It's time to truly begin where fourth season started! Let's just get to it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or the rest of the franchise or any music in this story, I own Claudio Osbourne and the Jukebox Hero Archetype, aside from a select few made by all the authors/readers who submitted them. And all other OCs and cards submitted © original creators.
Chapter 9: Visitors from Darkness and Light
At night, a strange storm was brewing only causing a few thunderbolts to strike across the sky. But if one looks close enough, the lightning bolts were cracks that were breaking the sky apart. Also, white fog rolled through the land, obscuring visions on the ground. Stranger still, it was happening over Academy Island only while the rest of the world did not experience this.
After the storm settled, in the sky was a dark, ghostly face with a moaning expression that appeared from the cracks forming. After the white fog, it left white markings in front of the main Academy building of pale, ghastly face with a grinning expression. Both faded into nothing and left behind two silhouettes in their wake, one of a man with wings descending to the ground, and a woman carrying a bow and arrow on her back, running across the ground.
Morning came to the island, leading to Syrus visiting his older brother, Zane Truesdale at the secluded hospital near the hot springs. Zane was 19-year-old man with dark blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a white hospital gown. Ever since his return from the alternate dimensions, he had to be hospitalized due to his heart problems. Everyone thought when he started going through Underground Dueling Matches, where the participants had to wear shock collars to add excitement for the spectators, the electricity striking him was the problem. However, it was the cause of the cards he obtained from the Cyber-Style Dojo, the Cyberdarks. The cards dealt Zane prolonged pain every time he took cards from his deck. When he lost his last duel against a Tragoedia-possessed Zane, everyone thought he truly died from his heart failure.
Now he was recovering in a secluded place, being paid for by Seto Kaiba since Zane helped him get Duel Academy back from the alternate dimension it landed in.
Syrus walked into the room, seeing Zane sitting up with a calm look on his face.
"Hey Zane," the Transformer Duelist greeted as he sat down next to his brother.
"Good to see you, Syrus," Zane replied. He then looked over his brother, seeing the Obelisk Blue Uniform covering him. "I know you said so in your Duel Pilot, but seeing you promoted to Obelisk Blue is a better sight. You truly come a long way..."
"Thanks," Syrus smiled. "It's been rough getting myself up there, but the Vice-Chancellor didn't make easy on me or the other duelists."
"Yes," Zane nodded. "Etna Belmonte, right? Alexis, Atticus, Jeremy, Alex, and Lily have come to see me as well." He shifted his head to the flowers and cards on his bedside, telling him to get well soon. "They've been through an entire ordeal but wanted to leave out stuff involving you. All I know is that you had Chazz's help in getting there."
Syrus nodded, recalling his Tag Duel to his brother and having to face the two duelists that used to hang around Chazz before he was demoted. After hearing about the Fusion Monster needed to win, Zane gave a proud smile to his brother.
"That's impressive," Zane stated. "And after changing your deck, I haven't heard about you using Power Bond in a while."
"While testing the new Synchro Monsters, I figured I'd have to put that in a Side Deck with all my Fusion-based strategies." Syrus noted. "I know that the next step is having to combine both Fusion and Synchro in a single Duel. The ABC monsters were a good step in not using a separate card to combine them."
"Seems, you're thinking about the future." The elder brother nodded. "Good. I can't wait to hear how your answer to that."
"Yeah," Syrus nodded. "Well, I have to get back to school work. Being an Obelisk Blue means I have to keep up the good work."
"As you should," Zane chuckled. But as Syrus neared the exit, "Also, how's Jaden and Claudio doing?"
The small Obelisk sighed as he turned around with a forlorn expression, recounting how the two Hero Duelists were acting after they returned to their own dimension. He even spoke up about the intervention they had, telling about how they would have to fight to make sure everyone had a good life.
Zane gave a sad chuckle, "There's more to it..."
"What?" Syrus gasped.
"They're still hiding something," the Cyber-Style Duelist replied. "Sure, they might be sad about killing their own monsters and using their cards bringing bad memories... But there's something they can't bring themselves to say just yet. This is something everyone will have to wait for them to come out to. It might be tough to explain."
The young Obelisk nodded, "Thanks Zane."
"No problem..."
Syrus walked off, leaving Zane to leaning back on his bed.
"And they better be ready when that time comes," the elder brother said as he closed his eyes.
While the brothers were talking, two animals were running out of the main building with packages in tow. The first was a brown, chubby cat with black markings on the sides, carrying a package in his mouth. This was Pharaoh, the pet cat of the deceased Lyman Banner, the former Slifer Red Headmaster. The other was brown, furred monkey with a duel disk around his left arm and a package underneath his right. He also had voice necklace around his neck. This was Wheeler, a monkey who begun to work around Duel Academy in exchange for food for his family and cards to improve his primate-themed deck. The two animals ran towards the Slifer Dorm.
In fact, inside Slifer Dorm, Jaden and Claudio were talking amongst each other in the former's room.
"So, they know we have our old monsters." Jaden sighed. "At least we haven't told them about the other thing..."
"Yeah, you'd know they freak to tell them we have our Monster's souls inside us." Claudio replied. "Well, you do... It's more like remains in my case..."
Seeing the uncomfortable look on his face, the E-Hero duelist decided to change the subject. "You hear about the messed-up stuff going around the Obelisks and the demoted students?"
"It's all the rage..." the J-Hero duelist joked. "It's stupid to target the ones that passed and even getting at the Vice-Chancellor. They should take it up with Seto Kaiba since he's on the hiring slip. It's stupid to think that Alexis, Kenji, and the others are getting alienated."
"At least Professor Sojourner is giving them a place to stay until everyone cools off," Jaden nodded.
"Oh, I've heard about the new Vice-Chancellor! A lot of things have been happening since my untimely passing!" A disembodied. German-accented voice called out to them. "And it is such a shame to hear about the other students..."
Both Hero duelists gave a soft smile hearing the new voice in the room. A yellow light was now floating around them. This was the Lyman Banner, the former Slifer Red Headmaster and currently a ghost haunting the Slifer Dorm.
"Mr. Banner," Claudio said, "You're still around?"
"Surprising, huh?" Jaden asked with a smile. He then looked to the ghost. "I thought you would have gone to the afterlife by now."
Banner chuckled, "I'm comfortable where I am."
"That's different," Claudio shrugged. "A ghost that doesn't want to move on?"
"Probably some unfinished business," Jaden noted.
Banner couldn't help but think about what happened to the boys, hearing the conversation last night about them returning from the alternate dimensions. 'You two have found your true selves... But that may lead you down to different paths than the ones you two originally wanted to walk...'
A cat hissing broken the ghost's thoughts, prompting him to freak out when he saw his pet cat loom over him with Wheeler by his side. Seeing this, Banner tried to float away but the cat leapt on the table to catch him into his mouth, dropping the package into Jaden's hands. Wheeler then walked over to Claudio and handed him his package.
[Packages for you!] The monkey's voice modulator announced.
The Hero Duelists looked to each other confusingly until they unwrapped the packages, to reveal two cell phones. Jaden's was red, Claudio's was yellow. They also had a message that said, "Call this number..." With the number, being the same.
The boys called the numbers, waiting for the ring tones to answer. Once done, they both heard the same voice. [Jaden, Claudio... Long time...]
The Hero Duelists gasped when they heard the voice. "Mister Scrapper!?"
Across the sea, was Kaiba Corporation in Domino City. Inside the security room, wearing a headset and mic was Seth Scrapper, also typing away at a computer that monitored the phone calls from Jaden and Claudio.
