadly glares at Rakaia before he closed his eyes, calming himself a bit and then reopened his forest green eyes. "Hmph. Not bad, Dragon Duelist, not bad. I have to say, I really am impressed." Damien remarked, sending Rakaia a small smirk. "You're definitely a strong duelist indeed, but you're not very bright." He commented, earning a glare from Rakaia. "You seem to have forgotten my Spell, Machine Assembly Line and its effect. Allow me to remind you. It gets two Junk Counters for each Machine-Type monster that is destroyed." He explained as the Spell reactivated and got 4 more of the same counters, giving it a total of eight. "Since you destroyed two Machine-Type monsters I had, my Spell gets four Counters." He finished.

"Like I care." Rakaia replied back as he folded his arms and stared at Damien. "I'll go ahead and play a face-down and end my turn." Rakaia insisted as he smirked at Damien, knowing that he had him where he wanted him.

Damien LP – 800
Cards in hand – 1
Monsters on the field – 0
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 1
Machine Assembly Line (Continuous) – 8 Junk Counters
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 10
Genex Ally Triforce (Monster Card)
Genex Solar (Monster Card)
Genex Searcher (Monster Card)
Genex Controller (Monster Card)
Genex Worker (Monster Card)
Genex Power Planner (Monster Card)
Unknown Card
Damage Condenser (Trap Card)
R-Genex Overseer (Monster Card)
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 3100
Cards in hand – 0
Monsters on the field – 1
BlackStar Dragon – ATK/2800 DEF/2400
Cards on the field face-down – 2
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 7
Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Monster Card)
Baby Star Dragon (Monster Card)
Dragon Weiler (Monster Card)
Swift Chaos Dragon (Monster Card)
Lava Burst Dragon (Monster Card)
Powered Tuner (Monster Card)
Double Summon (Spell Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Don't think you've won this duel just yet, Dragon Duelist." Damien stated as he quickly drew a card from his deck and quickly placed it on his duel disk without a second thought. "I play my own Pot of Greed." He said as the card appeared face-up on the field in front of Rakaia. "No need for me to explain this card. You already know what it does." Damien stated as he quickly drew 2 cards from his deck and added it to his hand.

"Then I play the Spell, Monster Reborn!" He shouted as a light shot up on the field.

Monster Reborn
Card Type: Normal Spell
Effect: Select 1 Monster Card from either your opponent's or your own graveyard and place it on the field under your control in Attack or Defense Position (face-up). This is considered a Special Summon.

"With this card I can bring back a monster from the graveyard and I chose to bring back, Genex Searcher in defense mode!" Damien said as the discombobulated monster he first summoned towards beginning of the duel reemerged on the field in its defensive stance.

"That weak excuse of a monster again?" Rakaia commented as Damien ignored him and pointed to his Spell card on the field.

"Now let me explain to you the real effect of Machine Assembly Line." Damien began as Rakaia looked at him waiting for him to finish. "You see those eight Junk Counters on it? By sending this card with those Junk Counters to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon 1 Machine-Type monster with a level equal to or less than the number of Junk Counters on it." Damien stated as his Spell Card started to disappear, along with one of its counters, leaving seven counters to join together and merge into a monster-like figure. "I Special Summon Genex Solar back to my field!" He shouted as the merging of the counters stopped before it started to glow brightly, until suddenly, Genex Solar was created from the counters and floated down next to Genex Searcher.

"Heh." Rakaia chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed genius, losing that Spell card of yours means your toy over there doesn't get a little power boost it so desperately needs. So how do you plan to defeat me?" He asked the Genex Duelist, who chuckled himself.

"Don't worry Dragon Duelist. I will defeat you one way or another, but for now, I play two face-downs and end my turn." Damien finished as two cards appeared on the field face-down behind his monsters.

