Grave Risk - Part 1

It was late in the night at Duel Academy, and everyone was sleeping peacefully.

...

Or... not everyone. At the Slifer Red dorm, while Jaden and Chumely were snoring away, Syrus crept down from his bed bunk, his eye weary from fatigue. "That's the last time I mix chili sauce with ice cream." He muttered to himself. He walked out of the dorm room quitely and went down the stairs and around the building and to a random door thinking it was the bathroom. When the opened the door, he saw a blue glow from a computer. "Oh, whoops. This isn't the bathroom." He was about to close the door, but he then noticed Professor Banner sitting at a computer, his back to the open door.

"You are not here to ask why, you are here to obey." An unknown voice said from the other end of the communication.

"But Jaden is one of our best students, he could be buried alive!" Banner protested.

"Buried?" Syrus repeated.

"If the tomb shall be the end of Jaden Yuki, then so be it. But his true potential must be tested. The same thing applies to the other student who shares a similar spirit."

Syrus closed the door quietly and backed away, scared of what he just heard. 'Tested? In a tomb? Where he could be buried alive? Something tells me this test isn't mid-terms.' He then became even more scared when he started to wonder about the other student. 'And who could the other one be. I hope it's not me or Chumley...'


The next day, it was a normal day, and right now, Banner was giving his students another lecture about alchemy. There weren't many students present in his class, most likely because it was boring or considered this unrelated to dueling. Some of those who were present were bored. Jaden and his roommates were among those bored students. Jaden had painted black dots over his eyelids, so when he was sleeping, his closed eyes would make it look like he was still awake. Clover and Xander, who were sitting beside the trio, were aware of this stupid trick, but didn't mention it.

"So, as you can see, we can learn a great deal about dueling from alchemy." Banner spoke to his class, standing by his desk with different vials with multi-colored liquid in his hands. "For just as you might combine two monsters to create another, you can combine two compounds to create something equally impressive." He poured the liquid from a test tube into the vial he held, then stirred it by shaking it. And then…

BOOM!

It exploded, creating a cloud of smoke in the process. Many of the students jumped at that, but for some reason, that didn't wake Jaden up, to Clover and Xander's confusion.

"…and equally devastating." Banner added before his body, being smudged by the smoke, collapsed.

The bell then rung, at which Jaden woke up from his nap, stretching his arms while yawning. "Morning guys. Learn anything good today?"

Clover and Xander gave him a look that said 'seriously' upon the fact that he woke up to the sound of the school bell, but not a loud explosion.

Andrew sweatdropped at exact same reason. 'That guy has some weird resistance to awakening.'

Still startled by the explosion, Syrus said, "We sure did. To duck."

Banner recovered from the little incident and got up on his feet. "Oh, I almost forgot." He announced as he held up a pile of papers. "I'm, uhh.. planning, uhh... a little field trip."

"A field trip?" Clover repeated. "Another one?"

"Great! To where!? Is it Duelist Kingdom again!? Oh wait, wait! I know! Kaiba Land!?" Jaden asked, excited.

"Even better! We're taking a ten mile hike, all the way to the excavated ruins, where we'll be taking geologic core samples!" Banner revealed.

That perked Andrew's interest "Ruins? We get to explore more of the Academy island?"

"Saturday at 7:00 AM. Don't be late.


The next morning

Banner and his students found themselves outside the Academy building, ready for the field trip. However, the number of students, who had backpacks, were not what Banner expected. "Only 9?"

Those students were Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Andrew, Shiori, Jenny, Clover, Xander and Alexis.

"Where is everyone else?" Banner wondered.

"They're probably sleeping, Professor." Syrus suggested. "You know? In their nice warm beds, with their nice comfy pillows."

"Just like I would be doing if Banner didn't threaten us with detention if we didn't show up." Chumley muttered. "It's seven am in the morning. I need my beauty sleep."

"Ya know, it wouldn't hurt to get out more, Chumley." Xander said.

"Exactly, maybe even join Andrew for workout?" Clover added, patting the friend in question on his back.

"No thanks. I'd probably collapse after that."

"Exercise isn't so bad after doing it a number of times." Andrew replied. "Besides, this could be an adventure. We're about to travel to an unknown part of the island." He almost smiled with excitement.

"Someone's happy." Jenny noted with an amused look.

"I'll tell you what the secret to get up early is." Jaden spoke. "Staying up all night long."