"Good to hear that you two returned safely," Seth stated with a stern smile. "Although, it's sad to hear that three others didn't make it."
[Bastion's fine wherever he is,] Jaden replied. [He's with reliable people and Duel Spirits.]
[And from what happened, Adrian and that girl, Echo, are the ones that's dead.] Claudio noted. [They were absorbed into Yubel and Trageodia.]
"I see," Seth sighed, remembering his ordeal in the Alternate Dimensions. He went to chase Echo back to Duel Academy but wound up in the middle of the Dark World/Fabled War and then the Supreme King/Drowned Emperor Wars. "In any case, I've come to warn you two about something. Kaiba Corporation received a call about the cards at Duel Academy not being summoned through the Duel Disks."
[What!?"] The Hero Duelist gasped.
"Mr. Kaiba was skeptical about it," Seth continued as he also brought up the schematics of the latest Duel Disks on his computer. "He's said that it can't be the systems, due to having data on a group of duelists on the island still able to use theirs... Yours included, boys. Naturally, they also called Industrial Illusions and Mr. Pegasus reached out to us. They rejected that the cards could be the problem due to the shipment they recently sent out to the Academy being hot off the press, ones you also have access to as well."
[Then you must be saying that neither are the cause but something not of this world] Jaden figured.
"Exactly," Seth smiled. "Glad to know you've increased in intellect, Jaden Yuki. After everything we've all experienced, there was no leaving it to chance. Kaiba Corporation installed systems that detect unnatural occurrences after the disappearance of Duel Academy months ago. There were some happening in the early morning where a brief storm only happened on your island and not anywhere else surrounding it."
[Damn!] Claudio cursed. [Jaden, you thinking what I'm thinking?]
[Yeah...] Jaden said with conviction.
"You two know something about this?" Seth asked. "If you do, then I need you to find out what's what. Report anything unusual to me. I'll also have some representatives from Kaiba Corporation and Industrial Illusion coming over to the island soon to help. You'll know who they are when you see them. I'll also be in touch." After hearing an affirmative from the boys, he hung up and looked at his screen. It was the Abandoned Dorm of Academy Island, "Maybe this will solve some problems revolving around this place as well. It's been too long."
All over Academy Island, Seth's words were found true. Many people whether in the Dueling Arena, or just playing around the island, whenever someone had played a card on their Duel Disk, the card's hologram didn't spark to life. No matter how hard they tried, nothing worked out. The students found themselves returning the cards to card shack, to the owner, a middle-aged old woman named Ms. Dorothy. She was overwhelmed at how many requests to refund the cards, even though she told them that she just sells the cards and had no idea how they connect with the duel disks.
Soon enough, the words reached the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor and called out several students to answer their call.
Chazz Princeton, Kenji Yuuyami, Alexis Rhodes, and Melody Hikarii.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Sheppard addressed the four students. "Thank you for coming to us."
"No problem, Chancellor," Melody said as the four students bowed in respect. "We heard the problems going on."
"Yes," Etna nodded. "The duel system at our school is malfunctioning."
"Even though that's weird in itself," Alexis figured. "It hasn't happened to us and few others."
"We did think the cards could be the problem..." Kenji mused.
Chazz smirked, "It is. I'm sure the people just damaged their cards, out of neglect for their proper care."
Soon, the five Ojama spirits appeared around him with looks of disbelief.
"He's the one to talk," Black scoffed.
"Yeah, he's drawn on our cards plenty of times," Green noted.
"He's always neglected us," Blue growled.
"But why do we still work on the Duel System?" Red mused.
"Maybe it's the love the boss has for us!" Yellow exclaimed.
Soon, Melody's, Alexis' and Kenji's Duel Spirit, Dark Magician Girl, Cyber Tutu and Star Ninja Kaabii appeared and scolded them.
"It seems to me you have a pretty lame boss!" Cyber Tutu scoffed.
"None of our partners had to draw on us to gain recognition." Dark Magician Girl noted with a smirk.
"Poyo! Poy!" Kaabii shouted and blew his tongue at them.
"Hey that's hurtful!" The Ojama shouted back.
The argument reached Chazz as he muttered, "Get lost you five!" The Ojama quickly vanished, also prompting DMG, Tutu and Kaabii to giggle at the fight. Alexis and Melody smiled at the exchange while Kenji continued to address the faculty.
"The new Duel Disks could have been defected after use," the Ninja Duelist noted.
"However, we could suspect the cards that didn't work," Chazz added.
"Well, Industrial Illusions is sending an engineer to check the cards that are having problems." Sheppard noted. "So that he can deal with them swiftly after he arrives. I'd like you to round up the dubious cards in advance."
Etna stated, "Also, according to the Chancellor and Dr. Crowler, we haven't put the affairs in order after the most recent incident. Therefore, we ask of you to take care of this."
"Understood," Chazz replied formerly. "It's the job of us Senior Students to help when there's trouble on campus, isn't it?"
"We'll be sure to ask all the dorms for help," Alexis stated as she and the students bowed out. "And swiftly ascertain the problem's nature."
Seeing the leave, the Chancellor couldn't help but smile sadly, "They've become reliable young adults. But they'll graduate soon, also, eh?"
Etna nodded with a smile, "But isn't that we came into this line of work? To see young people like them reach their potential and send them off into the world?"
Pretty soon, Chazz, Alexis, Kenji, and Melody gathered up a few of the people from the other dorms. From Slifer, Masaki Oda, a duelist using the Shonen Heroes. From Ra Yellow, Tyranno Hassleberry and Mikoto Kazehana, and from Obelisk Blue, Syrus Truesdale, Sam Warrington, and two new people; the first was a boy with lime-green hair and brown eyes wearing the Elite Obelisk Blue uniform consisting of a white blazer with blue trimmings and the second was a girl wearing the standard girls' uniform only with a black shirt with same blazer as the new guy. She had metallic pink shade of hair and deep brown eyes.
"Hey guys," Hassleberry greeted. "I've heard that the cards have been malfunctioning around the school."
Alexis nodded and explained the situation to the other students. "We've been asked to round up those cards."
"That explains it," Mikoto nodded. "Even with the four of you, it's still a tall order."
Syrus nodded, "In that case, I can help out with the Yellow Dorm with Hassleberry, Melody, and Mikoto."
"Thanks for the help, Sy," the Jurrac Duelist smiled, patting his senior on the back.
"Alexis and I will help out with the girls," Sam stated, but then turned to Cyber Angel Duelist, "But are you sure? I heard some stuff that the girls have alienated you and Kenji from the Blue Dorms."
Kenji frowned, "Dr. Crowler and Mrs. Wilde have told the students there to place their cards at the lobby along with their names. We just need help in transporting them..." He then turned to Chazz, "You can leave that to me."
"Sure," Chazz nodded, "I can go to the computer and check the system."
"We can help you," the new boy said as he gestured to the new girl as well.
"That's right," the new girl replied. "We're pretty tech-savvy, so computers are like second nature to us."
"Oh right," Alexis noted. "Yusuke Fujiwara and Rayna Mikuro. Thanks for helping us on such short notice."
"No thanks needed," Yusuke smiled. "We're just happy for the opportunity."
"Although," Rayna asked as she pointed to the Red Dorm. "Who's taking care of the Red Dorm?"
Everyone except Yusuke and Rayna looked at the dorm with a sad expression.
"I can take care of that," Masaki replied. "It'll be easy even with the new arrivals."
"Not to mention, we know that Jaden and Claudio's cards are sure to work," Melody figured. "I should go talk to Allyson later."
