Well, everyone! I had to use a different computer this time. Tired of having to wait a long time to boot on my other one by restarting several times to make sure I can upload onto this website. And then I had to go back as the text was going towards the left. This should have been out earlier. It's probably why I lost reviewers since they're also tired of waiting. Oh well, I can't change what they think. Hopefully, they're still reading. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or the rest of the franchise or any music in the 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 10: Closer to the Truth
At the vault, Alexis, Melody, Chazz, Syrus and Hassleberry looked over the pile of cards and ashes on the floor. All of them were feeling distraught as the cards were destroyed by a fire as evident from the fire alarm.
"Why has this happened?" Alexis wondered as Melody picked up some of the cards, only to have them crumble to dust.
"Who could have done it?" Hassleberry wondered.
"I have an idea of who it is," Chazz said, but then flinched as his head went fuzzy. "But I don't know why."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Melody frowned, lightly scratching her head with one finger. "Wasn't there someone suggesting to do this to the cards?"
"I feel like I have a clue, too." Syrus added. "But every time I think on it, my mind goes hazy." He then had an idea. "Let's talk to Jaden about this!"
"Claudio, too," Melody nodded. "After all, they did talk about something they had to fight. Maybe they know who did it."
"I'll call Kenji," Alexis added, pulling out her Duel Pilot. "He'll know where the boys are."
At the Abandoned Dorm, 'Yusuke' and 'Rayna' were at the bottom part of the dorm. A dark room littered with ancient markings and a dark field surrounded by serpent head statues. 'Yusuke' felt around the middle indentations, sensing the power within.
"I feel it…" He stated, with glowing red eyes, "It happened here."
'Rayna's' eyes were glowing pink as she looked around the room, "Several people were here. Two of them were our Masters, along with three others…"
At the Blue Dorm, Atticus was struggling in his sleep so much that had some visions of seeing another person.
"Stop it…" He muttered. "What are you doing?"
At the same time, Lily was in her room doing the same thing.
"You two shouldn't do this…" She mumbled. "Alex was worried sick about you…"
A man wearing the Elite Obelisk Blazer along with a woman with the same blazer turned to them, shocking Atticus and Lily. The man wore Nightshroud's face mask and the woman had a white hood covering her head.
"It's finally here!" the masked man said. "The ultimate power of Darkness!"
"All I have to do is take this fragment of Dark Light," the hooded woman said as she held up a blank card. "And the darkness will come calling!"
Atticus and Lily muttered in their sleep, "No… Don't do it…"
They also noticed that the woman dropped the card in the middle of the arena while the man cut himself and dripped blood on the arena, causing a dark portal to rise and consume them all...
Atticus woke up in a cold sweat, wiping it from his brow.
"What was that dream just now...?" He wondered to himself. He then felt something call to him as he walked over to the wall and pressed one of the panels away. Inside was a metal box. He frowned as he knew what was in there.
*Beep! Beep! Beep!*
He was snapped out of it when he heard his Duel Pilot beeping. He picked it out of his blazer and answered it. Soon, Lily's face came on to the screen. "Lily?"
"Sorry to bother you, but did you have some sort of weird dream involving the Abandoned Dorm?" She asked.
Atticus gasped, "Yeah! You were there, too? Right?"
Lily nodded with a sad look, "Looks like that part of ourselves isn't over. Despite us not using those powers, it's like it's trying to call us back for some reason. And I have a feeling it's not because we were the last hosts of… them."
The Red-Eyes duelist sighed, "You're right. Two other people had them, but I can't remember why…" He then had a thought, "Call Alex and I'll call Jeremy, we'll head to the Abandoned Dorm together. If this is about those powers, then Alex and Jeremy might have had that feeling as well."
"Got it," Lily replied. "See you soon."
Once the transmission was cut, Atticus grabbed the case and put in a call to the Alien Duelist...
At the Ra Dorm, Jaden and Claudio were looking at the items they found when the two 'Obelisk Students' vanished. Jaden had the multi-colored feather, twirling it between his fingers while Claudio stared at the crystal tear.
"Looks like it started already," Claudio mused as he put the crystal in his pocket. "Meaning we need to bring the fight."
Jaden smiled sadly, "And it also means we need to leave this place in order to keep everyone out of it."
Claudio sighed, "I hate this crap. At the time they confronted us, I wanted to forget. Some wish, eh? I miss being around everyone, Melody, especially. Who knew I would have her for a great girlfriend?"
The E-Hero duelist patted him on the back, "I feel the same way. But if we don't do this, they will be caught up in our problems. Or worse…"
Some time later...
At the Slifer Dorm, Syrus, Alexis, Hassleberry, and Chazz ran up to Jaden's room and opened the door.
"Hey, Jaden!" Syrus announced as he walked in. But then he frowned as he saw no one here.
"Of all the time to do this," Chazz scoffed. "I thought you all got through to him…"
"We did…" Alexis frowned.
"You guys won't find him here."
Everyone turned around to see Reyna and Allyson stepped in.
"What's up, Reyna?" Hassleberry asked.
"Jaden's with Claudio again at the Ra Dorm," Allyson stated. "I was going to confront him again with Reyna, asking him what's going on."
"Kenji's going to be here soon," Alexis stated. "He did have some info on what went down while the cards were destroyed."
"And it's a lot more than we thought."
