Hey everyone, yes it's been a while, no I'm not abandoning this fic, I'm proud of it, I like it. It's been fun writing it. I just needed a break. I went through a hard break up, and that really just drained me of my writing ability. But I'm feeling better now, I appreciate everyone's feedback and support, and I'm happy to get back to this. I'm also starting to do my own music stuff. Cool inspiration, huh? I'll let you guys know when it's done, and I'll leave a link to a website when it's done. Anyway, enough sadness and self promoting! I now present to you, chapter nine of Past Grief, makes Present Music. (yes I know it's been a long while, but I'm back at it at last!)

As Chazz was reeling from the prospect of being caught, he knew he had to win the duel against his friend, or he'd be in trouble.

"Now, I know you had a bit of fun with my sis, but I'm here to see what's under the mask. Now, we can duel for it, you win, you walk, but if I win, I get to know who's underneath, got it pal?" Atticus stood tall as he slotted his deck into his duel disk. Arming himself, Chazz pulled his out his duel disk before stopping himself.

'Shit, if I use my normal deck, he'll know right away who I am, and the mask thing will be useless, ah…..fuck...wait. ..my...other deck'. Reaching into the case, he pulled out a second deck, and slotted it into his duel disk. Atticus began to smirk as he drew his hand.

"DUEL!"

Chazz 4000 LP

Atticus 4000 LP

"I'll start this off Mr tall, dark, and Masky. I'll summon Troop Dragon in defense mode, then I'll set two cards face down and call it a turn" as the monster on his field, and two in his back row appear, he just lets his opponent make his move.

Deepening his voice so he wouldn't be recognized, Chazz draws his first card.

'Okay, one monster, not a great one, two traps, useful if I can get some dragons built up in the graveyard, and a few spells, not a lot, but it's something, maybe I can make this work.'

"My move! I draw, first, I'm summoning Blackland Fire Dragon in attack mode! Next, I set two cards facedown, and activate… Dragon's Nails, giving my Blackland Fire Dragon a little extra umph " Chazz was going all out, he had to if he wanted to stay hidden.

Blackland Fire Dragon

1500+600=2100 attack

800 defense

"Blackland Fire Dragon attacks your Troop Dragon! Dark Flare!" The dark green scaled dragon flew forward and with flames in it's mouth as it chomped onto the top of Troop Dragon's head.

"Before you go on, my Troop Dragon summons another one when he's destroyed!" another small Dragon appears on the field, taking the place of it's comrade in defence mode.

"Humph, well, fine, I end my turn" Chazz was sweating bullets as he tried to figure out Atticus' next move. "You know, stress never did anyone any good" The twin colored Dragon settled beside Chazz as they watched Atticus draw his next card. "Now is not the time for a lecture, help me win this, please?" Chazz was almost begging as the large dragon looked him over. "All I can say is make sure he doesn't get to his Red-Eyes monsters, those are his big plays" smacking his head he watched Atticus start his turn.

"Alright, now then, I activate Call of the Haunted, bringing back my other Troop Dragon, now, behold, Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" as the two smaller monsters disappeared a large serpentine dragon appeared, growling it reared as it landed on the ground. Atticus took a moment to admire the dragon beside him, before a smirk appeared on his face.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon

2400 attack

2000 defense

"Now then Red-Eyes, attack his dragon, now!" As Red-Eyes flies in, Chazz quickly pressed a button on his duel disk to activate a trap.

"Sorry pal, but I activated Defense Draw! I take no damage and I get to draw a card!" drawing the card he quickly took a look at it.

'Polymerization? Okay, good, but not useful until I get things to fuse together' looking back to Atticus he notes no extra face down cards.

"My turn is over, onto yours already" Atticus stands alongside his Red-Eyes triumphantly, both gazing at Chazz with the sole purpose of defeating him. Chazz on the other hand is panicking while he tries to come up with a strategy.

"I believe it would be good for you to draw Chazz, we're not going to win if we just keep looking at him, are we?" "That is NOT helpful right now. Ugh…. My turn!" Chazz draws the next card from his deck and takes a look at it, putting Dark Blade alongside the Polymerization he drew, he then smirks. 'Okay, so Damage Condenser can help me get out something a little stronger, but in order to do use it I'll have to take a big hit too, not ideal, but this is'.