"Is that why you always fall asleep in class?" Shiori asked and raised an eyebrow.

"To tell you the truth, I could hardly sleep either." Alexis said. "These ruins we're going to used to host the shadow games."

"That's sweet!" Jaden commented. "Maybe you'll find some clues then. Ya know, about your brother."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm hoping for."

"Brother?" Clover asked.

Andrew frowned before he leaned in and whispered to her. "Yeah. You see, in the past, there were a number of students who mysteriously disappeared. And one of those students was Alexis' older brother."

"Oh." Clover frowned as well and gave Alexis a sympathetic look.

Banner spoke up as everyone's PDA's showed them the picture of the ruins. "Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins. Inside, is an ancient tomb."

Syrus widened his eyes. 'A tomb!?' He then remembered last night and turned to Jaden. "Jaden, I need to talk to you."

"But I…" He couldn't finish his sentence as the smaller Slifer dragged him away from the group.

"I think Banner wants to bury you alive." Syrus whispered. "He was talking about that tomb, and you in it. He also mentioned something about another student. It could be one of the others, or worse, me!"

"What? Just cuz I fell asleep in class?" Jaden asked. He then teased his friend. "Does the school board know about this?"

"Jaden, I heard him say it last night!" Syrus replied.

"Sy, this is starting to sound like another chili sauce nightmare."

"Okay everyone, let's go!" Banner said, as everyone followed him.

Syrus was the last person to follow since he stood there until he said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."


The 9 students and Banner traveled for hours. They've been walking, climbing and crawling. But everyone dealt with all the obstacles and trials without complaining… well, except for a certain koala duelist...

"Are we almost there?"

"My feet really hurt."

"Can we take a bathroom break or something?"

"I hate climbing!"

"I hate crawling!"

"I hate hiking! Are we there yet! I'm hungry!"

Eventually, Clover couldn't take it anymore and snapped at him. "Can you just stop your complaining already!?"

Chumley jumped at her outburst. Before any other studnet could say anything, Banner beat them to it.

"Oh, look! We're finally here! Isn't it just amazing?" The students looked directly in front of them. It was a cleared area with structures of stone, one being an arch, though it was missing a part. Just like other structures, most of it was covered in green moss.

The students looked at them with awe.

"They look all ruined." Jaden commented.

"Alexis smiled slightly. "That's because they're ruins."

"Well, this is a nice place. I wonder what they did here, besides hosting the shadow games." Andrew said, looking around at the site fascinated.

"I almost forgot how much he liked history." Clover commented amused.

"But you gotta admit, this place looks interesting." Xander replied, glancing around the place.

"Can't argue with that." Shiori added.

"It's beautiful!" Banner said, hardly holding his excitement back. "You can still see the fated remains of the oculus. Oh! And the phastigium!No doubt inspired by a meniment of Saka'Ra!"

"He sure seems excited to see some rocks." Syrus commented.

"Yeah well I'm excited to sit down." Chumely said.

"Yeah and while we're at it, how about we chow down?" Jaden suggested.

"I don't see why not." Banner replied. "And then, we'll hit a few cenotaphs, some carotids, a couple sarcophaguses, or is it sarcophagi? No matter, time to eat." He dropped his bag and reached into it. "I just love pizza."

"Huh?" Jaden and the others turned around stared at the Professor. "You get pizza while we're stuck with... whatever it is I'm holding!?" He whined, holding up some rice balls.

Banner held his backpack close. "I'm your teacher. I need a big meal to, uhh... teach you all!"

Jaden pouted and sat down along with the others.

"Don't worry guys. We got it covered." Andrew declared as he and Shiori reached into their own backpacks and pulled out lunch boxes. Five from Andrew's backpack, and four from Shiori's backpack.

"No way." Xander said.

"Me and Andrew borrowed the Ra dorm's kitchen and prepared some seafood to everyone. That includes some piece of lobster."

"Aw, thanks you two." Jenny said.

Andrew blushed a bit. "No problem."

Clover noticed his red face, and couldn't stop her left eye twitching of annoyance.

As the group settled down for their own lunch, Banner reached for his pizza. But then, he felt something strange when he rummaged through his backpack. "That's funny, I don't remember a fur topping on my pizza." But what he pulled out wasn't his pizza... but rather his cat Pharaoh, crumbs on his face. He meowed and gave a small belch.

And that of course, caused Banner to scream in shock and horror. "You were supposed to stay at home! Not hitch a ride and eat my lunch!" He fell to his knees and hung his head in dismay.

