The Flip Out

It was a peaceful evening at Duel Academy and everyone were relaxing in their dorm rooms after having dinner. There was a Slifer student in particular who was in his dorm room, completely alone. It was almost dark in his dorm room. The only light source was a small lamp on the desk. The Slifer boy had short, purple hair, only lighter than Michael. His eyes were brown. He was also wearing a black headband. The boy was sitting at desk and went through his deck.

"Well then, let's see what we get." He said as he placed his deck and flipped up a card. It was a monster card with the picture of a green snake appearing from a blue jar.

He nodded before he placed the card on the desk and flipped up the next card. It was another monster card. This one had the picture of a reaper-like creature. Its eyes and mouth were glowing while the rest of its face was hidden within its hood. It was wielding a scythe in it hands and was wearing a necklace with duel monsters cards around its neck.

The boy took another card from his deck and it was yet another monster card. This one had the picture of an old mask with a red X-shaped scar on it.

"Yes, this should be good. I'm definitely ready to take on the challenge." The boy stood up and put his deck into the deck holder. "Andrew Wilson, I'm coming for you.


The next day, the students were either walking around campus, chatting or just relaxing. That's not surprising, considering it was weekend now. Speaking of relaxing, Andrew was laying on the ground, under a tree near the beach.

"Well, another exercise done. And the best part of exercising is when you get to relax afterwards." He muttered. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. It didn't take long before he fell asleep. And then, someone passed by and noticed Andrew. It was Jenny who walked up to the sleeping Ra student.

"Hey Andrew." She greeted. But there was no reply from him. Just some snoring. Jenny couldn't help but giggle. "He's actually cute when he's asleep." She said.

It was then a thought crossed her mind, making her blush a little. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one around here, she kneeled down in front of Andrew and began to leaning towards him. She was close to give him a peck on his cheek, but gasped when she noticed his eyes slowly opened. She jumped away while panicking a bit as he woke up.

Andrew rubbed his eyes for a bit and turned to see Jenny sitting right next to him. "Oh, hey Jenny. Why are you here?"

The blue-haired girl calmed down a bit before she answered. "I... just saw you sleeping here all alone and thought I could give you some company." She replied with an almost nervous tone.

The hero duelist smiled. "Well, that's kind of you."

"No problem." She said, returning the smile. But in her mind, she cursed herself. 'What in the dueling world was I thinking!? Did I actually try to kiss him on his cheek while he was sleeping!?'

Andrew was now sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree. "I was just relaxing for a bit. After going through an exercise, it's nice to rest a bit."

Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I can tell. Even though I don't do it as much as you, I exercise sometimes myself."

"Is that so? Then maybe we could train together someday." Andrew suggested.

"Of course. That would be nice." She replied cheerfully.

"Great." He said before watching the sea.

Jenny decided to enjoy the view with him for a while. They both stared at sea silently, enjoying the salty breeze.


Meanwhile, a certain someone was walking around somewhere else on the campus. It was the Slifer boy who went over his deck last night. If anyone could see his height, they would see that he was taller than Syrus, but still shorter than his other friends.

"Now, if I were Andrew Wilson, where would I be?" He mused.

As he looked around, he went into the forest. He walked through there until he came to a clearing. And just as he entered there...

"Well well well. Look at here boys. A lost Slifer slacker." He turned around to see three Obelisk boys grinning down at him. The one up front had messy brown hair. The ones behind had short, black hair and spiky red hair.

"Looking for someone, little man?" The black-haired one spoke.

"As a matter of fact I do. Have you guys possibly seen a Ra Yellow student named Andrew Wilson around here?" The Slifer boy asked.

That question made the Obelisk trio widen their eyes. Those who were standing behind the brown-haired one whispered to each other. "Andrew Wilson. Isn't that the guy with a deck full of those Masked heroes?" The black-haired one asked.

"It is. I've heard he defeated Michael Kageyama after surviving three whole turns of his virus combo." The red-haired one replied.

The brown-haired one raised an eyebrow. "And what if we did?"

The Slifer boy shrugged. "No reason, really. I just want to challenge him to a duel. I want to see how I stacked up against him. He is an impressive duelist"

The Obelisk trio glanced at each other, before letting out a laughter. Once they stopped laughing, they sneered at him. "Ha, what could a puny Slifer like you do? And what's so good about that Wilson guy. Sure, he may have some skills, but he's just lucky. He would never stand a chance against us. And neither would you." The brown-haired one taunted.