Once again, everyone present saw Kenji and Melody looking up at their location with stern and sad expressions respectively.
"What's going on?" Rayna asked.
"Claudio... He's leaving us..." Melody sobbed.
"WHAT!?" Everyone except Kenji shouted.
Also, Allyson feared the worst, "And Jaden was with him... and that would mean..."
"Yeah," Kenji nodded, "I overheard them talking in Claudio's room. They wanted to leave this place in order to bring out who ever they were fighting earlier today."
"That's right," Chazz stated, "Alexis said you had some info on them, so spill!"
The Ninja Duelist nodded, "I got into an altercation with the people who burned down the cards. Apparently, they have the power to manipulate memories. They tried to do the same the Jaden and Claudio, but somehow weren't affected."
"Probably because of their union with the Supreme King's and Drowned Emperor's souls," Reyna mused.
"Hold back for a second, Private!" Hassleberry interrupted, "You know who burned the cards!?"
"Yeah," Kenji sighed, "I couldn't stop them because they caught me off guard with other powers they had. I think they might be Duel Spirits in disguise as classmates. Hell, they sensed my soul has a greater deal of darkness than most people. They tried to take me out, but wanted to destroy the cards even more."
Everyone started to feel worried.
"Back to the boys, Jaden and Claudio fought two others, but only managed to see Claudio's opponent." the Ninja duelist continued. "She played these Worm monsters, unlike the ones played by the Pro Duelist, X. They were apart of the Light of Destruction!"
"Them again!" Chazz growled.
"Don't worry, Claudio won as evident as our predicament now," Kenji placated him. "What surprised me after the duels is that when Jaden and Claudio confronted the two students, they were able to teleport away from them."
"Hence, the Duel Spirit deduction," Syrus figured.
"This is why Jaden and Claudio are not the ones we once knew," Hassleberry stated. "This is what my Dinosaur DNA's telling me. Otherwise, they'd be around helping us constantly..."
While this was going down, Jaden and Claudio met up with Chancellor Sheppard in his office. The latter was shocked as he saw the envelopes they sent onto his desk. They were letters of withdrawal.
"What... what are these!?" the Chancellor gasped in shock.
"Just like it says," Jaden stated, "We're leaving the school."
"But why!?" Sheppard said, "You're on track to graduate in six months."
"Because we can't afford to cause any more trouble for the school," Claudio replied with a stern look. "It's hard to explain, but if we stay here it's only going to cause more problems for you."
"Think about it," Jaden continued, "The Shadow Games, Society of Light, and the school being transported in the alternate dimension? We both were in the thick of it. It's better if we leave so that we can take these problems with us."
"So, it has something to do with you two coming back late from the alternate dimensions?" Sheppard pried, trying to keep his students here.
Claudio sighed, "Look, we have to do this. It's better that you let us."
"Chancellor, thank you for everything you've done." Jaden added as both boys bowed to Sheppard before turning around.
"Wait!" Sheppard protested as then the phone in his office rang, prompting him to answer, "You could have picked a better time." He said into the phone. But after hearing a response, he lost the harsh tone in his voice and apologized, "Forgive my rudeness…" The voice on the other end continued, "You wish to meet with Jaden Yuki and Claudio Osbourne?"
Hearing this prompted the Hero Duelists to turn around with puzzled looks.
"Understood. I'll let him know," Sheppard said as he ended the call. He looked to the boys and said, "Jaden, Claudio, there are some people who want to meet with you before you leave the island." He then held up the letters, "If you two refuse, then I will reject these on my own authority."
"Who wants to meet with us?" Jaden asked.
"You will see once you meet them," Sheppard noted. "Go to the base of the volcano and wait for them there at night."
With that the Hero Duelist sighed as they left the office and headed straight to their destination without a word.
They made it by nightfall and found that it was the same place they fought with Roxanne and Matthias in front of Vice-Chancellor Belmonte. They figured it might be her, but she would said something if she was with the Chancellor.
Also coming to mind were the contacts Seth told them about it, but dismissed when they remembered that they would get the call.
"I give up… Who could be wanting to meet with us here?" Jaden asked while wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Don't know, but I'm tired of baking near the volcano again…" Claudio stated, wrapping his blazer around his waist.
They got their answer as the sound and sights of a helicopter came into view. They backed up some feet to give it room to land. Once it opened, there were several people dressed in Kaiba Corporation security uniforms coming out to secure the perimeter.
However, the next two people coming out were a surprise…
The first was an old man with dark brown eyes, bound in a wheelchair having a white beard that went down to his chest and a white hair coming from the middle of the back of his head down his back. He was dressed in a brown robe.
The second man, pushing the wheelchair was a tall man with dark blue eyes with several layers of blue hair running down his back and a white tuft of hair on his widow's peak. He was dressed in a black and dark purple jumpsuit.
"Kagemaru!" Jaden exclaimed.
"Sartorius!" Claudio greeted. "You two look well."
"Though we're still recovering," Sartorius admitted.
"Why did you call us out here?" Jaden asked.
Kagemaru smirked, "We couldn't have prying eyes look in on our conversation." He then looked serious, "Boys, we have a favor to ask of you."
"Favor?" The boys asked. But then smiled.
"Sorry, but we're about to leave the island," Jaden admitted.
"Yeah, we submitted our withdrawals," Claudio added.
"What?" Kagemaru and Sartorius gasped.