"I'm activating the Spell Card, Pot of Greed! It lets me draw 2 more cards from my deck" as he draws the extra 2 cards, looking at his draws his eyes light up. He drew Dragon's Rebirth and call of the Haunted, useful cards, but not without another monster to summon out onto the field.

'Crap, okay, best just go with damage condenser and hope for the best' "I'm setting 3 cards facedown and ending my turn, your move!" setting Call of the Haunted, Dragon's Rebirth, and Damage Condenser down he hoped he could make some plays and save his secret from Atticus.

"My turn then? Draw!" looking at the card he just drew, he sets it in his hand and pulls another from his remaining cards, and slots it into his duel disk with a smile

"You may have avoided Red-Eyes' attack last turn, but you won't this time because now it's a card! I'm activating Inferno Fire Blast! You take damage equal to my Red-Eyes' attack points, go Red-Eyes!" Red-Eyes Black dragon soars towards Chazz, a red sparking orb beginning to form in it's mouth before it fires off the orb, directly hitting Chazz as his life points start to drop below half.

Atticus: 4000 LP

Chazz: 4000-2400=1600

"Now unfortunately my Red-Eyes can't attack you this turn, but unless you summon something huge next turn, this games as good as mine"

'Shit shit shit shit' Chazz's mind is racing as he pulled his next card from his deck, looking at it his eyes light up and a large smile breaks onto his face.

"I'm activating the continuous trap, Call of the Haunted, bringing back Blackland Fire Dragon from my graveyard" the green scaled dragon rises from the ground before starting to disappear.

"He won't be around for long because I'm activating Dragon's Rebirth to banish it to special summon Dragonic Knight from my hand!" as Blackland Fire Dragon vanishes, being replaced by a larger orange and grey dragon, armored from head to tail, a large shield adorns one arm, and a sword is clasped in it's other.

Dragonic Knight

2800 attack

2300 defense

"An excellent draw, but be wary of his facedowns, you just managed to get something strong onto the field, losing it will set you back quite badly" the twin toned behemoth noted to Chazz as he admired the monster that had just landed on the field.

"Dragonic Knight will attack your Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Draconic Slash!" Dragonic Knight rushes forward and slashes through Atticus' Dragon, cutting it cleanly in two, but Atticus didn't seem bothered, in fact he had a smile on his face as he activated his face down trap.

"Thanks for sealing your fate buddy, I activate the trap Red-Eyes Burn! If my Red-Eyes is destroyed, we both take damage equal to his attack points! I have 2400 to spare, do you?!"

As soon as Atticus finished his sentence, Chazz saw Red-Eyes appear from the ground before it exploded, he covered his face and eyes as the flames took what life points he had left, and dropped Atticus' by a significant amount.

Atticus: 4000-400-2400=1200 LP

Chazz: 1600-2400=0 LP remaining

Atticus Wins

"Shit…." was all Chazz could muster as he looked up and saw Atticus walking towards him, the smile fading slightly as he stood before him, then reached out a hand.

"That was a solid duel, but a deals a deal, time to take off the mask" he motioned towards it with a jut of his chin, studying it as he heard Chazz sigh heavily. Reaching up Chazz took off the mask and let it fall to the floor with a muffled clunk as it hit the sand.

"Chazz? You're the musician that everyone's talking about?" Chazz merely nods "With the Saxophone? And kissing my sister?!" Chazz merely nods again as he sits on the beach again, running his hands through his hair as he looked down at the sand.

"Yeah, it's been me, I've been playing music for years now, it's been an escape, a way to just get out and be me, no worries about my brothers, or tests, or duels, just music" he mutters and looks up to see Atticus smiling gently down at him as he sits beside him in the sand.

"Chazz, I'm not gonna tell anyone it was you, or that you're this so called masked musician they've been talking about, your secret is safe with me, however if you think you're gonna get away without performing at the upcoming dance you got another thing coming, you have to share your talent with everyone man, you have a gift"

"But…"

"No buts Chazz, and we're having a jam session too, no buts about that either, I want to see what you got, deal?" he gets up and holds out his hand to help Chazz stand up too. Chazz reaches up and grabs it before finally smiling back at his friend, feeling relieved that he has a friend to help him at long last.

Atticus finally taking the win, that's pretty great, he didn't see a lot of wins in the show, and Chazz finally gets some relief, even if it's by a loss. I'm hoping to start writing again regularly, because I've missed this something awful, hopefully you guys enjoy! See yall in the next chapter!