"He may need time to himself," Chazz figured.
"Right, after the intervention you all had with him," Sam sighed. "Who knew they that would pour their guts out like that? I can't blame them for it, though..."
Yusuke and Rayna nodded in understanding as everyone set to work.
Soon, Syrus walked along with Hassleberry, Mikoto, and Melody and had a question to ask.
"Hey guys," He asked. "Who was the guy and girl that was with us again?"
"You mean Yusuke and Rayna," Hassleberry asked back.
"Oh right," Melody said, tapping her head lightly. "Sometimes I forget about them, too?"
"Really?" Mikoto wondered. "Those two have been with you two since your first year!"
"Not to mention he's best pals with you two, Jaden and Claudio!" the Jurrac Duelist stated.
"Oh right," Syrus chuckled embarrsingly.
Melody also blushed having forget the two people.
However, Dark Magician Girl appeared behind them with a confusing look.
At the central computer in the main building, Chazz, Yusuke, and Rayna appeared at the glass door security system.
Chazz took out his Duel Pilot and asked his two partners, "You've brought your Pilots, right?"
The two new students gasped as Yusuke stated, "We've forgot them at our dorms."
Chazz looked at the two of them with a scolding look, "What's wrong with you two? This is the heart of Duel Academy, you need them as they serve as your IDs!" It was then he got a confusing look on his face, "Wait as second, who are you two again?"
It was then Yusuke and Rayna's eyes flashed red and pink respectively causing Chazz's eyes to take on that color for a brief second before getting his answer.
"Come on, Chazz," Yusuke smiled, "We all known each other for three years, haven't we?"
"Besides," Rayna stated with a smile of her own, "Remember, I was the one who gave you advice about dating after Atticus failed in helping you with Alexis?"
"Oh..." Chazz mused. "Right?"
"You haven't talked to her about it?" the pink haired girl said with a disapproving look. She then sighed as she took Chazz's Pilot and scanned the door, letting it open. "How about this, you go talk to Sam while Yusuke and I check out the computers."
"Okay," the Ojama duelist said as he begun to leave. He suddenly stopped and blushed at what just happened. "Hey, you weren't supposed to talk about that! You promised!"
Yusuke and Rayna grinned as they waved at Chazz when he walked away in huff.
"How did you do that?" Yusuke asked.
"It was in his memories," Rayna replied. "He has certain feelings for this girl named Sam." But then she got a serious look. "But now we can find what we're looking for."
"Right!"
Inside the computer room, Yusuke was scouring the files on the screen. Rayna also looked on with a worried look.
"Master," Yusuke muttered, looking at the screens showing the buildings on the island. "Where are you?"
"I only hope she's okay as well," Rayna sighed. "They were last seen together when they were..."
"Don't worry," the Obelisk Boy stated. "This is why we formed an alliance; we can help each other with our partners once we find them."
Rayna nodded with smile, "Thank you." She then looked at the screen and gasped, "There it is!"
It was then one building stood out. The Abandoned Dorm, also once known as the Millennium House.
"Now we can..."
Yusuke's words were interrupted as Alexis' face came on the intercom.
"Yusuke, Rayna, how are things over there?" She asked them.
Pressing the button, Rayna responded. "Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Then come back to the meeting room," Alexis replied. "We have all the cards."
At the meeting room, the students gathered to see the stacks of cards assembled. The second years were in awe at the large number of cards.
"There are lot of these!" Sam exclaimed.
"I'm sure glad that's not every card on the island," Mikoto sighed with relief.
"Yeah, it's this is an alarming matter," Kenji noted while Chazz nodded.
Alexis and Masaki then showed four clipboards for each of the dorms.
"And here's the list of the cards' owners," the Shonen Hero Duelist stated.
"And after the engineer checks them, we'll have to return them all to their owners," the Cyber Angel Duelist also explained.
Kenji did a double take at the cards and narrowed his eyes, 'Hold on... are these cards... Black?'
Soon, Yusuke and Rayna appeared knocking him out of his thoughts.
"You guys are late," Chazz said to them, "We're finished here collecting the cards."
But once they saw the cards, they gasped as they saw aura of darkness surrounding the piles. Seeing this, everyone looked concerned while Kenji gave a disapproving look to them.
'They can see it, too!?' the Ninja duelist thought.
"Wh-what are you going to do with these cards?" Yusuke asked with a wavering voice.
"We'll store them in a safe place until the engineer from Industrial Illusions arrives, naturally," Chazz shrugged.
"You can't do that!" Rayna shouted alarmingly, "We have to destroy them! These cards are dangerous!"
"She's right," Yusuke added with urgently, "We need to burn them!"
Everyone gasped at what they were hearing.
"We can't do that," Alexis told them, "Cards are a duelist's soul, even if many of the people forget about that logic."
"That's right," Syrus nodded.
"We'll keep them safe in the vault." Chazz stated.
Yusuke and Reyna gasped at what they were hearing, having no choice but to let them store the cards in briefcases.
Soon, Alexis and Chazz took the cards into the vault and left the on the table before taking their leave.
However, hiding behind two cabinets were Yusuke and Rayna. They ran over to the suitcases and opened them up, gasping as the dark auras were leaking out of the suitcases.
"We have to destroy them now!" Yusuke said to his partner. Rayna nodded as they looked at the cards once more. Their eyes flashed red and pink, ready to torch the cards when...
Two kunais struck the lids of the suitcases, closing them before the two Obelisks fired at the cards. They stood back in shock before looking up at the ceiling, their eyes widened seeing Kenji standing upside down.
"Why are you trying to destroy the cards and who are you two!?" Kenji shouted, poised to attack once more.
Yusuke and Rayna stood out of shock when they saw a dark aura surrounding the Ninja Duelist. They then narrowed their eyes.
"You're the cause of this!" Yusuke growled as his eyes glowed again and fired red beams. Kenji quickly moved out of the way, letting the beams hit the ceiling and leaving a hole. The Ninja Duelist dashed towards Yusuke and attacking with hand chops and kicks. He was surprised that Yusuke was effortlessly dodging them. "Why are you protecting those tainted cards!?"
Seeing an opening, Kenji landed a kick that sent Yusuke crashing into the wall and left him slumping on the ground. Rayna then ran over to help her comrade, but the Ninja Duelist threw a ball that expanded into a net that caught and sent her to the ground.
"So, you do see the dark auras." Kenji stated as he eyed the Obelisks. "However, destroying those cards will cause the duelists who owned them to be angrier than they are! If you know something about why the cards are acting this way, then you both will talk!"
Yusuke growled, "A human will never understand about the cards' true nature."
The Ninja Duelist frowned, "You're not humans?"
Suddenly, a pink blast hit Kenji from behind and launched him into some boxes that buried him. The culprit was Rayna, who fired the blast from her hand and freed her from the net. Yusuke quickly joined her and opened the briefcases. Using their powers, they fired at the cards and blasted them to burnt pieces and ashes.
"NO!"
Kenji yelled out as he jumped out of the pile of boxes. He stared in horror as he saw the cards burning and his attackers running away. Swiftly, he activated the fire alarm which caused the bell to ring and the sprinklers to douse the room in water before pursuing the culprits.
"You will pay!" He shouted as he raced ahead.
Little did he know that the burnt cards were now leaking dark smoke that grew immensely and followed the Ninja Duelist. And if the smoke passed anyone by, no one noticed it in the slightest…
But once the smoke reached outside, there were two spirits that noticed the smoke pass through the courtyard and heading for the forest. One was the small, brown and furry monster with wide, purple eyes, green limbs and white wings on its back. This was Winged Kuriboh.