Damien LP – 800
Cards in hand – 0
Monsters on the field – 2
Genex Solar – ATK/2500 DEF/1500
Genex Searcher – ATK/1600 DEF/400
Cards on the field face-down – 2
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 11
Machine Assembly Line (Spell Card)
Monster Reborn (Spell Card)
Pot of Greed (Spell Card)
Genex Ally Triforce (Monster Card)
Genex Controller (Monster Card)
Genex Worker (Monster Card)
Genex Power Planner (Monster Card)
Unknown Card
Damage Condenser (Trap Card)
R-Genex Overseer (Monster Card)
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 3100
Cards in hand – 0
Monsters on the field – 1
BlackStar Dragon – ATK/2800 DEF/2400
Cards on the field face-down – 2
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 7
Red-Eyes Black Dragon (Monster Card)
Baby Star Dragon (Monster Card)
Dragon Weiler (Monster Card)
Swift Chaos Dragon (Monster Card)
Lava Burst Dragon (Monster Card)
Powered Tuner (Monster Card)
Double Summon (Spell Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Now then…" Damien thought to himself as he stared at Rakaia, who was ready to begin his turn. "Let's see what he does next." He thought again as something entered the presence of his mind, alerting him to its presence.

"You seem to be having fun with this Dragon Duelist, young one." A soft, female voice spoke up from the back of his mind.

Damien closed his eyes for a brief moment and reopened them. "And for you to speak to me at a time like this means you want something." Damien replied, though his tone sounded a little aggravated.

The voice chuckled softly, her soft sounds echoed across his mind. "I do actually. I'm also very interested in that boy." She said, indicating that she's speaking about Rakaia. "There's something about his energy pattern that seems very familiar to me. In fact, I do believe that this boy, this Dragon Duelist, has a creature like me." She finished, making Damien glance over to Rakaia once again.

"A creature like you?" Damien restated, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You mean…"

"Yes. That is why I would like for you to summon me by your next turn." She requested calmly, making Damien's eyes widen a bit to her demand.

"Are you sure?" Damien asked the voice, still a little stunned by her request.

"Yes." She said simply, her presence disappearing from his mind. Damien closed his eyes again and sighed, reopening his eyes and refocusing on the duel he's in.

"Alright." Damien finished as Rakaia started his turn.

"I think you're running out of moves Damien." Rakaia said as he looked at Damien, unaware of the conversation that went on, and drew a card from his deck. "I, on the other hand, have plenty of moves left. Like this one!" He claimed as he pointed to one of his face-down cards. "I activate the Trap, Call of the Haunted!" He shouted as the face-down card flipped up and glowed as a small grave-like image appeared on the field.

Call of the Haunted
Card Type: Continuous Trap
Effect: Select 1 monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it in face-up Attack Position. When this card is removed from the field, destroy the monster. When the monster is destroyed, destroy this card.

Damien slightly growled as Rakaia continued. "This card allows me to bring back a monster from my Graveyard. And I think you know who I'm bringing out." Rakaia smirked at Damien, who blankly stared at him as a light shined next to BlackStar Dragon and then suddenly, a dark, dragon-like figure with bright red eyes appeared out of the light. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Rakaia shouted as his trademark monster roared back to life on the field with its 2400 attack points.

"Alright, with Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field, this duel is practically over! There's no way he can stand a chance with two strong dragons on the field!" Priscilla began to say, understanding the strategy Rakaia was going with.

"Now I activate BlackStar Dragon's Special Ability!" Rakaia shouted as he pointed at Damien's Genex Solar. "By paying 500 of my Life Points, BlackStar Dragon can destroy 1 monster on the field. So guess whose saying good-bye one more time!" He smirked, his Life Points dropping 500 points as BlackStar Dragon readied itself to destroy Genex Solar like before. But suddenly, Damien began to chuckle, making Rakaia (and Priscilla, who he still cannot see) look at him, wanting to know what was funny.

"What's so funny Damien?" Rakaia asked as Damien looked at him with a smirk on his face.

"Do you actually think I'm going to fall for that again?" Damien told him, making Rakaia grit his teeth as Damien thrust his arm forward. "I activate the Spell, Genex Safety Net!" He shouted as one of the face-downs he placed during the end of his turn flipped face-up.

Genex Safety Net
Card Type: Quick-Play Spell
Effect: Activate if a "Genex" monster you control is targeted by an effect of an opponent's Spell, Trap or Effect Monster. Negate the effect of that card and inflict 500 damage to your opponent.