"Yeah, so you're going to look elsewhere for help," Jaden stated.
Kagemaru smiled sadly, "You two think you're the cause of what's going on now? You both are wrong."
Hearing this Claudio asked, "What do you mean?"
"I've come to warn you about a premonition I had," Sartorius stated, "I may have lost the power to predict the future, but finding one of my tarot cards depicting the upright Wheel of Fortune had me uneasy. I immediately contacted Chairman Kagemaru, and had him investigate what was happening."
"I was surprised that Sartorius contacted me, because I had felt the same foreboding feeling he had." Kagemaru nodded, "You boys felt the same, right? That's why you assumed that you both are the cause and trying to leave the island."
"You found something out?" Jaden asked.
"My investigators have ascertained that a powerful energy is attempting to erupt on this island." the chairman continued, "It's like a massive force of nature, similar to that of earthquakes."
"This may be a theory," Sartorius continued, "But Chairman Kagemaru's revival of the three Sacred Beasts, my brush with the Light of Destruction, and your battles with Yubel and Tragoedia in the alternate dimensions may have caused the island's dimension barrier to stress and create a new disaster."
"And this is why you cannot leave this island, as it will not spare it from dangers."
The Hero Duelist gasped as they saw another familiar face come into the picture.
"Vice-Chancellor!" They shouted.
Etna smirked as she waved to everyone present.
"Ah," Kagemaru said, "This would be one of my investigators. Thank you for your work, Miss Belmonte."
Etna bowed to her superior, "Only doing my job for you and Kaiba Corporation." She then turned to the boys, "The Chairman is the one who helped me get the green light for the Vice-Chancellor position. After all, it's only natural to keep those from trying to sabotage this place and it's benefactors. Not to mention, I did say I believe in this sort of thing."
Shaking off the shock, Jaden and Claudio sighed as the three adults turned to them.
"We need you two to get this situation under control," Kagemaru finalized.
Smirking, Claudio stated, "We all committed the same sin, but we have to bear all the consequences?"
"We can't deny that," the Chairman continued. "But given the state we're in now, we cannot turn to anyone else."
"The Chairman and I have a sense of what you've experienced," Sartorius stated. "You have become something surpassing human understanding. You both feel isolated, so you want to leave this island and you friends behind."
Seeing the uneasiness on the boys' faces, Etna continued, "You two aren't capable of throwing away your old life, your friends, or your girlfriends. They all want you to graduate with them safely. As do we all…"
"It's big talk since we still have to keep fighting like this…" Jaden noted.
Suddenly, an earthquake started to happen around the area causing everyone to be alert.
One of the security guards relayed the info from his commlink, "Chairman! The unusual phenomenon has begun in this area!"
"What!?" Kagemaru gasped.
Sensing it quickly, Jaden and Claudio saw a dark smoke creating a dimensional rip being opened up by the dark man the E-Hero duelist fought.
"It's that guy from earlier!" Jaden growled.
"Oh, are we having a party?" A female voice giggled.
"Oh great," Claudio muttered as portal of light emerged from behind the people. Jumping out was the woman of light that the J-Hero duelist faced earlier. "You again?"
"Hey, everyone!" the woman waved with an eerie grin on her face.
"Okay, just who are you two!?" Jaden shouted at the both of them.
The dark man laughed, "How foolish of me. I haven't introduced myself at that time." He then pondered. "Going without a name is quite the predicament. Ah! You can call me, Trueman! He who tells the truth. Or you can shorten it to "Mr. T"."
Claudio scoffed as he turned to the woman, "And what do they call you?"
Trueman grinned, "Considering her background, why not call her 'A Liar'? Someone who promises you the world before doing away with everything. Like the Light of Destruction does!"
The woman scoffed, "That's a dumb name, coming from some who manipulates the truth." She then shrugged, "Oh well, you may call me 'Amelie.'"
"And where's that coming from?" Claudio continued.
"I am a Lie!" She smirked, "It's just like 'Trueman' over there says. Why give you anything when you're dead at the end of it?"
"You know what," Jaden stated. "Give me a break!"
"You both have stupid names." Claudio added.
"Pity," Trueman smirked, "After I've taken the trouble to introduce myself." He then turned to Amelie. "And you should make yourself scarce before I do to you what I'll do to them."
"Oh come now," Amelie giggled. "We both want the same thing and the same people are in the way of it. Why not work together?"
"Because my master forbids it," the dark man continued, "As such, everyone here has come too close to the truth. I'll eliminate you all here!"
He then caused a piece of the volcano to vanish causing lava to rise from the crack.
Jaden turned to Kagemaru, Sartorius, and Etna. "You guys, run!"
"Yeah, we got this!" Claudio added.
Quickly, the guards rolled Kagemaru in and Sartorius ran after them. The helicopter began ascending to escape the volcano…
Until a giant white hand grabbed it by the back! Jaden turned to see Amelie creating it from her own hand.
"Oh no," She said with a savage grin, "I'll have you now!" She then began to pull it closer to the volcano mouth where lava was starting to jump. "See Trueman, I can end this now!"
"No!" Etna shouted. "They'll be dead!"
Jaden growled as his eyes turned to Yubel's and activated his Duel Disk. He then played his signature card, "Neos, stop her!"
Suddenly, Neos appeared from his card in real form with the glowing eyes from the Supreme King. He then charged at Amelie, tackling her to stop the hand pulling the helicopter. Jaden then chased after the woman.