The second was a tall man with frizzy brown hair with white streaks on his head, wore black jeans and a t-shirt that had three circles crossed with a triangle. This was Jukebox Hero Coheed Cambria.
"This isn't good!" Coheed gasped. "We need to warn Claudio and Jaden! It looks like it's starting!"
Winged Kuriboh nodded and planned to fly away, but then noticed something else tangling with the dark smoke. "KURI!"
Hearing his friend's cry, the J-Hero looked in the direction and gasped as he saw white worms slithering out of the ground and into the forest like the smoke.
Turning to Winged Kuriboh, Coheed Cambria shouted, "We need to go get them! NOW!"
The winged monster nodded as they both set off to the Slifer Dorm to warn the boys...
In the forest, Yusuke and Rayna ran towards their destination...
"Do you think that this Kenji fellow works for... him?" Rayna wondered. "That aura..."
"There's no mistaking someone who has that much darkness within him," Yusuke growled. "He would have helped us if he knew about the cards. But there's no time... We need to find our Masters! They're the only ones who knows how to stop this madness!"
Minutes later, the two 'Obelisks' had made it to their destination...
The Abandoned Dorm... Once also known as the Millennium House, the old site of the elite student dorm.
"This is the place," Yusuke stated.
"Then let's find them!" Rayna exclaimed.
Suddenly, a loud rustling was heard behind them and prompted them to look. They gasped as they saw the trees being crushed down by a cloud of darkness. Once it lunged for them both, they quickly rolled out of the way in different directions. As if realizing this, the dark cloud started to pursue Yusuke, thinking it could find the girl later...
Yusuke ran as fast as he could, knowing that the darkness was right behind him. He could only pray that he could get it away from Rayna long enough for her to escape and finish what they started.
He then gasped as he saw a cliff face blocking in his way, prompting the dark cloud to surround him. Seeing this, he grit his teeth saying, "Is this the end!?"
"Is this one of them?"
Yusuke gasped as he looked up to the cliff and found someone he didn't expect...
It was Jaden Yuki! And he was currently asking the Winged Kuriboh spirit, who chattered in the affirmative. It was then the Slifer Duelist jumped from the cliff and in front of Yusuke.
"Step back," He said in a serious tone, "I'll talk with you later." Yusuke took his word and then back away when he saw his chance. The E-Hero duelist then turned to the darkness in front of him, "Stop hiding and come out." He then smirked, "Let's settle this with a duel."
The dark cloud laughed as it started to solidify into a human shape, "I was not expecting a human who could sniff me out."
"I have a few strange powers that led me to you," Jaden stated, "I can sense those who are trying to abuse the power of Duel Monsters… Like you..."
"I see..." the darkness mused, "Indeed, I sense something unusual inside of you. But you do not appear to be on our side."
It was then the human-shaped darkness started to develop with pitch-black cards that brought the being talking into the light. It was a man wearing a black, leather suit with dark orange outlines, with sharp spikes placed at several points, and wearing a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes.
Jaden scoffed, "I'd rather die than work with someone like you."
Raising his left arm, the dark man morphed it into a duel disk. And unlike the mechanical ones, this was seemingly attached to him in all form. The deck holder was on top of his hand and the disk was stretched out of his arm.
"Then I will kill you as you wish," the dark man stated. "I must eliminate anything that might pose a threat to us."
Jaden responded while activating his own duel disk, "But you're the one that's going away."
Yusuke looked confused as to how Jaden was acting like this. After hanging around his friends and manipulating their memories so that he and Rayna could be added, he had no knowledge of Jaden acting serious in duels.
Both players drew their opening hands.
DUEL!
Jaden: 8000
Enemy: 8000
"I'll start first," the shadow duelist announced, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Dark Archetype in attack mode!" A dark portal opened from the ground, unleashing a bizarre monster that looked like several Fiend-type stitched together haphazardly. (4/1400/400) "And I play one card face down and end my turn."
Jaden saw the monster and narrowed their eyes.
"A Monster I haven't seen before," Jaden stated. "Whatever this guy his, I bet that card's exclusive to him." But then he declared as he drew his sixth card, "Well, no matter what... I'll fight my own way against my opponent! I summon Elemental Hero Blazeman!" In a prominence of flames, the armored hero of fire appeared in front of Jaden. (4/1200/1800)
The man of darkness smirked, "So, a weak defense is it?"
"No," Jaden replied, shaking his head. "I won't use weak moves like that anymore. I'll fight using all my strength until one of us perishes!"
Yuskue gasped in awe at his savior's declaration.
"I'll activate my Blazeman's effect!" the Slifer announced, "I'll send an Elemental Hero monster from my deck to my Graveyard and Blazeman gains its Attribute, ATK, and Def until the end of this turn!" He then took out a Monster card, revealing it to be one of his signature cards. "I'll send Elemental Hero Neos, so Blazeman gains its stats and becomes a LIGHT Monster!"
Blazeman's fiery aura shot up like a rocket, turning the color of its armor to match that of Neos. (4/1200-2500/1800-2000)
"It now has more ATK than Dark Archetype," Yusuke gasped. "And it all came from one Monster borrowing the power of another!"
"Blazeman, attack Dark Archetype!" Jaden announced as the Hero flew towards the Fiend monstrosity, igniting his right hand with a white flame. "Flame Soul!"
"I activate my Trap Card," the enemy announced, revealing it to his opponent. "Zero Gazer!"
Jaden frowned, "Another card I don't know about?"
"This Trap drains my own Monster's ATK to zero and allows me to draw one card," the enemy explained as he drew one card while Dark Archetype's power weakened. (4/1400-0/400) Blazeman then shattered the Fiend Monster with little effort.
Jaden: 8000
Enemy: 5500
"Why would you lower your own monster's ATK?" Jaden questioned.
"I activate Dark Archetype's effect," the man of darkness announced. "When Dark Archetype is destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Monster with ATK equal to or fewer than the damage I received from my deck. I also must discard Monsters whose combined level equals that Monster's level."
"So, the more damage he takes, the stronger his next monster will be," the Slifer figured. "It's also complex with its extra mechanic with discarding cards..."
"The damage I took is 2500 points," The dark man continued, "Since the Monster will be Level 7, I will discard these two Monsters of Level 3 and Level 4!"
He then revealed two cards, which caused Jaden to narrow his eyes as he saw they were two Dark World Monsters. He remembered the enemy army of the alternate dimensions that were based off those cards, having a hand to becoming what he is now. The enemy then discarded those two into his arm, serving as his graveyard.
"I then Special Summon the Level 7 Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World from my deck!" the enemy announced as the remains of Dark Archetype reformed into a dark monster clad in black, metal armor that covered his body except the face, which showed a dangerous-looking visage of yellow eyes, curved horns, and a wicked grin. His weapon of choice was a golden-trident with a black hilt. (7/2500/1800)
"He's using the Dark World Monsters," Jaden growled.
"Not just Reign-Beaux," the dark man grinned. "Remember, the cards I sent were Dark World Monsters. As such, their effects activate! The Level 3 Broww, Huntsman of Dark World allows me to draw a card and the Level 4 Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World summons itself from the graveyard!"
The Dark Man drew a card while Beiige appeared from the ground, brandishing his spear. (4/1600/1300)
"Two Monsters!?" Yusuke gasped. "And Blazeman's effect will expire at the End Phase of Jaden's turn!"