The Slifer boy gave them a sly smile. "Oh, is that so? Then I suppose there won't be a problem for you guys to take me on, right here, right now."

"You're not worth our time, Slifer Sludge." The black-haired one spat.

"Oh? Is it possible that you guys are scared?"

This earned him a glare from each of the Obelisk boys. The red-haired one spoke up. "Scared of you? Yeah, right. We met 5-years old who are tougher than you."

"Then prove it. I double dare ya."

The obelisk boys took up their duel disks from nowhere and activated them. "Bring it on, you twerp." The black-haired one challenged.

The Slifer boy smirked and activated his own duel disk. "With pleasure…"


Sometime later, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were walking out from the Slifer Red dorm.

"Alright. Weekend. The best time of the week." Jaden said. "Time to find a place and chill out a bit."

"Maybe we can go to the card shop." Syrus suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we can get some new cards." Chumley added.

"That's cool." The brown-haired Slifer replied.

But before they could go any further, the sound of some kind of explosion was heard from somewhere in the forest.

Did you guys hear that?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, it came from the forest." Syrus said.

"What was that?" Chumley wondered.

"Only one way to find out." With that said, Jaden ran off.

"Wait, Jaden!" Syrus called out as he and Chumley followed him.

"Aw, not running."


The Slifer trio weren't the only ones who heard the sound. Andrew and Jenny stood up and turned to the direction the sound came from.

"What was that sound?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know. But let's find out." Andrew replied as he and the Obelisk girl ran to the direction of the sound.


The Slifer trio kept running through the forest, intending to find the source the explosion-like sound. Eventually, they came to a clearing.

"Now where was it?" Jaden asked as he looked around.

"Jaden, over there." Syrus said. The brown-haired Slifer, along with Chumley in direction he was pointing at. What they saw was another Slifer student dueling an Obelisk blue student. They noticed two other Obelisk students, only they were laying on the ground with swirling eyes.

"A duel?" Chumley asked.

"Yeah, it looks that way." Jaden replied. "And it looks like that guy with the headband is kicking butt.

The Slifer boy dueling had a certain reaper monster on his field. As for his opponent, the Obelisk boy stood there nervously since he didn't have anything on his side of the field.

"What's going on here?" Someone asked. The Slifer trio turned to see Andrew and Jenny approach them.

"Hey guys." Jaden greeted. "What's up?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Andrew replied.

"Do you know what's going?" Jenny asked.

"Well, apparently, those Obelisks over there are about to get beaten by that guy over there."

Andrew and Jenny looked at the Slifer student Jaden was referring to.

"Who is he?" Andrew asked.

"I think his name is... Matt or something." Syrus asked, trying to remember.

"Matt Collins." Someone said. The group turned around and saw Bastion walking to them.

"Hey Bastion." Andrew greeted. "Did you hear the sound from here as well?"

"Naturally. Something like this is hardly difficult to miss. Now, as I was saying, that Slifer over there is Matt Collins. He's a duelist who specializes in flip effects."

"Flip effects?" Jaden repeated.

"Yes. His deck is built up with flip effect monsters. Any duelist may have one or two flip effect monsters in their deck, but Matt's deck is filled with a big number of them."

"Wow. That's amazing." Syrus said with an impressed tone.

"From what I've heard, Matt's test results from the entrance exams were high enough for him to become a Ra Yellow student."

The group gasped in surprise. "What? Then why is he a Slifer student?" Chumley asked.

Bastion shrugged. "I think he most likely wanted to start at the bottom and work his way up."

Jaden was the only one who nodded. "That's cool." He turned back to the duel. "Now let's what he got."

Obelisk student: 1200

Matt: 1600

"My move." Matt declared as he drew a card. "Now, Reaper of the Cards, attack him directly!" The reaper raised its scythe… (ATK: 1380 DEF: 1930 LV: 5) and slashed the Obelisk student, forcing him down to his knees.

Obelisk student: 1200-0000

"I guess that's a wrap." Matt said as the hologram disappeared.

The obelisk boy growled. "Why you…"

"Now if you excuse me, I have a worthy opponent to find…"

"Not so fast you squirt!" The Obelisk boy stomped angrily over to Matt and grabbed him by the collar. "Listen, you punk. No one humiliates me and gets away with it."

Matt struggled to get loose. "You're... such a... sore loser."