Trueman laughed, "This is why I work alone." He then snapped his fingers causing two lava balls to chase after the helicopter.
Claudio growled as his eyes changed and took the guitar from his back. "It stops now!" He then gave the strings a hard strum, causing soundwaves to blow away the lava, letting the helicopter escape.
Seeing this, even Etna was at a loss for words. "Their powers are extraordinary! Summoning monsters and using music to such a degree."
"Which is why I'll have to use extraordinary means to end him," Trueman stated as he activated his 'Duel Disk'. He then snapped his fingers causing Claudio and Etna to stand on a ledge where lava awaited them from behind.
Claudio growled as he activated his Duel Disk.
"You need to win this, Mr. Osbourne," Etna stated.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Claudio added as he and Trueman drew their opening hands.
DUEL!
Claudio: 8000
Trueman: 8000
"I'll start," Claudio announced, drawing his sixth card, "I summon Jukebox Hero Manson!"
Through a dark portal, the pale-skinned singer appeared. (4/1500/1200)
"Next, I place one card facedown to end my turn."
"My turn," Trueman announced, drawing his sixth card. "I summon Dark Archetype!"
In another dark portal, the stitched-up fiend monster appeared. (4/1400/400)
"The monster Jaden told me about," the Ra mused.
"Then it must be a signature card of his," Etna figured.
"Along with his suicidal strategy," Claudio stated as he saw the next card being played.
"I activate the Spell Power Gift!" the man of darkness continued, playing a Quick-Play Spell. He then revealed a Monster card in his hand, "I send this Monster, the Darkfire Soldier # 1 with 1700 ATK to the graveyard. In return, your monster gains the sent monster's ATK."
Claudio frowned as he saw Manson's power increase by a burning aura. (4/1500-3200/1200)
"Dark Archetype attacks Jukebox Hero Manson!" Trueman announced as his fiend lunged at the J-Hero.
Manson followed up with jamming the microphone in the fiend's head and shouting at it, letting the sound waves rip through the insides of Dark Archetype.
Claudio: 8000
Trueman: 8000-6200
"Now, Dark Archetype's effect activates!" Trueman smirked, "I can now a monster with ATK equal to the damage I've taken, by discarding cards that equal that monster's level." He then revealed another monster, "I send the Level 6 Monster Flame Cerberus from my hand to the graveyard, and then Special Summon the 1800 ATK Gadget Soldier!"
From the remains of Dark Archetype, a giant, dark-skinned man with machine upgrade to his body appeared. He had bronze gears surrounding his shoulders and carried a rocket launcher. (6/1800/2000)
"You would damage yourself just for this?" Claudio asked. "I can see for a deck like Dark World that needs to discard as much, but for this card?"
"My duels are not bound by common sense," Trueman replied with his smirk. "The truth supersedes common sense." He then pointed at Jukebox Hero Manson, "The second effect of Power Gift now destroys your monster since it was involved in battle."
Manson screamed as the fiery aura consumed him whole.
"You are now defenseless," He continued, "Gadget Soldier, attack Claudio directly!"
The machine soldier fired his rocket launcher, blasting away at Claudio. The Ra Yellow yelled out in pain from the damage, making sure it didn't hit the Vice-Chancellor.
Claudio: 8000-6200
Trueman: 6200
"You okay…" He grunted to his superior.
"I'm fine," Etna stated, worried for her student.
"I place one card facedown to end my turn," Trueman grinned. "It's your turn now."
Claudio frowned as he drew his next card, "Since he was destroyed by a card effect, Manson returns to the field!"
A dark portal opened from the ground, letting Manson escape the graveyard in defense mode. (4/1500/1200)
"Then, I activate Pot of Greed!" Claudio drew out two more cards. "Next, I activate my Quick-Play Spell card, Contract Signing!" He continued as he activated his
Spell Card, "I can now Special Summon a Level 4 or below Jukebox Hero from my deck by paying Life Points equal to his attack!"
Claudio: 6200-5200
Trueman: 6200
"Come out, Jukebox Hero Cool!"
In a flash, a brown-haired drummer appeared with his silver drum set. He was clad in an all-black outfit with a silver belt in his pants. (2/1000/150)
"Now I activate Polymerization to fuse Cool with American Idiot and Armstrong in my hand!" He continued, activating his Spell and send the three corresponding monsters into the vortex. They all had same attire as Cool, but Armstrong had messy black hair with a white Fender guitar and
American Idiot has white/blonde hair styled in a mohawk and carried a white bass guitar.
"Three members that follow the way of Punk. Unite into one band and let your songs be heard! Fusion Summon! Join us! Jukebox Hero Punk Revolution!"
Once done, Cool, American Idiot, and Armstrong returned with new guitars and drums, while American Idiot and Cool wore orange and yellow jumpsuits respectively and Armstrong having a haircut. (10/3500/2000)
"Before I activate my Fusion Monster's effect, Cool's Quick-Effect takes place!" Claudio continued. "Now I can select one Monster on your field and deal you damage equal to it's ATK!"
Trueman growled as Gadget Soldier's aura brightened, causing it to lash at him and broke him apart before reforming once more.
