Disclaimer: I dont own Yugioh GX, yadda, yadda, yadda, bla, bla, bla, etc, etc.

So, this is just a preview of what'll be in the next chapter, because it's moving along pretty slow (working 11+ hours a day for almost two weeks straight really puts a damper on how much free time I have), and I wanted to give people something, even though it isn't all that much (at least, compared to what the full chapter will be.


Of Friends and Family (Preview chapter)

Setting:

Two duelists are standing opposite each other just outside Duel Academy. One is a teenage girl with orange hair, brown eyes, and wearing a white summer dress. Her name is Lily Taylor (daughter of Serenity and Tristan, also Jeremy's younger cousin; OC created by Bloodwitch Raven).

The other is an ordinary looking teenage boy wearing a white shirt, blue jacket, jeans and a green scarf. His name is Gale Storm (he's considering joining Duel Academy but first wants to see what it's like; OC created by Guestspirit).

The crowd watching includes Jeremy, his aunt Serenity, and Chancellor Sheppard.

*****Note: The actual duel itself will remain as shown, but most other things may be subject to change between now and when I post the full chapter.*****


"Mind if I go first?" Gale asked his opponent.

"Go right ahead," Lily offered, the two of them activating their duel disks and drawing five cards.

Gale: 4000

Lily: 4000

"Alright, I'll start off nice and easy by placing a monster in defense mode and end my turn," Gale said after drawing his sixth card, a face-down monster appearing in front of him.

"My turn then," Lily declared, looking over her cards for a moment before she made her move. "I summon Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame in attack mode." A bird like humanoid figure rose on the field, with bird legs, a tail, large wings and blue feathers covering most of its body. (4/1800/1200) "And now I'll have him attack whatever monster's hiding on your field." Shura rose into the air with a few flaps of its wings, then dived down at Gale's monster, which revealed itself to be a small purple figure with arms and legs, but with a body like a cobra. (3/1200/600) It was then struck by Shura's talons.

"That was my Gorgonic Golem," Gale spoke up. "And when he's destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, his effect activates, reducing the attack points of the monster that destroyed him to zero." Shura sagged a little as his attack points were drained. (4/1800-0/800) "And I'm not done yet, because I can summon this guy: Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon." A vicious looking purple dragon materialized on the field, covered in a bunch of wicked spikes. (4/2200/1100)

"Interplane-whatsit dragon?" Jeremy said, visibly confused.

"Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon," Sheppard clarified. "It's a monster that can summon itself from the hand whenever a monster the owner controls is destroyed and sent to the graveyard."

"Okay, you've got game," Lily admitted. "But Shura has a special ability of his own. You see, when he destroys an opponent's monster in battle, I get to summon a Blackwing from my deck with up to 1500 attack points, even though its effects are negated. So I'll pull out Blackwing – Boreas the Sharp." Another humanoid bird figure appeared, kneeling down in front of Lily, this one with smaller wings, larger claws and talons, and wearing a blue robe as well as a red scarf around its head. (5/1300/900) "I'll set one card face-down and call it a turn."

"So… first off, I'll activate Gorgonic Golem's second effect, removing him from my graveyard in order to target one of your face-downs so you can't use it this turn," Gale said as he grabbed and pocketed his monster. "Incidentally, you're not allowed to activate the card I'm targeting in response to Golem's effect. And with that done, I'll summon Great White in attack mode." A great white shark with a blue back came into existence next to Gale's dragon, safe that it had two arms and hands. (4/1600/800) "Now for some damage, my dragon's going to attack Shura." A mass of wild purple fire gathered in the dragon's mouth before being released, making short work of Lily's monster.

Lily: 4000-1800

"Great White, destroy Boreas the Sharp." At the command, the shark lunged forward, as if swimming through the air and chomped down on Boreas. "That's all for now."

"Come on honey, you can do this," Serenity cheered.

Lily smiled at her mother's encouragement as she drew her next card. "Don't worry mom, because I just pulled the spell Black Whirlwind, which I'm going to activate right before I summon Blackwing – Sirocco the Dawn." Lily's monster's feathers were mostly dark brown, with light brown feathers on its arms and legs, and blue feather covering its head. It was wearing a black chest piece with red markings and had an impressive wingspan and tail. (5/2000/900)

"Wait a minute, how can you summon a level 5 monster without sacrificing anything?" Gale questioned.

"By the fact that you control a monster and I don't, as per his effect. And when a Blackwing is normal summoned, Black Whirlwind activates, allowing me to search my deck for another with less attack points and add it to my hand. So I'll grab Bora the Spear, and since I already control another Blackwing, I can special summon him, no questions asked." The next winged beast had a blue tail and wings, a red head, beige torso and wielded a large spiral spear. (4/1700/800) "He also has another effect, once per turn, I can target one Blackwing I control, such as Sirocco himself, and until the end phase, he gains the attack points of all the others I have on the field." Bora then opened its mouth and let out a loud cry, energizing Sirocco. (5/2000-3700/900) "Here comes the fun part. Sirocco, attack Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon."