The bully was now glaring at him harder. "You little…"

"Hey!" He turned to see who called him out. He noticed the group watching this, with Jenny being the one who called him out. "Let go of him now." She demanded.

"Why should I do that? He's a Slifer."

"Unless you want us to tell Chancellor Sheppard, you better let go of him, now!" Andrew warned.

Everything went silent for a good 10 seconds. Once the invincible clock reached the tenth second, the Obelisk boy gave them a 'tch' before putting Matt down. He walked up to his two fallen comrades. "Come on, let's go."

The two remaining Obelisk boys got up and followed their leader, walking out of the clearing. The group approached the purple-haired Slifer.

"Are you okay?" Syrus asked.

Matt brushed off some dust. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"I hope those guys didn't cause you much trouble." Jenny said.

The purple-haired Slifer shrugged. "Nah, it's alright. Those guys were actually easy pickings."

"Well I can imagine that based on what we just witnessed." Bastion replied.

"So what are you doing out here anyway?" Chumley asked.

"I was actually trying to find a certain someone and challenge him to a duel. But it seems like that someone found me."

"Really? Then who is it?" Jaden asked.

Matt held up one finger. "The one I want to challenge... is him." He pointed at Andrew.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah, that's right. I've seen some of your duels. The one against that Michael guy, the one during the promotion exams. The one against her was especially impressive." Matt said as he was referring to Jenny.

"Oh, so you saw that duel, huh?" She asked.

Matt nodded.


Flashback

Matt was walking around on the beach, enjoying the weather. And then...

"Duel!"

He looked in the direction of the two voices saying that. And from a distance, he saw Andrew and Jenny getting ready to duel, while Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were watching.

"I was taking a walk and happened to pass by."

Flashback end


"So yeah, that's why I want to duel Andrew. So how about it? Will you duel me?" He asked hopefully.

Andrew stood there while thinking. A duel against someone who specializes in flip effects could be interesting. Eventually, he smiled and nodded. "Okay. I accept the challenge."

That answer earned him a grin from Matt. "Great. Let's do this."

The two duelists walked to the middle of the clearing and stood on each side, facing each other.

"Good luck guys!" Jaden called out.

"Show him what you got, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

The duelists activated their duel disks.

"Are you ready?" Andrew asked.

"I'm as ready as you are." Matt replied.

"In that case…"

"DUEL!"

Andrew: 4000

Matt. 4000

"If you don't mind, I'll start." Matt said as he drew a sixth card. "First I place a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card in a sideway position appeared in front of him. "Then I'll play another card facedown and end my turn." A second facedown card appeared behind the first one.

"A facedown monster." Syrus said. "What are the odds that it's not a flip effect monster?"

"Eh, whatever it is, it's nothing Andrew can't handle." Jaden replied.

"My turn then." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge in attack mode." The icy armored kid landed on the ground. (ATK: 800 DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And now I activate his special ability. Once per turn, I can discard one card from my hand so he can attack you directly."

"What?" Matt asked, being surprised by this.

Andrew discarded a card before he gave his monster the command. "Now Ice Edge, attack with Subzero Punch!" The kid charged forward with his right fist pulled back and surrounded by ice-cold air, then punched Matt hard enough to knock him down.

Matt: 4000-3200

"Lishus! Andrew gave him the first blow."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "Not only did he cause damage, but he also did that without flipping up Matt's facedown monster."

"And since Ice Edge caused some battle damage by attacking you directly, his special ability activates. I'm allowed to destroy 1 facedown spell or trap card on your field." As soon as Andrew explained this, the icy kid smashed the facedown card into pixels. After that, he returned to Andrew's field.

Matt however wasn't bothered at all. In fact, he seemed to be pleased by this. "Sorry, but you triggered my trap card."

Andrew blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you triggered it by destroying it." It was then the pixels of the destroyed card merged together and formed a face up trap card. "It's called Drowsing Point. And if this card is destroyed, I'm allowed to take a monster from my deck and add it to my hand." Matt explained as he went through his deck until he took the card he was looking for.

"Didn't see that coming. I end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind Ice Edge.

"Back to me." Matt announced while drawing a card. "I'll start by placing the monster card I got earlier facedown." Another facedown monster appeared right next to the first one.

The group watching this became confused by what he said.

"The card he added to his hand? Isn't that too much information?" Jaden asked.

"Something's not right about this." Jenny added.