Jaden smirked, "It's still my turn!" He then revealed another card from his hand. "I play the Quick-Play Spell, Mask Change! I can send one Hero Monster on my field to graveyard to Fusion Summon a Masked Hero with the same Attribute! Blazeman is still a LIGHT Monster due to his effect, so now I'll Fusion Summon a LIGHT Masked Hero!"
Blazeman donned a glowing mask, letting his body take on a new form.
"Masked Warrior of Light! Dash forward and extinguish your foes! Transformation Summon! Come out! Masked Hero Koga!"
In Blazeman's place a golden-armored masked warrior armed with two piercing daggers on his wrists appeared. (8/2500/1800)
The enemy frowned, "You're planning on destroying my Reign-Beaux in a mutual kill?"
"No, Koga's effect gives him 500 ATK for each Monster on your side of the field," Jaden continued as Koga's aura brightened. (8/2500-3500/1800) "Then, I attack Reign-Beaux and activate Koga's Quick-Effect! I Banish Neos from my Graveyard to drain your Monster's ATK equal to the Banished Monster's ATK!"
The Spirit of Neos appeared from Koga's armor and tackled the Overlord of Dark World, draining him of his ATK. (7/2500-0/1800) Then Koga sliced apart the weakened Monster to ribbons, causing the enemy to grunt in pain.
Jaden: 8000
Enemy: 2000
Koga's aura wavered a bit with Reign-Beaux's death. (8/3500-3000/1800)
"I then place one card facedown to end my turn," Jaden concluded. He then narrowed his eyes, "You only have one turn left!"
"I beg to differ," The Enemy announced, drawing his next card. "The end is now in sight. I activate the Spell, Dark World Dealings! We now draw one card and then discard one card from our hands."
Jaden growled, knowing what was coming as he drew a card and discarded his choice card.
The Enemy laughed as he drew his card and revealed the card he drew, "I select Ceruli, Guru of Dark World! When discarded by card effect, I can Special Summon it to your side of the field in face-up Defense Mode."
Jaden grumbled as he saw the blue-robed, grey-skinned Dark World Monster appeared on his field. (1/100/300)
"And also, since it was discarded by the effect of a Dark World card, I must discard one card from my hand." The dark man continued as he discarded one monster from his hand. "I discarded Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World! When discarded by a card effect, I can destroy one card on your field!" Koga suddenly exploded into darkness. "Also, since it was by the effect of a Dark World card, I can look a random card in your hand. If it's a Monster, I can Special Summon it to my side of the field."
Jaden raised his hand for the opponent to see.
"I pick that one on your right," the enemy stated as Jaden revealed the monster. "Ah, Elemental Hero Necroshade! I Special Summon it to my field!" A dark geyser erupted next to Beiige, making the dark Elemental Hero appear. (5/1600/1800) "Next, I return Beiige to my hand to Special Summon Grapha from my Graveyard! Come forth, Dragon Lord of Dark World!"
Beiige vanished from the field and in his place was a dark armored dragon with a skeletal face and wings wrapped around its body appeared. (8/2700/1800)
"Then, I re-summon Beiige," He stated as the Vanguard returned to the field. (4/1600/1300) "I then activate the Spell Fissure to destroy your Ceruli!" The ground opened and caused the Guru of Dark World to fall inside. "Finally, I activate Megamorph to double my monster's ATK since I have fewer life points than yours." Grapha's chest was adorned by the ancient ruin, boosting its ATK immensely. (8/2700-5400/1800) "Attack directly! Graphite Flames!"
The Dragon Lord unleashed a dark flamethrower from its maw. Jaden quickly had his eyes turn golden as a barrier haphazardly protected him from being burned.
Jaden: 2600
Enemy: 2000
Still, scorch marks were seen around his side of the field.
"So, he makes the holograms into real damage..." Jaden stated. "But he's nothing like Jachin..."
"Beiige, attack him!" the enemy continued, letting the vanguard charge at Jaden and struck him with his spear. Jaden grit his teeth as he took the damage.
Jaden: 1000
Enemy: 2000
"Currently, my Life Points are higher than yours. Therefore, Megamorph now cuts my monster's power in half," the dark duelist stated as Grapha's power waned. (8/5400-2700-1350/1800) "However, this is goodbye! Necroshade, attack!"
The possessed Hero charged at his former master...
"I activate my facedown card, Mask Change III," Jaden countered, revealing a Quick-Play Spell, "I can target one Hero Monster on the field and Special Summon a Masked Hero Monster!"
The dark duelist looked perplexed, "You have no Monsters on the field!"
The Slifer smirked, "This card didn't specifically say my monster!"
The enemy gasped as a shining mask appeared onto Necroshade's face, stopping his charge before he reached Jaden. He then made an about-face while his whole body glowed.
"Hero of the darkness! Don the mask and become the masked warrior hiding in the shadows! Transformation Summon! Blend! Masked Hero Anki!"
In Necroshade's place, a hero in black armor, bronze shoulder plates, a white mask with four eyes and sharp, red claws on his hands and boots appeared. (8/2800/1200)
"Good, he's safe," Yusuke sighed with relief.
The enemy frowned as he inserted a set card and activated another, "I set one card facedown and activate Emergency Provisions! I send Megamorph and my set card to the graveyard to gain 1000 Life Points for each!"
Both Megamorph and the Set Card vanished, restoring the dark duelist's and Grapha's power. (8/1350-2700/1800)
Jaden: 1000
Enemy: 3000-4000
"I end my turn."
"You'll regret not finishing me on your last turn," Jaden smirked as he drew his next card. Once he saw his hand, he nodded, "Seems I was right after all! I activate the spell A Hero's Comeback! I can Special Summon 1 Elemental Hero from my banished zone so long as I have another Hero on my side of the field! Come forth, Elemental Hero Neos!"
In flash of white, the Hero of Neo Space appeared. An alien warrior clad in an white bodysuit that clung to his muscular frame and stared down at the enemy with blue eyes. (8/2500/2000)
"Anki, attack! Shadow Blitz!"
Anki disappeared in an instant, causing Grapha to stay alert... Only to be struck in the back by the enemy's claws, letting Anki return while Grapha shattered to pixels.
Jaden: 1000
Enemy: 3900
"When Anki destroys a Monster in battle, I add one Change Card from my deck to my hand!" Jaden declared as he took his choice card from his deck, "I take the Quick-Play Spell Form Change and activate it! This let's me return a Hero Monster to the Extra Deck and Special Summon another one with the same Level but a different name!" Anki removed his mask, causing his body to illuminate before donning a new form. "Come now! Masked Hero Dian!"
The new Masked Hero was now a knight in silver armor and blue cape with a crystalline mask, brandishing a silver sword. (8/2800/3000)
The enemy growled as he knew it was over...
"Dian, attack Beiige!" Jaden continued as the Masked Hero flew forward and slashed the last Dark World Monster to pixels.
Jaden: 1000
Enemy: 2500
"Neos, attack directly! Wrath of Neos!" Finally, Neos flew forward and sliced the enemy in down the middle with a powerful chop.
Jaden: 1000, Winner
Enemy: 0
Soon, the enemy exploded into dark cards that disintegrated into thin air.
However, Jaden and Yusuke still heard the enemy's voice...
"This is merely the beginning," the voice stated. "It is not over, Jaden Yuki."
Jaden turned to Yusuke and planned to ask him a question, when...
A pulse of light erupted from the forest.
But it wasn't just any light...
It was Dark Light!
"Dark Light!?" Jaden gasped.
"Rayna!" Yusuke shouted as he ran over to the source.