As BlackStar Dragon pointed its staff at Genex Solar and fired the same Lightning attack as before, the card Damien just activated glowed, creating a force field around Genex Solar. The force field caused the lightning from BlackStar Dragon's attempt to destroy the machine monster to bounce off the force field and straight to Rakaia.

"What the hell!" Rakaia shouted, staring at the oncoming lightning. "What the hell happen! ARRRGHH!" He screamed as the lightning struck him for a brief moment.

"RAKAIA!" Priscilla screamed as Rakaia panted, dropping to one knee and holding his chest.

"What…the…hell…did that card do?" Rakaia panted, looking up at Damien, who held a confident smirk on his face.

"Simple. See, that card basically stopped your monster from using its Special Ability on my Genex Solar. At the same time, it gave you a little good try present, in the form of depleting your Life Points." Damien explained as Rakaia checked his Life Points and sure enough, his Life Points were done another 500 points.

"Dammit." Rakaia cursed as he stood up. Priscilla, on the other hand, looked at him with worry.

"You ok there Kaia?" Priscilla asked, checking to see if he's ok.

"Yeah…" Rakaia replied back, gritting his teeth. "That guy…he's starting to really piss me off." He finished as he pointed at Genex Solar again.

"Since my move didn't work, I guess I'll have to destroy your weak monster by force! BlackStar Dragon, attack!" Rakaia shouted as BlackStar Dragon opened its mouth to charge up a white orb of black lightning much like before. "Destroy Genex Solar with BlackStar Lightning Stream!" BlackStar Dragon did what it was commanded to do, firing the lightning with full force straight at Genex Solar. Damien simply smirked and waved his hand over his only face-down card.

"Some people just don't learn. I activate my face-down, Draining Shield!" Damien shouted, as the card flipped up on the field and started to attract BlackStar Dragon's attack towards it. "Draining Shield allows me to stop your monster's attack from destroying my monster, plus, as a bonus, I get a huge boost in Life Points, thanks to your dragon." He finished.

Draining Shield
Card Type: Normal Trap
Effect: Negate the attack of 1 of your opponent's monsters and gain Life Points equal to its ATK.

"Dammit." Rakaia cursed as his plan to take out Genex Solar backfired.

Damien smirked at the Dragon Duelist, while a light blue energy aura outlined him and increased his Life Points by 2800 points, giving him a total of 3600 Life Points. "You see, I'm nowhere near beaten." Damien stated as he smirked at Rakaia, knowing that he just brought himself back into the game.

"I can see that, but I still have one more monster left and you have no more face-down cards to save you." Rakaia said as he then pointed to Genex Searcher. "I guess there's one thing left to do! Red-Eyes, destroy that piece of scrap metal! Go, Inferno Fire Blast!" He ordered his favorite dragon as Red-Eyes opened his mouth and generated a huge ball of fire and shot it at the mismatching Genex monster, destroying upon impact.

"Alright Red-Eyes!" Priscilla cheered, even though the monster didn't inflict damage to Damien.

"Hmph." Damien slightly glared at Rakaia. "You're an idiot, you know that?"

"What did you say!" Rakaia shot back as Damien continued.

"You forgot about Genex Solar's Special Ability! When a Genex monster is destroyed and goes to the Graveyard, you take 500 points of damage from him!" Damien explained as Genex Solar charged up a ball of solar energy and fired it straight at Rakaia, who cringed when the blast hit him and drained his Life Points.

"Now I activate Genex Searcher's Special Ability!" Damien stated as a light shined next Genex Solar. "When Searcher is destroyed, he does the one thing he does best, and that's to find me a Genex monster in my deck with 1500 or less attack points so I can summon it. It may not be much, but trust me, it's a pretty useful ability." He said as he drew a card that came out of his deck. "I Special Summon another Genex Power Planner to the field in attack mode!" He finished as the same monster Damien summoned the first time appeared on the field.

"But why? Out of any monster that he could have summoned, why would he summon that weak monster?" Priscilla wondered out loud.

Unknown to Priscilla, Rakaia thought the same thing, but didn't say anything. He sent Damien a glare before he looked at his hand and realizing there was nothing else for him to do, but to end his turn. "I end my turn. Now make your move and make it quick." Rakaia said with a tad bit of spice in his voice.