"Let me make things clear to you, by playing this." A spell card appeared right in front of Matt. " It's called Book of Taiyou. With this spell card, I can flip a facedown monster on the field into attack mode. And I choose the one I just played." The monster card flipped face up, and out of it, came a strange-looking worm. It had brown skin, two tentacles for arms and two thin legs. It's face had two eyes shaped like vertical slits. (ATK: 300 DEF: 200 LV:)

"All of this just to summon that thing?" Syrus asked while staring the strange creature weirdly.

"Don't be fooled." Bastion said. "That creature is not completely harmless."

"He's right, because this is Worm Apocalypse, a monster with a handy flip effect. One spell or trap card on the field is automatically destroyed. So now it's time I destroy your facedown card." The worm raised one of its arms and whipped Andrew's facedown card, causing it to shatter into pixels.

"That's not good." Andrew grunted.

"It's about to get worse, because now I reveal my other facedown monster, Slate Warrior." The monster card flipped face up to reveal a blue-skinned fiend wearing some kind of golden armor with green sleeves and red pants. (ATK: 1900 DEF: 400 LV: 4) "And just like Worm Apocalypse, Slate Warrior has a flip effect. That flip effect being his attack and defense points are increased by 500." The fiend was surrounded by a blue, strengthening aura. (ATK: 1900-2400 DEF: 400-900)

The spectators gasped.

"Wow. That's a lot of points for a level 4 monster." Jaden commented.

"And that's not good for Andrew." Syrus added.

"Now Slate Warrior, attack his Ice Edge!" The fiend dashed towards the little hero and punched him.

Andrew: 4000-2400

"Now, attack him directly Apocalypse!" The worm used its arm again and struck Andrew with it.

Andrew: 2400-2100

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Andrew drew a card.

"I activate my trap..." Matt interrupted as he revealed his facedown card. "Pixie Ring! As long as at least two of my monsters are in attack mode, you're not allowed to attack the one with the lowest attack strength."

"But that means he can only attack his Slate Warrior." Chumley realized. "And that monster's got 2400 attack points."

"True, but Andrew have been through worse." Jenny replied. "I'm sure he can handle this."

"Not bad, but I got something to take down your Slate Warrior." Andrew said as he inserted a card into his duel disk, making a spell card appear. "I activate the spell card Monster Reborn. Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard, and the one I summon is the card I discarded for Ice Edge's effect." The graveyard slot glowed brightly. "Now come forth, Elemental HERO Bladedge!" Once the light died down, the golden armored hero appeared and landed on the ground. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Wow, Bladedge!" Jaden said amazed. "I actually wondered if Andrew had that card in his deck."

"Then I summon Elemental HERO Ocean." The aquatic hero appeared next to the golden armored warrior. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now Bladedge, attack his Slate Warrior with Slice and Dice Attack!" The hero dashed towards the fiend and sliced across the fiend's chest and shattered it into pixels.

Matt: 3200-3000

"Alright! He took down Slate Warrior!" Syrus cheered.

"Lishus!" Chumley cheered.

"Wait, something is happening." Jenny said as she noticed something.

Everyone looked and saw the spirit of Slate Warrior rising up from the ground. And then, it flew forward, passing through Bladedge. The hero then suddenly fell to knees and groaned. (ATK: 2600-2100 DEF: 1800-1300)

"What? What happened to Bladedge?" Andrew asked with a shocked tone.

"This is the second effect of Slate Warrior." Matt replied. "When he's destroyed in battle, the monster responsible for his destruction loses 500 attack and defense points."

"Looks like it's just as I thought." Bastion said. "Matt expected Andrew to summon a powerful monster and go after Slate Warrior."

"Eh, Bladedge has 2100 attack points, so it's not that bad." Jaden replied.

"Now Ocean, attack his Worm Apocalypse!" The water hero stabbed the worm with his trident.

Matt: 3000-1800

"With that, I'll end my turn.

"Okay, here goes." Matt drew a card and smiled when he saw what he got. "Perfect. Now I activate the spell card Burden of the Mighty." The spell card appeared on the field. "With this card in play, each one of your monsters loses attack points equal to its own level multiplied by 100. Since your Bladedge is a level 7 monster, he loses 700 points. And your Ocean loses 400 points since he's a level 4 monster." The two heroes got weakened by a dark aura surrounding them. (ATK: 2100-1400) (ATK: 1500-1100) "Then I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn.