"What!?" Jaden gasped, "Reyna's there!? Damn!" He shouted as he ran after Yusuke.
Turning some time back, Rayna was still in the forest running away from the dark cloud. When she turned around, she noticed that it hadn't followed her. But then that relief turned to worry as she realized that the darkness was now chasing Yusuke. Before she could act on this new information, she shrieked in fear as she saw many white worms crawling toward her.
"Worms!?" She gasped. "It can't be!?"
(Play Always & Never – Coheed and Cambria)
Soon, Rayna perked up and listened to the music that was swiftly approaching her. It was calming tune that put her at ease...
However, the worms surrounding her were now hissing and felt disoriented.
It was then Rayna saw her savior approaching her, making the worms spread away.
It was Claudio Osbourne playing his guitar while he and his spirit, Jukebox Hero Coheed Cambria, sung their lyrics while approaching Rayna. Once they reached her, they turned around to the worms that were now hissing even louder.
Rayna noticed how soft the lyrics were, but then noticed the last verse went dark as it caused the worms to shrivel up into smoke.
(End Music)
But before Claudio could question the girl he saved...
"Damn that music!" a woman's voice shouted in anger. "I would have had that girl dead!"
Rayna gasped in fear, while Claudio shouted, "Get out here! If you're going to fight, then do so through a duel!"
Coming through the forest was now a woman with platinum blond hair, grey eyes, and silver lipstick. She was dressed in an all-white outfit that looked like the Duel Academy Girl's uniform. Only, she had a white veil surrounding her.
"You!" the woman in white shouted, pointing to Claudio. "You're a human! How did you harm my servants with that guitar!?"
Claudio gave a smirk, "I have a gift of music! I know which ones that the people want to hear... and others don't. Like your dead worms."
The woman narrowed her eyes, "Of course... You're one of them... The one who houses the Drowned Emperor's soul! That must mean the Supreme King's around here somewhere. Oh well, I can kill you and the girl at the same time. Makes my work easier..."
"Too bad it's not happening," the J-Hero Duelist stated as he activated his duel disk. "In fact, I think you're the one who needs to die... Since you're not exactly a 'good guy'..."
"What gave that away?" the woman snarled as she raised her left arm. The white veil surrounded it and morphed into a white duel disk, like the Academy Duel Disk. However, the light on top was Dark Light. "The fact that I'm female, or the fact that I'm commanding the Dark Light to kill you!?"
Both players drew their opening hands.
DUEL!
Claudio: 8000
Enemy: 8000
"I'll go first," the woman announced, drawing her sixth card. "I'll set one Monster and one card facedown to end my turn."
Claudio frowned, "That's it, eh?" He then drew his sixth card. "Let's see what you have! I summon Jukebox Hero Jovi in attack mode!" A blonde man wearing a blue jeans and vest appeared with an aquamarine guitar appeared. (3/1300/800) "Next, the Continuous Spell Rock of Ages!" After inserting the Spell Card, a glowing rock appeared that was opened at the top. Green flames were seen inside simmering. "While this Spell is in play, all Warrior-Type Monster's on my side of the field gain 200 ATK for each Jukebox Hero on the field!"
The duelist of Light watched as the flames erupted from the rock, also giving the appearance and sounds of many people cheering. (3/1300-1500/800) "I'm afraid your concert will be cut short," She smirked, revealing her set card, "I activate the Trap Card, A Feint Plan! Now all my Set Monster Cards are off-limits from your attacks."
The J-Hero duelist sighed, "I end my turn."
"Perfect," the woman smiled, drawing her next card. "Now, since you're so keen on looking at my Monster, it would be rude of me to deny you a peek! But first, I activate the Continuous Spell known as Flip Trip!"
The Continuous Spell appeared on her field. Claudio looked at the silly scene on the card.
"Funny looking, yes?" the duelist of Light mused. "But, deadly in the long run. Whenever a monster activates a Flip Effect, I can drain 500 ATK and DEF from one of your Monsters!"
"Flip Effect Monsters?" Claudio wondered. "What is that a Morphing Jar or something?"
"If only," the woman grinned, "Meet a servant of the Light of Destruction! Reveal yourself, Worm Apocalypse!"
Claudio gasped, "Light of Destruction!?" He then saw the opponent's card being flipped face-up to reveal a strange-looking worm. It had brown skin, two tentacles for arms, and two thin legs. Its face had two eyes shaped like vertical slits. (1/300/200)
Rayna looked repulsed at the sight of the 'Worm' Monster. "Those hideous things..." She muttered.
Soon, Jovi was struck with a white aura that drained his power and made him grunt in pain. (3/1500-1000/800-300)
The woman smirked, "Now that you've had a taste of Flip Trip, I'll tell you about Apocalypse's effect! It destroys a Spell or Trap Card!"
The small Worm sprayed a foul slime from its tentacles, drenching the Rock of Ages. Claudio gasped as he saw the rock melted into sludge. (3/1000-800/300)
"Next, I'll set a new Monster," She continued as another Set Monster appeared next to Apocalypse. "And then, I'll activate the Spell called Book of Taiyou to flip face up! Meet Worm Jetelikpse!"
The next Monster revealed to be yellow alien covered in black tar. It's face was still visible showing off its beady, yellow eyes and lamprey-like mouth. (3/1200/0)
Flip Trip activated again, making Jovi howl in pain once more. (3/800-300/300-0)
"Aw, a musician that failed as a hero," the woman cooed menacingly. "I'll put you out of your misery! Jetelikpse, attack Jovi!"
The black tar Worm lunged at the weakened J-Hero, shattering him to pixels on contact.
Claudio: 7100
Enemy: 8000
"Jovi's effect activates," Claudio countered, "He destroys the Monster that destroyed him in battle!"
Jetelikpse roared in pain as it melted into black sludge.
The Woman of Light laughed once more, "Jetelikpse's effect activates! When destroyed after it's flipped face up, I can Special Summon it in face-up defense position!" Then, the Worm reformed from the black sludge and hunched over. (3/1200/0) "Apocalypse, strike him!"
The tentacled arm Worm rushed the field and struck Claudio with one of its arms.
Claudio: 6800
Enemy: 8000
"I then place two card facedowns." She stated. "Your move!"
"She's been dominating the duel so far," Rayna stated. "With that Flip Trip card, Claudio's monsters get weaker and may not be strong enough to defeat her Worms."
"My turn," Claudio announced, drawing his next card. "Nice. I activate Polymerization! I fuse Jukebox Heroes Li and ZP together!"
Soon, two musicians appeared in the sky dressed in dark green, dragon scaled armor. One had a guitar in the shape of a small, dragon's body and the other had a microphone surrounded in dragon skin. Both jumped into the Fusion Vortex.
"The two bandmates of the dragon's will! Combine into one and call on the embodiment of your band! Fusion Summon! Through the Fire and the Flames! Jukebox Hero Dragonforce!"
Jumping out of the vortex, a humanoid dragon appeared with a Monstrous roar. He was in the same armor as his predecessors and carried a dragon-skinned guitar with the neck and tip like a battle axe. He strummed the strings causing flames to erupt around him. (8/2900/2200)
"Next, I activate Legacy of a Hero! Since I have two Hero Monsters in the graveyard over Level 3, I can draw three cards!" Claudio then drew his three cards and played one of them. "I'll summon the Tuner Monster Symphonic Warrior Drumss!"