Damien LP – 3600
Cards in hand – 0
Monsters on the field – 2
Genex Solar – ATK/2500 DEF/1500
Genex Power Planner – ATK/300 DEF/200
Cards on the field face-down – 0
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 0
Cards in the Graveyard – 13
Draining Shield (Trap Card)
Genex Safety Net (Spell Card)
Machine Assembly Line (Spell Card)
Monster Reborn (Spell Card)
Pot of Greed (Spell Card)
Genex Ally Triforce (Monster Card)
Genex Searcher (Monster Card)
Genex Controller (Monster Card)
Genex Worker (Monster Card)
Unknown Card
Damage Condenser (Trap Card)
R-Genex Overseer (Monster Card)
Negate Attack (Trap Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

Rakaia LP – 1600
Cards in hand – 1
Monsters on the field – 2
BlackStar Dragon – ATK/2800 DEF/2400
Red-Eyes Black Dragon – ATK/2400 DEF/2000
Cards on the field face-down – 1
Spell Cards on the field – 0
Trap Cards on the field – 1
Call of the Haunted (Continuous) – Red-Eyes Black Dragon
Cards in the Graveyard – 6
Baby Star Dragon (Monster Card)
Dragon Weiler (Monster Card)
Swift Chaos Dragon (Monster Card)
Lava Burst Dragon (Monster Card)
Powered Tuner (Monster Card)
Double Summon (Spell Card)
Cards Out of Play – 0
Field Spell – 0

"Someone sure is in a hurry." Damien commented sarcastically as he drew a card from his deck.

"You have no idea." Rakaia answered smartly. "You're really wasting my time with this duel. I have more important things to take care of than to deal with a weak duelist like you." He spat as he glared at Damien.

"More important things, huh? Like taking care of Alister?" Damien replied, understanding where Rakaia was getting at. "Tell me something then, if you don't mind. What's your deal with Alister? What could he have done to you that makes you so dead-set on finding him?" He asked Rakaia.

"He tore my family apart!" Rakaia shouted, making Damien stare at him as he continued. "You wouldn't understand all the pain and suffering my family had gone through because of him. He's the reason why my family has been torn apart for almost of my entire life! It's because of him my brother turned against us! It's because of him I lost my parents!" Rakaia screamed. "It's because of him that I…" He was about to finish but Priscilla cut him off.

"Stop Rakaia! Don't say any more. This guy doesn't need to know everything." Priscilla whispered while she floated next to him. "He's just trying to get under your skin. He's trying to rile you up." Priscilla warned.

Rakaia growled a bit before he spoke up to Damien. "Look, I don't need to tell you my deal with Alister. Just tell me where I can find him and I'll go easy on you." Rakaia told him, only to get a scoff from the Genex Duelist.

"Hmph, if I didn't know any better, you make it sound like Alister killed you or something." Damien said, not knowing that he hit the nail on the head. Rakaia glared at him darkly as Damien continued talking. "Hmph whatever. I don't know what exactly Alister did to you, but from what it sounds like, he basically ruined your life." He finished.

"All the more reason for you to tell me where he is!" Rakaia shot back. "See, someone like you will never understand what it's like to have everything you loved taken away from you!" He shouted, making Damien lower his head slightly, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. "Alister took that all from me! He ruined my life! That's why I'm going to settle the score with him!" He finished, glaring at Damien. "I'm going to make sure he never walks again!"

"Rakaia…" Priscilla whispered softly as she looked at him.

For a few silent moments, Damien stood there with his head lowered, his left hand balled up into a tight fist. "…Someone like me doesn't understand… You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Damien shouted all of a sudden as he glared at Rakaia, who was a bit taken back by his sudden outburst. "You don't know anything about me! You don't know what hardships I endured in my life! You don't know what has been taking from me! So don't stand there and think that you're the only one in this world who had a life that was ruined!" Damien shot back with anger in his voice, placing two fingers on the top of his deck.

"It's my move!" Damien shouted as he drew a card from his deck. He took a quick look at the card he drew and quickly slammed it on his Duel Disk. "I summon Genex Striker in attack mode!" He shouted as a light shined on the other side of Genex Solar and out popped a bomb-looking monster with 4 limbs and big, glowing blue-green eyes.