"My move." Andrew announced and drew a card. "First I activate my Ocean's special ability. During my standby phase, I can choose a hero on my field or in my graveyard and return it to my hand, so I'll take back Ice Edge from my graveyard. Then I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The red and white armored fire hero appeared next to Ocean. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field, including himself." (ATK: 1600-2200)

"Impressive, but I still have my Burden of the Mighty card on the field, so your monster loses 400 of them." The hero was surrounded by the same dark aura as the other two. (ATK: 2200-1800)

"That's fine, he's still got a lot of points. Now to try my luck with your facedown monster. Bladedge, attack!" The golden dashed towards his target, intending to cut it in half. When he got close enough, the card flipped face up and revealed a monster with a mysterious appearance. The creature had a golden eye for a head, long purple arms, and a bottom half that ended in a sharp point. (ATK: 0 DEF: 1400 LV: 2)

"A monster with 1400 defense points?" Syrus asked. "That's the same as Bladedge's attack points."

"Which means he won't be able to destroy that creature." Bastion added.

And true to their words, the mysterious monster used it's eyeball to create a force field that caused the hero to jump back to Andrew's field.

"Okay, that didn't do well." Andrew commented. "Then I just have to attack with my Heat."

"If you can that is." Matt replied, confusing the Ra Yellow student.

It was then something strange happened. A glowing symbol that looked similar to the new monster's eyeball-like head appeared on the fire hero's chest, and as a result, he was frozen in place.

"What's going on?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, this is the flip effect of my Dark Eyes Illusionist. I get to choose a monster on your field, and as long as he remains on the field, that monster can't attack."

"What? So he can't attack with Heat?" Chumley asked.

"It appears so." Jenny said.

"I gotta admit, that is quite impressive." Andrew complimented.

"Thank you." Matt replied smiling.

"Since my Ocean is too weak to take down your Dark Eyes Illusionist, I'll just end my turn."

"Fine by me." Matt drew a card and looked at his hand. 'Perfect.'
"I play a facedown monster in defense mode and place another card facedown." Two facedown cards appeared on the field. "Now it's your turn."

"My turn." Andrew drew card...

"Stop right there! I activate the trap card, A Feint Plan." Matt's facedown card revealed itself.

"That one, huh?" Andrew said, almost grimacing.

"Thanks to this card, you can't attack my facedown monster."

"Okay, I'll just summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The wooden hero rose from the ground, kneeling down on the field. (ATK: 1000-600 DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "My Heat may be frozen in place, but he gets stronger with another Elemental HERO on the field." (ATK: 1800-2000) "I'll end my turn."

"I draw." Matt said. "I reveal my facedown monster." The monster card flipped face up and revealed and old man with blue skin, fiery red eyes and a white, short beard. He was wearing a green robe with a red cape and holding a staff with a tip in the shape of a lightning bolt. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1300 LV: 4) "This is The Immortal of Thunder and as you probably guessed, he has a flip effect." The old man held up his staff and shot a stream of electricity in the air. And then, Matt was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning. But the most shocking part of this (No pun intended) is that he didn't seem to react at all. He just stood there with a calm expression, when he was surrounded by a yellow aura.

Matt: 1800-4800

"What!? Did he just increase his life points!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"How did he do that?" Chumley asked.

"I think he mentioned something about his monster's flip effect." Jaden said.

"That's right. Thanks to The Immortal of Thunder, I was able to gain 3000 life points."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "I actually know about that, but there is a risk to use that monster."

"There is a risk?" The Slifer trio asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, that monster may increase your life points, but he has a weakness. And a ridiculous one in my opinion. If he is sent from the field to the graveyard, you will take 5000 points of damage.

Everyone in the group, except for Bastion, gasped.

"Whoa! 5000? Is that really possible?" Jaden asked.

"Well, like Andrew said, it is ridiculous, but it's true." Bastion said. "Although, I doubt Matt would use that monster without a way to avoid its weakness."

"But can he even do that?" Syrus asked.

"All of you are about find out soon enough, but for now, I'll end my turn by placing a monster and another card facedown." Two facedown cards appeared on Matt's side of the field.

"Then it's my turn. And now I activate Woodsman's ability. During my standby phase, I can take a Polymerization from deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." Andrew went through his deck and took the spell card he was searching for. "And next, I'll summon Elemental HERO Stratos in attack mode." The turbine winged hero appeared next to Woodsman. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 300 LV: 4) (ATK: 2000-2200) "And he's got a special ability, for every other HERO I control, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And the number of heroes on my field is more than enough to take down Pixie Ring, Burden of the Mighty and your facedown card."