"It appears that karma struck him real hard." Xander commented and took a bite of his seafood meal.

Banner turned to his students, clasped his hands together and anime tears running down his cheeks. "Maybe... you could share your lunch with me?" He pleaded.

Everyone looked at him, mimicking his squinted eyes look.

"Sorry. We're you're students. We need these to learn."

"Yeah, like learn you weren't gonna share." Chumley added.

"But of course I was going to share!"

"Share what? Pepperoni breath all day?" Alexis questioned.

"Look, I have mints! Would anyone like a mint? See, I'm sharing!"

While Banner tried to get some food from his students, Pharaoh pawed at the ground and dug some kind of artifact. It was a large, round disk with symbols carved into it. In the middle of the disk, was a jewel. As the cat dug some more, the gem began to glow a bright light. Pillars of green light suddenly started erupting around them. The cat shrieked and returned to his master.

"What's going on?" Jaden wondered.

Everyone rose to their feet. For a moment, they were all blinded by the green light.

"That's one powerful mint." Chumley commented.

They all then looked to the sky and saw the sun split up in three.

"Is anyone else... seeing in triplicate?" Banner asked nervously.

After the sun split in three, a veil of rainbow colored lights appeared, moving around them.

"This is the most lishus field trip ever." Chumley said in awe.

"It's beautiful." Jenny praised.

"Oh wow! That's neato!" Syrus said in awe.

Winged Kuriboh and Phantom Magician appeared next to their respective duelists.

"Coo!"

"What was that? We should run?" Jaden asked. "But it looks so cool."

"No! Winged Kuriboh is right!" Phantom Magician retorted. "Something's wrong with that light!"

"Seriously?" Andrew asked worried.

And then, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed.

"Quick, children, head for cover!" Banner shouted. Everyone started to run away, trying to find shelter. The storm got closer to them. "We'll find safety over in that sepelcur!"

"The what?"

"The thing with the hole in it!" At that, they ducked into an alcove.

Andrew was about to as well, but looked over his shoulder and noticed that Jaden stopped running. "Jaden, what are you doing!? Get in here!"

"Come on!" Syrus motioned for him.

"You must hurry!" Banner added.

Jaden looked at Andrew, then the others. "You guys stay in there! I'll lead this storm away!" At that, he ran in the direction opposite of his friends.

"Jaden, don't do it!" Andrew called out and ran after him.

"Andrew, wait!" Clover cried out.

"Where they're going!?" Shiori asked.

"They're going crazy!" Xander filled in.

In desperation, Andrew reached out for his friend. "Jaden, we have to go back! We don't know what…!" But he stopped at mid sentence as the light from above brightened so much. And then, everything went dark.


"Ngh… huh?" Eventually, Andrew came to his senses as his eye fluttered several times, his vision being blurry for a moment before he regained his sight. He took notice that he was laying on the ground. He got up in a sitting position and looked around. "What just happened?" He then saw something unexpected. A tall pyramid standing in perfect condition. "What!? What is this place!?" Before he could ask himself something else, he noticed Jaden laying unconscious on the ground. "Jaden!" He started to walk over to his friend, until he stopped and found another surprise.

"Coo!" Winged Kuriboh was hovering close to the unconscious Slifer and poked his cheek, trying to wake him up.

"Winged Kuriboh? No duel disk is on, but he doesn't look like he's in his spirit form. How is this possible."

"I don't know, but it's clear that we're not at Duel Academy anymore." Someone spoke up from behind.

Andrew blinked upon hearing the familiar voice. He slowly turned around to see... Phantom Magician! "What the…!?" He exclaimed. "You too, Phantom Magician!? But I haven't activated my duel disk! What on earth is going on!?"

"Whoa! Think I took the wrong turn." Andrew turned around again and saw that Jaden was awake, staring at the pyramid Andrew noticed, with Winged Kuriboh floating right next to him.

"Coo."

"Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, Kuriboh."

"Jaden!"

The Slifer and his spirit partner turned around and saw Andrew and his spirit. "Oh! Andrew, you okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just… huh?" Jaden had now a confused look on his face as he looked behind his Ra yellow friend.

"What? What is it?" And once again, Andrew turned around... and was now as confused as Jaden was.

Because right in front of them, they saw the same arch from Duel Academy. Only, it was whole instead of broken up. It also had twin stone serpents on the top, and was no longer in its battered condition.