Claudio: 5200
Trueman: 4400
"Now Punk Revolution reveals my hand, letting me gain 500 ATK for each Jukebox Hero in my
graveyard!" He then revealed his cards. "Roadie Riggs and Tragoedia! Punk Revolution gains 500 ATK for Riggs!"
A white aura surrounded the band as they played their instrumentals. (10/3500-4000/2000)
"Impressive," Etna praised. "Effects that further your Fusion Summoning."
"Let's go, attack!" Claudio announced as Cool slammed on the cymbals and launched them at Gadget Soldier...
"I activate my facedown card, Negate Attack!" Trueman countered, A dark barrier appeared in front of the Soldier, blocking the instrument.
Claudio frowned, "I end my turn."
"My move," Trueman announced, drawing his next card. "I Special Summon Lava Golem to your field by sacrificing your two monsters!"
Claudio gasped as the lava behind him took form and created a towering fiend with dark blue eyes and blacked coal inside it's body. It then grabbed the two Jukebox Heroes and dunked them into the lava. (8/3000/2500)
"Damn…" the J-Hero duelist growled.
"Next, I activate Card of Demise!" Trueman continued, drawing his five cards. He then laughed loudly at his find, "Since you have chosen Fusion, I will respond in kind. I activate Polymerization to fuse Gadget Soldier on my field with Raging Flame Spirit in my hand!"
Gadget Soldier, along with a small girl in red witch's clothes appeared in the fusion vortex, merging as one.
"Come forth, Ignition Beast Volcannon!"
Flying out of the vortex came a mechanical beast in the likeness of a bipedal dragon with rocket launchers mounted on it's shoulders. (6/2300/1600)
"Oh no," Etna frowned, "I can see how this deck is more than just a theme of lava and flames."
"Now I activate it's effect!" Trueman smirked, "When Fusion Summoned, I can destroy this card and one Monster you control and deal damage equal to it's ATK!"
Claudio gasped.
"I select your Lava Golem!"
Volcannon launched itself into Lava Golem's cage and ramming both into the FIRE Fiend's body. It caused the Fusion Machine's body to overheat and explode, taking Lava Golem with it and having pieces of the latter to fall around Claudio for burn damage. Once again, he used his power within to shield Etna from the damage.
Claudio: 5200-2200
Trueman: 4400
"Next, I activate Monster Reborn to revive Volcannon!" the man of darkness announced as the Fusion Machine returned to its Master's side. (6/2300/1600)
"You have no Monsters to defend you! This is farewell!"
Claudio growled as he felt himself nearly falling off the edge, looking back at the lava.
"Volcannon, attack directly!"
"I activate my facedown card," Claudio countered, "The Quick-Play Spell, Half-Shut! I cut your Monster's ATK in half!" (6/2300-1150/1600)
Volcannon launched some of it's rockets, disrupted by the Spell closing off most of the volley. Using his power, Claudio managed to redirect the rockets that managed to reach him and push them into the lava, making a geyser erupt.
Claudio: 2200-1050
Trueman: 4400
Trueman scoffed, seeing his chance to finish off the second duelist fail on this turn. But then he gasped seeing the heterochromatic eyes of his opponent.
"By taking Battle Damage, I can Special Summon Tragoedia!" Claudio announced as he played the last card in his hand. From the geyser of lava, Tragoedia emerged with a vicious roar. (10/0/0)
"I end my turn." Trueman announced as his monster's ATK returned to 2300. "But I must say, with only 600 ATK coming to your only monster, the end result is obvious."
"And you're an idiot," Etna muttered. "He can't see past Claudio's next move. Even though, it depends on his next draw…"
"My draw!" Claudio announced, drawing his card. Trageodia (10/0-600/0-600) "I activate Legacy of Hero to draw three cards." Drawing his three cards, Tragoedia powered up. (10/600-0-1800/600-0-1800)
Etna looked at the cards in her student's hand and gasped, seeing what was going to happen next.
Claudio then looked at the cards and smirked, "Yeah, I'll show it to you! I summon Jukebox Hero Man in the Box!"
In a flash, a man in a black cloak carrying a bass guitar appeared. (4/1500/1600), (10/1800-1200/1800-1200)
"So this is how much," Trueman smirked, "Sadly, there's no way you could do you enough damage with him. Try something else for scare tactics."
"Suit yourself," Claudio shrugged, "I activate Tragoedia's effect! I can target a Monster in my Graveyard and it's level becomes the same as the target. I choose the Level 5 Armstrong!"
Tragoedia gained a red aura, lowering it's level. (10-5/1200/1200)
"Now I activate the Metal Millennium Ritual Spell Card!" He continued, raising his new Spell Card.
Trueman gasped as he saw a stage venue rise up behind Claudio and Etna with a giant screen with static flashing.
"This Ritual calls for Monsters that add up to Level 9, also needing a Jukebox Hero as one of the sacrifices! And I'll Tribute both Man in the Box and Tragoedia on the field!"
Both monsters turned to black energy streams hitting the giant screen. The screen then showed a screen showing Y2J in big text with a countdown of 10 while Claudio chanted.
"A star of many talents, I bring you this offering so that you may unleash your mastery of rock and metal to take the stage! Ritual Summon! The Ayatollah of Rock n' Rolla! Jukebox Hero Jericho!"
From the energy combined, a man with cut, blond hair wearing a black vest, silver scarf, and black pants appeared with a microphone and stand in his left hand. (9/2900/2600)
"2900!?" Trueman gasped.