"Nice. That means the attack strength of Andrew's monsters will go back to normal." Jenny said.

"Awesome! Way to play, Andrew." Syrus cheered.

"That might be a problem." Matt commented. "Then I'll better activate my trap card before that happens." His facedown card revealed itself. "This card is known as Compulsory Evacuation Device, and due to its effect, I can make one of the monsters on field go back to its owner's hand. And the one I choose is The Immortal of Thunder." After the named monster disappeared, the card went back to Matt's hand.

"Clever. With that monster back to his hand, Matt is safe from its weakness." Bastion said.

"No joke. That was a sweet move." Jaden said.

"So you saved your monster, but your spell and trap card aren't safe." The wind hero used his turbine wings to create a cyclone and destroyed the two remaining cards. "And without your spell card, my monsters' attack points are restored." (ATK: 1400-2100) (ATK: 2200-2600) (ATK: 1100-1500) (ATK: 600-1000)

"Nicely played, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

"Good show." Bastion added.

"Way to go, pal!" Jaden cheered.

"Now let's go wild. Ocean, attack his Dark Eyes Illusionist!" The water hero dashed towards the one eyed monster and stabbed him with his trident. The moment it was destroyed, the glowing mark on Heat's chest disappeared. "And now Heat is free, so it's time to take down your facedown monster. Bladedge, attack!" The golden hero approached the facedown monster and was about to strike it down, but not before it flipped face up and revealed the monster itself. The creature looked like some kind of space pod with one big green eye and a blue face with a sharp grin. (ATK: 900 DEF: 900 LV: 3)

"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed. "That's Cyber Jar."

"Is that monster some bad news?" Jaden asked.

Jenny grimaced. "Really bad. Watch this."

The hero cut the mechanical monster in half.

Matt: 4800-3100

"It may cost me a few life points, but it will cost you something more." Matt said as he smirked. "You see, due to its flip effect, all monsters on the field are destroyed.

"No way!" Andrew exclaimed and watched as his monsters were destroyed, one by one.

"And after that, both of us are forced to pick up five new cards, and then, we must summon any level 4 or below monster we get. We're allowed choose their battle mode; face up attack mode or facedown defense mode."

Both duelists drew five cards from their decks and Andrew looked at the cards he got. "Okay, I got three monsters I can summon and I'll place all three of them on the field in attack mode. Come on out, Elemental HERO Lady Heat, Shadow Mist, and Knospe!" The white and orange clad female hero appeared on the field, along with the black armored woman and the little humanoid flower bud. (ATK: 1300 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) (ATK: 600 DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

Matt looked at the cards he got and smirked. "I got two and I'll place both of them in defense mode." The two monster cards appeared on the field facedown.

"Well, I'm not done yet, because I can now activate Shadow Mist's ability. Since she was special summoned, I can take a 'Change' quick play spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Mask Change." Andrew held up the named card he took from his deck. "And now for my next move. Elemental HERO Knospe, attack him directly!"

"W-what?" Matt asked, being surprised by this.

"With another Elemental HERO on my field, Knospe can bypass your monsters and attack you directly. Go, Seed Cannon!" The plant hero fired seeds from its open buds. The seeds exploded at Matt's feet

Matt: 3100-2500

"Since Knospe's direct attack was successful, her special ability activates. She gets 100 extra attack points, but loses 100 defense points." (ATK: 600-700 DEF: 1000-900) "And now it's time to activate the spell card Mask Change." Andrew declared as he inserted the spell card into his duel disk. "With this, I can send a HERO monster from my field to my graveyard and summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute as that monster. I choose Shadow Mist." The black armored woman was enveloped by a pillar of dark energy. "I summon Masked HERO Anki!" The woman was now replaced by the jet black armored hero. ATK: 2800 DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

Matt whistled at this. "One of your Masked heroes, huh?"

Andrew smiled. "That's right. And wait until you see what he can do. Masked HERO Anki, attack him directly!"

The group watching were shocked, but not as shocked as Matt.

"What!? Can you really attack me directly with that monster?"

"Thanks to his special ability, yes. But in that case, you will take damage equal to half of his attack points."

"Hey, that sounds like my Rampart Blaster." Jaden commented.