Soon, a living mechanical drum set appeared with its face on the large drum, its arms adorned with cymbals and carried drumsticks in its hands. (2/700/700)
"I'll activate his effect," He continued, "He can change the Attribute of a Symphonic Warrior, including himself, once per turn. I'll make him a DARK Attribute!" Drumss then turned his back set of drums' colors to black. "Now, I attack with Drumss! Destroy Jetelikpse!"
The Symphonic Warrior clashed its cymbals, causing a soundwave that made the black tar Worm splatter once more.
"Dragonforce, attack Apocalypse!"
The dragon guitarist strummed the guitar and launched flames at the small worm, amplified by its roar, burning it to cinders.
Claudio: 6800
Enemy: 5400
"I activate my next Trap," the woman of Light announced, revealing her facedown card. "Damage=Reptile! When I take Battle Damage, I can Special Summon a Reptile Monster with ATK equal to or less than the damage I took."
Claudio frowned, "2600, meaning anything..."
"I choose the 1500 ATK, Worm Noble in attack mode!" She announced, bringing out a tall, alien monster that had exoskeleton-like armor and a shadow-like cloak around its back with red, glowing eyes peering out of it. (6/1500/2400)
"I activate De-Fusion!" the J-Hero Duelist countered, revealing a card from his hand. "I return Dragonforce to the Extra Deck and Special Summon his Fusion Materials from the graveyard! Dragonforce, return and recall Jukebox Heroes ZP and Li!" The Dragon Guitar Warrior vanished into a green light that split into two which reformed into the two, dragon-armored musicians. (7/2600-3100/2300), (4/1600/1200) "When Li's in the field or in the graveyard, ZP gains 500 ATK! Go, ZP attack Noble! Dragon Bite!"
ZP swung over his microphone, which transformed into a dragon's head that opened its mouth to chomp Noble...
"I activate Book of Moon!" the enemy countered, revealing her Quick-Play Spell. "I change one face-up Monster's position to Face-Down Defense!" Claudio frowned as he knew what she was planning. "I select Worm Noble!" The giant Alien Worm vanished into a set card before being chomped by ZP's dragon. (6/1500/2400)
Claudio wasn't deterred as Flip Trip's effect drained ZP of some of his ATK. (7/3100-2600/2300-1800)
The woman of Light grinned. "Now, Worm Noble's effect activates! When it's Flipped Face-Up by an enemy attack, you lose Life Points equal to half the attacking monster's ATK! With ZP's 2600, you lose 1300 Life Points!"
Noble's dying move was to send the shadow cape it wore to wrap around Claudio's form and give an unforgiving squeeze to his body.
Claudio: 5500
Enemy: 5400
Once done, Claudio staggered a bit before continuing his move, "Li, attack her directly! Burning Solo!"
Li strummed his guitar, sending a fiery dragon towards the woman of Light who staggered from the flames.
Claudio: 5500
Enemy: 3800
"Damage=Reptile's effect activates! With 1600 points of damage done, I'll Special Summon a Reptile-Type Monster with up to that same strength!" She announced, taking another card from her deck. "Come, Worm Solid!" Coming out next, an Alien whose blue body and multiple yellow eyes were encased in a clear-crystal pyramid appeared. (4/1000/1600) "Solid gains 100 DEF for each Reptile-Type Worm in my Graveyard. There are currently 3!" (4/1000/1600-1900)
"I end my turn with a facedown card," Claudio concluded.
The woman smirked. "Good, my turn," She stated, drawing her next card. "I play Magic Planter to send Damage=Reptile to the graveyard and draw two cards!" The Continuous Trap vanished and let her draw her cards. "Next, I activate Spellbook Inside the Pot! We both draw three cards!" Both players drew their three cards. She smirked. "I think it's time I up the ante! With a Reptile-Type Monster on the field, I can tribute it to summon this Specific Level 8 Worm Monster!" Claudio braced himself as he saw Worm Solid vanish into the graveyard. "Come forth, Matriarch of the Worms! Ascend your throne, Worm Queen!"
A monstrous roar was heard causing Claudio and his monsters to brace themselves as a bright light enveloped the field. Once it faded, Claudio and Rayna were greeted to a giant, white centaur-like Alien having the lower body of an insect and the upper body of a woman with a devil's head. (8/2700/1100)
"2700 ATK!" Rayna gasped.
"More to come!" the Enemy grinned as she inserted a Spell Card into her disk, "Next, I activate Monster Reborn to revive my Worm Noble!" The shadow cloaked Worm returned to the field. (6/1500/2400) "And then, I activate my Worm Queen's effect! I can Tribute a Reptile-Type Worm Monster to Special Summon another from my deck that has a Level equal to or less than the Tributed One's level!"
Worm Noble vanished into light motes.
"Come forth, Heir Apparent of the Worm Empire! Ascend to your birthright, Worm Prince!"
Another monstrous roar was heard bringing out a dark orange Alien, standing on two, long legs and feet and having white horns protrude from his back down to his calves. His lamprey-like mouth hissed at the opposition. (6/2200/400)
"Royalty names, huh?" Claudio noted.
"Finally, I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set card!" the enemy continued as a harsh windstorm was conjured, blowing away Claudio's set card that was revealed as Urgent Tuning.
"Damn..." the J-Hero Duelist muttered.
"I knew it," the enemy grinned, "You didn't want to risk getting a stronger Monster on my field with Damage = Reptile! Too late to stop me now! Worm Prince, go and take down Jukebox Hero Li!"
The red humanoid Worm rushed the field and savagely beat the weaker Jukebox Hero to the ground.
Claudio: 4900
Enemy: 3800
"Worm Prince's effect activates!" She continued, "I can obtain a Reptile-Worm Monster from my deck and add it to my hand!" She then revealed the card that pushed out from the deck. "I select my Worm King!"
"You're trying to summon the last of the royal family," Claudio droned.
"Right on the nose!" the Woman of Light grinned. "But first, Worm Queen will destroy Drumss!" The matriarch snarled as she unleashed a beam of Dark Light from her lower body that blasted the Tuner Monster to pieces.
Claudio: 2900
Enemy: 3800
"You're not out of the woods just yet," She continued, revealing one of the cards in her hand. "I activate Quick Summon! I'll Normal Summon the Worm King in my hand by utilizing the same effect! Like Worm Queen, he sacrifices one of his brethren in attack mode to seal the deal! I tribute my Worm Prince! Come forth, Patriarch of the Worm Empire! Ascend your throne, Worm King!"
A golden light erupted from underneath Worm Prince, making him vanish inside it. A third, monstrous roar was heard and was bigger than the last two. Soon, a monster similar in appearance to Worm Queen had revealed itself. Only it was twice her size, golden in color and had four, muscular arms flexing. (8/2700/1100)
"Same ATK, but overwhelming power," Claudio muttered, feeling the pressure from the King and Queen's power combined.
"And it's all coming down on you! Destroy ZP with Royal Annihilation, my King!"
The King's lower eyes flashed two beams of Dark Light that exterminated ZP from the field. The impact pushed Claudio back, dragging his feet in the ground.
Claudio: 2800
Enemy: 3800
"Your move," the enemy grinned. "But you better hope that I wouldn't draw a Worm Monster! If allowed, Worm King will allow me to destroy a card on the field if he sacrifices one of his subjects!"
"My turn," Claudio stated, drawing his next card. He then frowned as he announced, "I set one card facedown and one Monster!"
The woman of Light laughed hysterically as Rayna looked horrified. "Oh no! He couldn't do anything with that move!"