"And then I also activate Jericho's effect when Special Summoned! For every Jukebox Hero in my Graveyard, I drain 500 ATK from one of your Monsters! Break down the walls!"
Grabbing the mic stand, Jericho throws it at Volcannon's shoulder rockets, causing it to explode and weaken the machine. (6/2200-0/1600)
Trueman gasped while Claudio smirked, "Jericho, end him!"
Jericho wrapped the weakened Volcannon with his microphone cord and yanked it over to his side. Once it was close enough, the J-Hero shouted into the mic and launched Volcannon back to Trueman, crushing the duelist into dark card shards.
Claudio: 1050, Winner
Trueman: 2100-0
Once Trueman was gone, the area went back to the way it was, with the volcano inactive.
Etna patted Claudio on the shoulder, prompting him to turn and see a proud smile. "Good work. You're becoming quite the duelist."
"Thanks…" He replied before looking towards the direction Jaden went…
Minutes before…
Amelie recovered from Neos' attack, letting her get on her feet. She then saw Jaden walk towards her, duel disk active.
"So, you wanna play for your life!?" She snarled as she let her veil create her duel disk again.
"Fine, after I finish you, I'll get payback on the singing brat before finishing the job with this island."
Both Players drew their opening hands.
DUEL!
Jaden: 8000
Amelie: 8000
"My turn," Jaden announced, drawing his sixth card. "Come out, Elemental Hero Stratos!" The turbine-winged hero appeared onto the field. (4/1800/300) "With his effect, I add Elemental Hero Wildheart to my hand from my deck," He continued, grabbing his choice card. "I end my turn with a facedown."
"Good, my move," Amelie announced, drawing her sixth card. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Worm Call! With this in play, if I have no monsters on my field I can Special Summon a Worm Monster facedown."
Jaden frowned as he saw the Set Monster card appear in front of the woman of Dark Light, "Right, her monsters have Flip Effects…"
"And then, I'll activate Double Summon to Set two more monsters onto my field." Amelie continued, as two more hidden monsters appeared. "I then end with my last card facedown."
"My turn," Jaden announced, drawing his next card. "I activate the Spell Charge Fusion! I fuse Elemental Heroes Bladedge and Wildheart in my hand!"
Both the bronze armored warrior and the dark-skinned man in loincloth appeared and jumped into the vortex as Jaden chanted…
'Hero with the sharpest blades! Become one with the hero of the forest and call on the hero that attacks all! Fusion Summon! Come out! Elemental Hero Wildedge!"
Soon, Wildheart returned in a taller body, pieces of Bladedge's armor attached, and a large, serrated blade on his back. (8/2600/2300)
"Next, I activate H-Heated Heart!" He continued, "I add 500 ATK and a piercing effect to Wildedge for this turn!"
A red H appeared from the Spell image, boosting the Fusion Monster's attack. (8/2600-3100/2300)
"Now attack her monsters!" He called out as Wildedge brandished his blade.
"Not so fast!" Amelie grinned as she revealed her facedown card, "I reveal the Trap, W Nebula Meteorite! This changes all face-down monsters on my side of the field to face-up Defense Mode! Reveal yourselves, my comrades! Worm Cartaros, Worm Xex and Worm Yagan!"
Dark Light erupted from the Set Monster cards, making the Monsters rise up from their cards.
Worm Cartaros was a giant purple monster with large arms and moth wings growing from it's back. (4/1200/500)
Worm Xex looked like a sea anemone with green ooze spewing from the top, in the shape of an X with four, yellow, slit eyes at the edges. (4/1800/1000)
Worm Yagan was a sea plant in the shape of a Y with purple tentacles growing out of it's head. (4/1000/1800)
"The perfection of this is that I can activate their effects now!" the Worm Duelist grinned, "Worm Cartaros adds a Reptile-Type Worm Monster from my deck to my hand. As long as it doesn't exceed Level 4! I select Worm Gulse! But also Worm Yagan's effect goes off!"
"But it's not a Flip Effect Monster," Jaden protested, looking at the card's text lacking the FLIP part.
"Doesn't matter, it can activate when it's Flipped Face-Up," Amelie said with a wagging finger, "I can send a Monster you control back into your hand! Of course, I'm choosing Wildedge and he'll go back to your Extra Deck instead!"
Jaden gasped as Wildedge vanished with a yell.
"I still got one monster and I'll have Stratos attack Cartaros!" Jaden continued as the flying hero dealt a swift kick to the moth-like Worm, shattering it to pixels. "I then set another card facedown to end my turn."
"Falling apart, aren't we?" Amelie cooed mockingly, "Then you're going to hate this! All Monsters affected by my W Nebula Meteorite are switched face-down!" Xex and Yagan vanished and replaced with Set cards. "I then draw one card for each monster and summon a LIGHT Worm Monster from my deck! So arise my Worm King!"
The golden patriarch of the Worm Empire appeared with a vicious roar. (8/2700/1100)
"Time to dominate the field," She continued, drawing a card for her turn.
"Trap activate!" Jaden countered, "Battle Mania! This forces your monsters to attack!"
"Gladly," Amelie shrugged, "I summon Worm Gulse!"
A green ooze appeared on the field and formed into a large, dinosaur-like monster with a pale face and beady, yellow eyes. (4/1500/300)
"Next, I flip over my Xex and Yagan!" She continued as the X and Y Worms appeared once more. (4/1800/1000), (4/1000/1800) "Yagan now returns your last monster to your hand!"