"I swear I get dizzy just hearing that name," Jeremy lamented as Lily's monster flew at the purple dragon, raking it with his claws and talons.

Gale: 4000-2500

"Unfortunately, no other monster I control can attack except the one targeted by Sirocco's effect, so that'll be all for now." (5/3700-2000/900)

"Not bad," Gale complimented his opponent. "But here comes a little payback. First I play Hammer Shot, and since it destroys the monster on the field with the highest attack points, I'm afraid you'll have to bid goodbye to Sirocco." A giant hammer came down from the sky, crushing Sirocco. "Then I summon Leotaur in attack mode." The monster that came to be was a furry humanoid lion wearing armor and wielding a sword in one hand. (4/1500/1600) "Now he's going to take out Bora the Spear. And before anyone says something about his attack points, he gains 500 when he's fighting a non-normal monster. (4/1500-2000/1600) Gale's monster lunged forward, cutting down Bora with a swing of his sword.

Lily: 1800-1500

"Don't think you're going to pull one over me that easily," Lily butt in. "Because I'm activating my trap, Black Wing Revenge, which summons two Blackwing - Black Crest Tokens since a winged beast monster was destroyed in battle." Two eggs materialized on the field, from which a pair of small blue chicks broke out of. (2/0/800) x2

"Even though Great White can't get to your life-points, he can at least take out one of your tokens," Gale said, his shark chomping down on one of the blue chicks. "One card face-down and that'll be all for now."

"Despite the difference in life-points, your daughter is holding her own quite well," Sheppard noted to Serenity, who gave a smile and nodded.

"Alright," Lily spoke up. "I play Cards for Black Feather, so I banish one Blackwing from my hand in order to draw two cards. And because of it, I can't special summon for the rest of the turn. But that's okay, because I have Blackwing – Kris the Crack of Dawn." This Blackwing was covered in blue feathers and wore a red vest with a gold outline, and a golden mask on his face. (4/1900/300) "Of course, since he was normal summoned, I can use Black Whirlwind, this time to add Kalut the Moonshadow to my hand. Next I'll place my token in attack mode…" (2/0/800) "And uses Boreas' effect from my graveyard, removing it from play in order to make my token invincible in battle, take no damage and destroy its target automatically. Now go on little guy, attack his big bad lion." (4/1500-2000/1600) The blue chick ran and stumbled forward, Boreas' ghost appearing beside it before it crashed into Leotaur. "Now Kris will attack Great White." Kris flew straight towards Gale's shark, cutting him up with a swipe of his claws.

Gale: 2500-2200

"I'll place this card face-down and end my turn."

"Actually, before my turn starts, I'll activate Dust Tornado to destroy your face-down." A tornado emerged from the trap, blowing away Lily's card, which was revealed to be Icarus Attack. "With that done, now I'll take my turn. And I guess I'll start off with Pot of Greed to draw two cards. One of which is a monster known as Hyper Hammerhead." What appeared on the field was a brown dinosaur that stood on two legs, with a beige underbelly, wicked claws, and a snout shaped like the head of a sledgehammer. (4/1500/1200) "Now something tells me it isn't going to be this easy, but I'll try it anyway. Attack her token." The dinosaur let out a roar and stampeded towards the apparently defenseless chick.

"You're right that it's not going to be that easy, because by discarding Kalut the Moonshadow from my hand, I can increase the attack points of a Blackwing I control by 1400, including my token." The little blue chick screeched as its power increased… (2/0-1400/800) though ultimately not enough, as Hyper Hammerhead came charging in, running over it.

Lily: 1500-1400

"I may not have been able to save the little guy, but at least I've prevented most of the damage."

"True enough. So I'll set one card face-down and turn things over to you once more."

"For my turn, I'll summon Blackwing - Damascus the Polar Night." Lily's next creature was wicked looking monster mostly covered in black feathers, with a sharp golden beak, claws and talons and holding a short sword in one hand that crackled with electricity. (3/1300/700) "And with Black Whirlwind, I add Blackwing - Jetstream the Blue Sky to my hand. Now Kris, attack his Hyper Hammerhead." The Blackwing in question flew again towards Gale's field, raking his claws across the enemy monster.

Gale: 2200-1800

"Whenever Hyper Hammerhead battles a monster that isn't destroyed, that monster returns to the hand."

"He's going to be in for a little surprise," Serenity commented as Lily grabbed Kris and put him in her hand.

"Damascus, attack his life-points directly." The dark feathered Blackwing raised his sword, shooting a blast of lightning straight towards his mistress' opponent.

"Sorry, but I'm not about to make things any easier than you are," Gale interrupted as he triggered his face-down. "I play Defense Draw, reducing the damage to zero and allowing me to draw one card." The lightning suddenly faded just before it hit Gale, leaving his life-points unharmed.