Genex Striker
Card-Type: Tuner Monster
Attribute: Wind | Level: 2
Type: Machine
ATK: 1200 | DEF: 1000
Description: When a "Genex" monster you control destroys a monster by battle, you can Special Summon this card from your hand.

Rakaia stared at the monster Damien summoned before glancing back at Damien, who continued his move. "You think that I don't know what it's like to lose someone you care for! You think I don't know how it feels to live in a life that you're constantly watching your back or waiting for your next meal! You don't know what it's like to live a life where everyday could be your last! You don't and you don't know what I have been through!" Damien screamed and at the same time, a white aura shined around him, making Priscilla look at him in shock.

"That aura…" Priscilla said to herself. "I've felt that aura somewhere before…" She thought as the aura began to intensify around Damien. "…It couldn't be…" She finished, widening her eyes.

"I'm going to show you what I've been through! All the pain! Suffering! Everything!" Damien continued screaming as his three monsters jumped into the air. "I tune Genex Solar and Genex Power Planner with Genex Striker!" He declared as his monsters performed the Synchro Summoning ritual right above the field. As they finished, the sky above Rakaia and Damien began to swirl, and at the same time, the wind was starting to pick up.

"What the hell…" Rakaia began to say as he felt the winds pick up even stronger than before. "Where all this wind coming from!" He exclaimed as he looked up to the sky. His eyes widened slightly as a large tornado shot out of the sky and headed straight towards the ground between him and Damien.

"The sound of dark hooves gallop through the thundering Heavens! Mighty gale, rip through the Earth and break the gates of Hell!" Damien began to chant as the wind grew only stronger and the white aura around him intensified into a beam of light and was shot straight at the tornado as it hit the ground. Rakaia took a step back as the light turned into a massive dark figure, with a pair of white, glowing eyes.

"What the…" Rakaia said stunned as he and an also stunned Priscilla saw the figure reared up, letting out a sound that they recognized as a horse sound.

"Synchro Summon, Appear now, Ixion, Hybrid of the Genex!" Damien shouted as the figure, who took on the appearance of a horse, spread its apparent wings and flapped them with great power, enough to slice the tornado apart and send strong gusts of wind everywhere.

Rakaia and Priscilla looked on in shock, their eyes widened when Damien mentioned the name of the figure that was powerful enough to slice a tornado. "Did he just say…" Rakaia started to say but Priscilla finished his statement for him.

"IXION!" Priscilla shouted as the said Hybrid monster towered over them, flapping its wings to stay in the air while looking down at them with its glowing white eyes.


Things are really starting to heat up here for our heroes. Ixion had appeared before Rakaia and Priscilla, Alexia and Mya are about to Duel, Chazz and Blair about to settle things as well. Luna discovers something horrific and Sega is out to pound Michelle and then Reba. How is this going to turn out for our heroes? Find out next time on Yugioh GX!

Luna: Hey has anyone seen my bra *Looks at the girls in the room*

Alexis: Wait *Looks at Luna* Yours is missing to?

Alexia: Well at least I'm not the only one that noticed it. Mine are gone as well.

Blair: I can't find mine either.

*The girls looked around the room and noticed Sega was missing and started to wonder*

Luna: You don't think that. *Luna was about to say, but the news came on*

News Anchor Woman: Attention the notorious Bra thief has struck again! I repeat the notorious Bra thief has struck again! *Shows Sega running down the street with cops chasing her with a arm full of Bra's in her arm.

Alexia: Hey! That's my favorite bra! Why the hell does she have my favorite bra! Answer me people! *Looks at the gang who could only shrug in confusion*

Luna: Why is she stealing bras period?

Sega on the news: YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME COPPERS! *Jumps over ledge and disappears in the night, causing a sweat drop to form on the heads of the heroines.*

Alexis: Didn't she just jump into the backyard?

Blair: *Nodding her head* Yep she led the cops right to the house. *Shakes her head*

Luna: Well guys and girls, while we go see why Sega is stealing all the bras in the city, why don't you go ahead and review the story and tell us what you think of the chapter. Till next time bye readers!