"Only that this monster doesn't need to be in defense mode to do that." Jenny said.

"Now attack with Shadow Strike!" Anki melted into the ground and disappeared. Matt looked around, wondering where the masked hero went. He failed to notice the dark armored warrior appear right behind him. And before he could react, the hero struck him on his head with his fist.

Matt: 2500-1100

And then, the hero melted into the ground again and reappeared on Andrew's field. "And to end my turn, I play two facedowns." Two cards appeared behind the heroes. "And this trigger Lady Heat's special ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have on the field." The fire hero conjured a fireball in on hand and threw it at Matt.

Matt: 1100-0700

"Lishus." Chumley said.

"Awesome." Syrus added.

Matt was suddenly laughing. "Wow. You're really good. For real."

Andrew smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. You're actually not bad yourself. I've never met someone who could use flip effects as skilled as you."

Matt smirked. "If you like what I did this far, wait until I do this." He drew a card. "First I reveal one of my facedown monsters." One of the monster cards flipped up and revealed a rather creepy-looking monster. It's body looked like a human brain with one eye and had wings. It also had arms with claws. (ATK: 200 DEF: 900 LV: 2) "This is Brain Jacker and this monster has a nasty flip effect. It becomes an equip spell which allows me to take control of one your monsters and I think you can guess who."

Andrew gasped as the brain-like creature flew over to Anki and grabbed his head with its claws. The masked hero walked slowly away from Andrew and turned around when he stopped on Matt's side of the field.

"Whoa! He took control of Andrew's best monster." Syrus stated.

"Yeah, he sure know how to use those flip effect monsters." Jaden commented.

"Based on his mastery of his monsters, I understand now why he was recommended to become a Ra Yellow." Jenny said. "I wonder what he's doing next?"

"With your Masked hero on my side, I should be able to finish this. But first, I reveal my other facedown monster." The facedown monster that was summoned this time was something... quite bizarre. It was a jar with a weird-looking face. It was grinning while revealing its tongue. (ATK: 200 DEF: 300 LV: 3) "This one is called Dice Jar, and his flip effect will determine the outcome of this duel."

As soon as those words left Matt's mouth, two dices appeared in the air; one above Matt's field and one above Andrew's field. "Here's how it works, each of us must roll a die, and here's the most exciting part, the player with the lowest result will take damage equal to the opposing player's result multiplied by 500 points.

The spectators gasped.

"500?" Syrus asked nervously.

"Let's see, Matt has 1200 life points and Andrew has 2100. So um... I don't know." Jaden said, trying to count.

"That would mean if Andrew gets a higher number than Matt, then it has to be 3 or higher for him to win." Bastion replied.

"But if Matt gets a higher number than Andrew, it would take a 5 or 6, and Andrew loses." Jenny added.

"Not lishus." Chumley said.

"Well Andrew, are you ready to roll the dice?" Matt asked.

Andrew was clearly nervous about this, but regardless, he nodded. "I am."

The purple-haired Slifer grinned. "Okay, let's go!" The two dices fell onto the ground and rolled. Everyone watched intently, waiting for the result. Matt's die stopped first and landed on... a 5.

"A 5!?" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed.

"Oh, that means Andrew needs a 6 to win this." Jenny said, obviously nervous.

"I'm sure he got this." Jaden said determined.

Andrew's die rolled around for a bit longer and started to slow down. It appeared it was about to land on a 6.

"Yes, yes." Andrew said, hoping strongly to get a 6. But unfortunately, it landed on a lower number. Specifically… "A '2'!?" Andrew asked with widened eyes.

"My word. That means Andrew is about to lose." Bastion pointed.

"No way." Jenny said disbelieved.

Matt smirked smugly. "It looks I don't need to attack with Anki to win this. Well Andrew, it's been a blast." He punned as the die on Andrew's field exploded.

Everyone watched as Andrew's field was covered in smoke. They waited for a moment until the smoke cleared. When his field was fully exposed, everyone was surprised by Andrew's state. He was standing there calmly with a smile on his face. And what got everyone's full attention, was his life points...

Andrew: 1600

"What!?" Matt exclaimed. "You still got points? How?"

"Simple." Andrew replied. "I activated this trap card." He pointed at a card that was revealed. "It's called Elemental Recharge. This card gives me a thousand life points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field.

Everyone gasped.

"Then you…" Matt realized.

Andrew nodded.