"Time to die, the both of you!" the Worm Duelist announced, drawing her next card. But when she drew her next card, she saw that it wasn't a Worm Monster. "It's no matter, I'll just take out one of your cards by giving up the Queen! It won't win me the duel, but I'll be able to disrupt a move! So, I activate Worm King's effect!" Worm Queen vanished into light motes that was absorbed by the King.
"I'm afraid that's not going to happen," Claudio smirked, revealing his facedown card. "I activate the Continuous Trap, Fiendish Chain!" Many chains erupted from the ground and ensnared the King. "Thanks to this, you cannot move that monster and all of its effects are negated."
The Worm Duelist snarled, "I end my turn."
Claudio drew his next card, "Time to end this concert."
"With one card!?" the Woman of Light shouted in disbelief.
"No. First, I set one card facedown." He stated as he set a card. "Next, I'll Flip Summon my Monster! My Morphing Jar!"
The enemy gasped as she saw her opponent's monster revealed. It was a jar made of rock and had a small, red eye and a grin. (2/700/600)
"Not only Morphing Jar's effect of discarding our hand and draw five comes into play," Claudio stated, but then smirked, "But your Flip Trip's effect now applies to me!"
Worm King roared in pain as it couldn't endure the sting of Flip Trip while chained up. (8/2700-2200/1100-600)
The Woman of Light and Claudio were forced to discard their current hand and then draw five new cards.
"Next, I activate Ancient Rules to Special Summon Jukebox Hero Roadie Riggs!" Claudio announced as he brought out a signature monster of his. A man with black hair down to his shoulders, his muscular frame clad in an all-black outfit consisting of a shirt that had a demonic visage on it with the words "SUCCORIA" underneath it, a black leather jacket over it, jeans, and shoes. Around his neck was a backstage roadie pass of a band no one remembered. On his back he carried a large, double-breasted axe. (8/2500/2000)
"Next, I summon Ironheade – Mangus the Engineer!" In a flash, a skinny man with long, dark hair and a moustache appeared. He wore a tan jacket with a white shirt underneath and dark jeans. Around his neck was a backstage pass and on his head was a headset with microphone. (1/200/200) "Then, I Union Equip him to activate his effect! I can pay half of my Life Points to equip a card from my deck! I choose to activate the Separator! Giving him 800 ATK!"
Claudio had a red aura surround him, draining his Life Points, making him grunt in pain as he collected his chosen Equip Card. Riggs then took the axe he wielded, making it spark with lightning. (8/2500-3300/2000)
Claudio: 1400
Enemy: 3800
"3300!?" the woman of Light gasped as Worm Queen and Worm King hissed in defiance.
"Attack the Worm King!" Claudio commanded. "Decapitation!"
Riggs yelled out as he ran across the field and swiped at the Worm King's neck with a quick swing. At first, it looked like nothing happened. But the Roadie grinned and stomped the ground, causing the Worm King's head to fly off his body and white blood spurting out of the body.
Claudio: 1400
Enemy: 2700
"And then the Separator's effect activates!" Claudio announced, "The original ATK of your Monster comes out of your Life Points!"
"NO!" the enemy shouted as the Worm King's body erupted into a pillar of Dark Light that vaporized the woman into nothing.
Claudio: 1400, Winner
Enemy: 0
The holograms vanished as both Claudio and Rayna heard the woman's voice once more...
"This isn't the end, Claudio Osbourne!" the voice shouted. "The time will come to cleanse this world of its darkness and of its people!"
Rayna then ran up to her savior with a smile, "Thank you, Claudio."
Claudio then turned to her with a stern look that caught her off guard...
"Rayna!" a boy's voice shouted, prompting the both to turn and see Yusuke running towards them with Jaden trailing after him.
"Yusuke!" Rayna gasped happily, "You're okay."
"So are you," Yusuke smiled back, "Thanks to Jaden..."
Jaden looked towards the girl and looked confused, "Your name's Reyna... Like my sister..."
"Hmm?" Rayna questioned, but quickly smiled, "Oh, my name is spelled with an "A" instead of an "E" like your sister's name. I keep having to tell you guys that..." She giggled.
"That's funny," Claudio said sternly, "Because I don't remember the two of you anywhere."
Yusuke and Rayna now looked troubled.
"Me neither," Jaden added with a serious look of his own. "So, you two are going to explain that? And to add on, why those two were chasing you both?"
Yusuke grinned, "Oh come on, guys! It's us! Yusuke Fujiwara and Rayna Mikuro! We've know each other since we started two years ago!"
"Really?" the Hero Duelist asked.
"That's right," Rayna added as both her eyes and Yusuke's eyes glowed pink and red respectively. "So, there's no need to be suspic..."
Both 'Obelisks' gasped as they stood back after seeing the boys' eyes.
Jaden's eyes were now dark orange and dark blue while Claudio's were pitch black and dark yellow.
"Don't think those cheap tricks are going to work on us," Jaden stated firmly.
"Now, tell us who are you two?" Claudio questioned.
Seeing no way out of this, Yusuke's and Rayna's form illuminated and blinded everyone's vision. Once the light faded, both 'Obelisks' were gone. They only left behind a single feather of white with red, orange, and yellow tips, and a clear crystal tear.
Jaden picked up the feather while Claudio picked up the crystal.
"I think this qualifies as something to tell Seth," Claudio stated.
Jaden nodded as he pulled out his red cellphone and dialed the number. After a few ringtones, Seth picked up...
[What did you two find?] Seth asked.
"We need you to look up the names Yusuke Fujiwara and Rayna Mikuro." Jaden replied.
"They were found being chased by a dark smoke and white worms," Claudio added. "And we dueled the two summoning them."
[Alright,] Seth said. [In the meantime, your support will be on the island soon. They'll call you with my findings.]
"Got it," the Hero Duelists nodded before Jaden hanging up the phone.
As the walked back to the dorms, Kenji stood away from the trees with a stern look.
"Damn..." He whispered. "There was more to this than I thought... And that dark smoke... Could it be...!?"
He then dashed off back to the dorms, racing to share the info for his friends...
And done! Delays, delays... Family needed my laptop for business, so this had to be held off until my days off to finish.
I kept the Dark World Deck for Jaden's opponent, seeing as Dark Archetype's effect can work with it. I did plan on another deck, but I'll save it for another time. Then for Claudio's opponent, decided to use the Worms since they do have a history with Light of Destruction in the Duel Terminal Lore. However, I'm squeezing as much as I can out it before I find other 'Dark Light' Monsters to associate herself with. Also, if anyone is wondering, I will be using the Overseas Champions in the story, not to mention another duelist in the main roster who hasn't gotten the best of screen time or any due to fourth season mess.
Regarding Rayna Mikuro, she's from Digidramon's short story "The L Game" based on my Duel Academy Stories series. And if you read Chapter 43 of my Society of Light story, then you'll know what's coming. She didn't have last name, so I used the one from his 5D's based stories, Spirit Legends. Check that out, if you got the time!
Flip Trip
Continuous Spell
Whenever a Flip Effect Monster is Flip Summon: The owner of that monster selects one Monster Card on the opponent's side of the field. That Monster loses 500 ATK and DEF.
Mask Change III
Quick-Play Spell
Activate when there's a Masked Hero and one Change card in your Graveyard. Send one face-up Hero Monster from the field to the Graveyard: Special Summon 1 Masked Hero from your Extra Deck. (This is treated as a Fusion Summon.)
Next Time: Jaden and Claudio decide to leave Duel Academy, thinking it would lead the enemy away from his friends and loved ones. However, testimony from familiar faces try to sway them away from that thought. But then they meet their opponents once more...
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