"Not bad, but before I end my turn, I'll give you something to chew on. Just like Bora, as long as I control a Blackwing with a different name, I can special summon Kris the Crack of Dawn, no questions asked." Kris appeared once again on her field, standing next to Damascus. (4/1900/300) "So we're right back where we started."

"She's doing well with taking advantage of her monsters' ability to quickly summon themselves to the field, much like you and the Six Samurai," Sheppard remarked to Jeremy.

"Yeah, I think that's one of the reasons she chose Blackwings," the Slifer boy replied. "She wanted a deck that was sort of like mine, while still being its own thing."

"I did not quite see that one coming," Gale admitted as he drew his next card. "No matter, I set a monster in defense mode and activate Dian Keto the Curemaster to boost my life-points by 1000."

Gale: 1800-2800

"And I'll finish up with one spell or trap card face-down. Your move."

"Okay… So, I'm going to forgo summoning any monsters and use Kris to attack whatever you've got hiding on your field."

"You'll be sorryyyyyy…" Gale said mischievously as his monster flipped face-up, revealing a green stone statue with a face and two hands. (4/300/2000) "You see, not only does Stone Statue of the Aztecs have 2000 defense points, but it also doubles the damage you take from attacking it. And just for good measure, I'll activate Castle walls, giving it 500 more defense points." (4/300/2000-2500) Kris then slammed into the statue head on.

Lily: 1400-200

"Ouch, that hurt," the Blackwing duelist winced as Kris bounced off the statue and crashed down on her side of the field. "I'll switch Damascus to defense mode…" The dark winged beast went down on one knee, arms crossed in front of itself. (3/1300/700) "Then set one card face-down and call it a turn."

"My turn again," Gale declared as he drew his next card. "I summon Dark blade in attack mode." A black knight appeared on the field, with spiky armor, a blood red cape and wielding two wicked swords. (4/1800/1500) "Then I equip him with Black Pendant, giving him enough points to take down Kris the Crack of Dawn and then some." A golden amulet with a large, dark jewel materialized around the dark warrior's neck. (4/1800-2300/1500) "Now let 'im have it." Dark Blade dashed towards Kris just as Lily revealed her face-down, a trap that showed a small winged beast holding a Graverobber trap card in its hands.

"I activate a trap called Fake Feather. Here's how it works: I send a Blackwing from my hand to the graveyard, in this case, Jetstream the Blue Sky. Then I can pick one normal trap in your graveyard and copy its effects. And I choose Defense Draw." Dark Blade then cut down Lily's monster, though causing no damage to her life-points.

"Well, you're still hanging in there, but I've got a feeling that it's going to come to an end pretty soon, so I'll just set this little number face-down, and you can go right ahead."

"Come on Lily, whatever he's got, you can still win this duel," Serenity cheered.

"Yeah… what she said," Jeremy pitched in, drawing a smile from his the two adults.

"Alright-y then, my turn."

"Hold that thought," Gale butt in. "I play Battle Mania, which puts all your monsters to attack mode…" Damascus uncrossed his arms and stood straight, forcibly complying with the trap's effect. (3/1300/700) "Then they have no choice but to launch an attack this turn."

"Not a problem, because I plan on attacking anyway. But first, I activate Creeping Darkness, banishing two dark monsters from my graveyard in order to add one from my deck to my hand with exactly four stars, like Blackwing - Zephyros the Elite. Then I'll throw in Unicorn Beacon, removing Zephyros from her hand in order to summon a monster that's removed from the game. So come on back, Sirocco the Dawn." Sirocco rose again on Lily's field, standing tall as he made his return. (5/2000/900) "For the final piece of my ensemble, I summon Blackwing - Fane the Steel Chain." A dark bird-man dressed in black ninja garb joined its brethren, seemingly appearing out of thin air. (2/500/800)

"Okay, I still don't see how you plan on winning," Gale said cautiously. "I mean, even if you use Sirocco's effect to combine your monsters' attack points, you can't inflict enough damage by attacking Dark Blade, plus Black Pendant would knock your life-points down to zero. And even if one of your monsters can inflict piercing damage, running over my Stone Statue wouldn't be enough to win."

"But unlike last time, I'm not using Sirocco's effect on himself, I'm giving the boost to Fane the Steel Chain." Sirocco and Damascus let out a shrill cry, transferring their power unto their ally. (2/500-3800/800) "Oh, and before I forget, Fane has a special ability which includes being able to bypass your monsters and attack your life-points directly."

"Oh yeah, you go get im!" Jeremy cried out enthusiastically.

"You heard the man, Fane. Now attack his life-points directly and end this duel." Lily's monster then leapt high into the air, throwing a pair of kunai that struck Gale's duel disk, depleting the rest of his life-points.

Gale: 2800-0