Flashback

While all of you were focusing on the dice roll, I used my trap card to increase my life points.

Andrew's trap card revealed itself and he was surrounded by a light-blue aura.

Andrew: 2100-4100

And his life points were increased just before Andrew suffered the explosion from the dice roll.

Andrew: 4100-1600

Flashback end


"Sweet! That means Andrew is still in play." Jaden said.

"Bravo." Bastion congratulated.

Jenny sighed in relief. "Wow, I don't know how much more I can take."

"Okay, it looks like I need your Masked HERO after all. But first I sacrifice my Dice Jar in order to play a monster in defense mode." Dice Jar was now replaced by a facedown monster. "And now I activate the spell card Magical Stone Excavation. By discarding two cards from my hand, I can take back a spell card from my graveyard." Matt discarded his two remaining cards and took a certain spell card from his graveyard slot. "And I choose this one, Book of Taiyou."

Andrew widened his eyes. "Could it be…"

"That's right. I took it back so I can flip up my facedown monster." The facedown card flipped up and revealed a certain reaper monster. (ATK: 1380 DEF: 1930 LV: 5) "Reaper of the Cards."

"What can he do?"

"Due to his flip effect, Reaper can destroy a trap card on the field, and I'm sure that's exactly what your other facedown card is."

"If reaper destroys it, then Andrew will be defenseless." Bastion said.

"Not good." Jaden commented.

"Alright Reaper, let's see what he got there." The monster flew forward, preparing to destroy Andrew's card.

"I activate my trap card, Blast with Chain." The now face up trap card brought out several sticks of dynamite, held together by a by a long chain. As soon as the bomb appeared, Lady Heat caught it with her hands. "This trap card becomes an equip card with the effect to give the equipped monster 500 attack points." (ATK: 1300-1800)

"But still, since it is a trap card, my Reaper will destroy it." The reaper slashed the trap card with its scythe, making it to shatter into pixels. (ATK: 1800-1300)

Andrew smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted. You see when Blast with Chain is destroyed while equipped to a monster, one card one the field is destroyed."

Matt was now flabbergasted. "W-w-what!? But then…"

"That means I can destroy any card I want, and there's only one card I want to get rid of... Brain Jacker!"

Matt could only watch in horror as the female hero threw the bomb at the brain creature attached to Anki and blew it up. And with that monster gone, the masked hero returned to Andrew's field.

"Incredible." Jenny said happily. "Now Anki is free from Matt's control."

"Which means Andrew can win this." Jaden added.

Andrew noticed the disappointed look on Matt's face. The latter looked down at the ground silently. Andrew was about to get worried, but saw the Slifer boy looking up with a smile.

"I guess there's nothing more I can do. Well this sucks. But, this duel has been exciting."

Andrew blinked before smiling. "Yeah, I enjoyed the duel as well. You're really good Matt."

"Thank you. But in the end, only the best one wins. So… I'll end my turn."

"Okay then." Andrew drew a card. "Masked HERO Anki, attack his Reaper of the Cards!" The dark armored flew towards the reaper and punched him really hard, causing him to shatter into pixels.

Matt: 0700-0000

After the battle was over, the holograms disappeared. The spectators applauded for the two duelists.

"Good show." Bastion said.

"Well played, guys." Jenny said.

"That was a sweet duel." Jaden added.

While everyone were clapping their hands, Andrew and Matt shook hands.

"You played really good." Andrew complimented.

"Thanks, but you did better." Matt replied.

"That was wicked." Jaden said as he and the others approached. "Your flip effect monsters are something else. Maybe we could duel someday."

Matt seemed to consider the suggestion. "Thanks, maybe we will."

"Good, I can't wait for the flip out. Get it? Because he used he used flip effect monsters." Everyone sweat dropped at Jaden's joke.

"Anyway, I think I'll head back to the dorm now. I'm kinda exhausted." Matt admitted.

"Well, It was nice dueling you. See ya around."

"Yeah, see ya." Matt waved before leaving the clearing.

Everyone watched them walk away in silence. The first one to break the silence was Jaden.

"So, who's up for lunch?"

"I'm in." Syrus replied.

"I could use for some grilled cheeses." Chumley added.

"There's more to life than grilled cheeses, Chumley." Andrew stated.

"Grilled cheeses are best, duh." Everyone laughed at Chumley's reply."


Okay. I think I should stop there. I hope you guys liked this. Until Next time.