Yagan's tentacles smacked Stratos into the sky, making him vanish.
"Also, Worm Gulse gains 300 ATK for each monster that's was flipped face-up from facedown Defense Position!"
Gulse roared as it grew two warts on it's back. (4/1500-2100/300)
"I can see what you were planning," Amelie grinned, "You wanted to power up Stratos with your facedown card. But you can't do that with no Monsters on the field! Claudio made the same type of mistake when he chose not to Synchro Summon using Urgent Tuning, giving me the chance to destroy it. And that means, you're dead since the force of my attacks will throw you into the volcano! Lead the charge, my King!"
Worm King charged up the Dark Light from it's body, merging energies from it's three subjects.
All four of them fired a single blast, heading straight for Jaden…
"I activate my last card, A Hero Emerges!" Jaden countered, shocking the Woman of Dark Light. "When you declare an attack, you choose a random card from my hand. If it's a Monster, I can summon it to the field. Anything else, it's sent to the graveyard."
"I'll choose the one of the left," Amelie scoffed, "The other one's Stratos, but I won't let you grab another monster to have."
"The card I have…" Jaden announced, revealing the card. "Is Yubel!"
"No!" the Worm Duelist shouted as a dark flash appeared in front of Jaden, unleashing his protector to the field. (10/0/0)
"And remember, the Battle Phase is still on and you must attack because of Battle Mania!"
All four blasts hit Yubel dead center in her chest, not affecting her in the slightest.
"Yubel's effect activates! During the opponent's Battle Phase, any damage I would take from attacks on Yubel in attack mode will instead be dealt to you. And the combined ATK of all your monsters is 7600!
Yubel yelled as she unleashed a thorny whip from her body, launching it at Amelie, making her cry out in agony.
Jaden: 8000
Amelie: 400
She then gave a deranged look to Jaden, similar to how Sartorius and Jason looked when the Dark Light fully possessed them.
"You'd better savor this, Jaden Yuki," Amelie snarled. "I end my turn with another facedown card."
"My turn," Jaden announced, drawing his next card. "First, Charge Fusion returns to my hand from the graveyard since it's the 2nd Standby Phase after use." He stated as the card returned from the discard slot.
"Next, I activate Legacy of a Hero to draw three cards from my deck." Jaden said as drew his three cards. "Then, I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!"
The Hero of Electricity appeared in front of Jaden. (4/1600/1400)
"Attack Worm Yagan and end this duel!" He commanded as Sparkman launched a bolt of lightning at the Y-shaped Worm, shattering it to pixels.
"I activate the Trap, Defense Draw!" Amelie countered, causing a white barrier to block the damage. "Now battle damage is negated and I draw a card."
"Then I'll activate Miracle Fusion in Main Phase 2! I fuse Sparkman and Bladedge in the graveyard!"
Sparkman and the spirit of Bladedge merged together in another vortex.
"Hero of Lightning! Become one with the hero with many blades and strike down the evildoers! Fusion Summon! Come out, Elemental Hero Plasma Vice!"
Another hero clad in Sparkman's colors with Bladedge's armor around his limbs and head appeared, charging electricity. (8/2600/2300)
"Plasma Vice's effect activates! I discard Charge Fusion to destroy Worm King!" Jaden announced as Plasma Vice launched an electric blade at the Worm King, cutting him in half. "During the End Phase, I must Tribute one other Monster to keep Yubel on the field. I'll sacrifice Plasma Vice!"
Plasma Vice vanished into a dark portal.
"My move," Amelie announced, drawing her next card. "I activate White Calling! By sending both Worms to the graveyard, I draw two cards!"
Xex and Gulse melted, letting her draw two cards.
She then grinned at her find. "Time to die! I activate Snake Rain, discarding one card from my hand and then send Four Reptile Monsters from my deck to the graveyard! I discard Worm Apocalypse and send Worm Prince, Queen, Jetelklipse, and Noble!"
Before Jaden could protest, Amelie continued, "I then activate Worm Call's effect! Setting this Level 7 Monster on the field!"
"A High Level Set Monster?" Jaden muttered with a glare. "That's not good…"
"Why wait to find out!" the Woman of Light grinned as she inserted her last card, "Finally, I activate Book of Taiyou to flip it into attack mode! Meet Worm Victory!"
The Set Card unleashed a giant, red, muscular worm with six large arms all holding their hands in the "V for Victory" formation. (7/0/2500)
"V for Victory! When Flipped face-up, all non Worm Monsters are destroyed!" Amelie shouted as Worm Victory launched red slime at Plasma Vice, melting him into a puddle. "Also, for every LIGHT Worm in my graveyard, it gains 500 ATK! And right now, there's 10 for a total of 5000 ATK!"
Worm Victory roared as his power rose to tremendous heights. (7/0-5000/2500)
"Finally, to avoid your Yubel's effect, I activate Blinding Wind!" She continued. "Whenever a LIGHT Monster is present on my field, I can select a Monster on your field and return it to your Deck! So Yubel's going bye-bye!"
Soon a white light blinded the field, causing Yubel to scream out as she vanished.
"Yubel!" Jaden cried out.
"Attack him directly!"
The Slifer couldn't brace himself as Victory dashed towards Jaden and jabbed with all six of its hands, pummeling the him to the ground.
Jaden: 3000
Amelie: 400
"My turn is over! Good luck trying to get over 5000 ATK!" the woman Dark Light grinned.
Jaden steadied himself as he drew his next card. "I activate Pot of Greed!" He drew two more cards underneath the grinning pot. "Now I summon, Card Trooper!"
Next, a small red and blue robot with a glass helmet appeared. (3/400/400)
"Now I activate it's effect! I send the top three cards of my deck to the graveyard and then it gains 500 ATK for each one sent."
Jaden discarded his three cards, powering up the small robot. (3/400-1900/400)
Amelie cackled, "What good it would do now? You can't destroy my Worm Victory with those puny monsters."
"No, but they paved the way for someone who can!" Jaden announced as he played a Spell Card. "Thanks to Card Trooper and this Spell Card called Miracle Contact! Thanks to this I can take Neos and Neo-Spacian Dark Panther, which Card Trooper sent to the graveyard, and return them to my deck. Thanks to this, I can perform a Contact Fusion with them!"
"What!?" Amelie cried as Neos and a black panther with a red cape appeared in the sky and vanished into a galaxy.
"Hero hailing from Neo Space! Merge with the shape-shifting panther and become the envoy of gentle darkness! Contact Fusion! Come forth! Elemental Hero Dark Neos!"
Coming out of the galaxy, Neos returned now clad in a form-fitting black and red outfit with sharp claws in his hands and wing-like appendages on his arms. (7/2500/2000)
"All that for him?" Amelie scoffed. "It has the same stats as the original."
"Dark Neos' effect activates! I can negate the effect of one of your monsters! Meaning Worm Victory loses those ATK!" Jaden explained.
"WHAT!?" the Dark Light duelist shouted as Worm Victory fell to the ground as it's power waned. (7/5000-0/2500)
Jaden then smirked, "Neos, finish her!"
Dark Neos flew towards Victory and slashed it apart into pixels. Amelie then screamed as she felt another slash from the E-Hero, blasing her apart into light particles.
Jaden: 3000, Winner
Amelie: 0
Once done, he looked back to where Claudio was and saw that his duel was done and the Vice-Chancellor was safe.
However, in the dimensional boundaries, Trueman was still alive and looking down at Etna and the Hero Duelists.
"They are becoming problematic," He stated.
Soon, another person came into the picture towards Trueman. It was another one!
"We have to kill them soon," the second Trueman stated.
"I agree!"
Pretty soon, they were greeted by two Amelies!
"We may be opposing sides in the upcoming war between Light and Darkness," Amelie 1 stated.
"But we'll become a stronger force together if we want to take the ones disrupting it." Amelie 2 added.
Soon, phones could be heard ringing from the boys' pockets and they answered them.
[Jaden, Claudio, been awhile.]
[Hola, amigos! Miss us?]
"Axel Brodie!" Claudio gasped.
"Fidel Rodriguez!" Jaden gasped as well.
Etna smiled, knowing of the two men on the other lines. The best that West Academy had to offer in terms of Dueling Mercenaries, as well as their top duelists.
[I believe that Seth Scrapper called about some info that the two of you needed.] Axel stated.
"Yeah, what do you have?" Claudio asked.
[It turns that Yusuke Fujiwara and Rayna Mikuro used to be students at the Duel Academy.]
Axel replied.
"Used to?" Jaden asked.
[They've been missing for years before you two came to Duel Academy,] Fidel noted. [A couple of students that used to go to the Millenium House when it was active.]
Jaden and Claudio gasped as they looked to one another. Etna made a stern look as she realized what was said.
"Hey guys," Claudio began to talk.
[No need to ask,] Axel stated. [We're already on the island]
[Meet us at the main building in about 10 minutes] Fidel explained. [We have much to discuss]
The calls were cut off, prompting the boys to leave the volcano.
Etna looked on and stated, "So, it begins now. And the boys have to answer the call. But they can't keep hiding forever from their friends." She then ran after Hero Duelists, wanting to give any input needed from her perspective.
Contract Signing
Quick-Play Spell
Special Summon 1 Level 4 or below Jukebox Hero Monster from your Deck. Then, pay Life Points equal to the Summoned Monster's ATK.
Metal Millennium
Ritual Spell
This card can be used to Ritual Summon "Jukebox Hero Jericho." You must tribute Monsters that equal 9, with one Tribute being a "Jukebox Hero" Monster. You can Banish this Spell card from your graveyard to select one "Jukebox Hero" Fusion, Synchro, or Ritual Monster from your Graveyard and Special Summon it, ignoring it's summoning conditions.
Jukebox Hero Jericho
Level 9
EARTH
Warrior/Ritual/Effect
2900/2600
You can Ritual Summon this card with "Metal Millenium". When this card is Special Summoned, select one Monster your opponent controls. Decrease the target's ATK by 500 for each Jukebox Hero Monster in your graveyard. Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed.
Switched the opponents this time with Jaden facing the next batch of Worm Monsters, focusing on Worm Victory. Claudio faced Trueman using a Lava Themed Deck, using some other cards of FIRE.
Next Time: Jaden and Claudio want to get to the heart of how Nightshroud, Brightveil, Twilight, and Gemini came to possess Atticus and the others. But are they well enough to talk? An unlikely challenger will be forced to step up to get some answers.
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