"Wait a second! I remember those ruins being in ruins a few minutes ago. Why is it in fine condition?"

"Maybe this is a crazy dream?" Jaden wondered.

"So you're saying we're having the same dream?" Andrew asked. "I doubt it."

"It's too bad we can't have someone to pinch us to wake us up, huh Kuriboh?" The Slifer joked. But to his surprise, the furry spirit approached his face and pinched his cheek with his claws. "OW! You sharpen those claws? How about a manicure once in a while? By the way Kuriboh, since when could I…" He reached out and held his duel spirit in his hands. "... feel you? Whoa! This is a first!"

"But wait! If Jaden can touch Kuriboh…" Andrew mused as he turned to his own spirit. He then lowered himself and extended his left hand. Since Phantom Magician was holding his staff in his right hand, he grabbed Andrew's hand with his left, surprising his partner. "Whoa! Incredible!"

"Ahem!" They then heard someone clearing their throat. They then turned in the direction it the sound came from and saw a tan-skinned woman with black hair. She was wearing a strange golden headband and a pair of emerald earrings. She was clad in a blue, short dress, and open black robes that dropped to her ankles. She was also holding two backpacks. "This is sacred ground! You must leave here immediately! You are both in very grave danger!"

"Wow! What dorm are those clothes from? I wanna join." Jaden said, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Jaden, none of the school dorms have those clothes!" Andrew said annoyed. "This woman is obviously not a student." He then turned to the woman in question. "Okay, what did you mean by grave…"

But he was interrupted as the woman grabbed them both and held them up against the stairs, where they couldn't be seen.

"Hey!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Quiet!" She hissed. "Or do you wish to share the others' fate?"

"What others?" Andrew asked. But the only response he got was a 'Sshh.'

It was then a group of people marched up the staircase. they appeared to be dark-skinned men wearing purple garments with black robes and had their heads covered but their faces open. And on top that, those men were wielding spears. The trio, plus the duel spirits, waited until the spear wielding men gone.

"They dress weirder than Dr. Crowler." Jaden commented.

"What's going here?" Andrew asked the woman.

"I speak of the strangers whoa share your dress." The woman answered. "They have been taken by the Gravekeeper's Chief and will be punished for entering his sacred grounds."

"What!?"

"Punished!? No way! Not on my watch they won't lady!" Jaden shouted. "Take us to them, right now!"

The woman looked at the boys for a moment before she spoke up. "So be it." She handed the backpacks to them. "You've been warned." At that, they followed her. "Tell me strangers, by which means did you arrive here?"

"Um, the name's Jaden, and I don't even know where here is. But I bet it's a great place where you could get a great tan."

"My name is Andrew, and to answer your question, we don't really know how we got there. All we know that we were blinded by a bright light before we got separated from our friends."

"I see."


Some time passed until the woman led boys to an empty room with three window spaces on the wall across the doorway. "You will wait here."

"No we won't!" Jaden protested. "We want to see our friends?"

"I will find them." The woman said. "Believe me, if both of you are found walking about, you'll be of no use to them. I'll be back."

"Okay, fine." Andrew sighed as he and Jaden caved in after the woman left.


It's been a while since the woman left Andrew and Jaden alone in this room. They've been waiting for her to return with their friends. But so far, none of them showed up. At very least, it's been no sign of the spear wielding men either.

"What's taking so long?" Jaden asked frustrated. "Is she ever gonna come back?"

"Yeah, that's what I was about to ask." Andrew responded.

It was then Jaden suddenly gasped. "Wait a sec! What if she's working with this Gravekeeper?"

Andrew widened his eyes. "That's a scary thought. Because if that's the case, then she's most likely setting us up."

"SOMEONE! HELP US!"

The boys jumped to their feet upon hearing that feminine scream.

"That was Alexis!" Jaden shouted and turned to the windows. He and Andrew jumped up and looked out the windows. Down below their perspective, they saw four coffins laying on the ground in the square space in the middle of the structure around them. And to their horror, they saw Syrus, Chumley, Alexis and Banner (along with his cat) inside those coffins, wrapped in bandages. "Oh no!"

"We have to get them out of there!" Andrew shouted. But then he noticed something. "Wait a minute, I see only four of our friends. Where are the others… OW!"

"OW!" Jaden yelped, along with his friend as they suddenly felt something sharp prodding on their rears.

"Get down!" A deep, gravely voice commanded.

"Move towards the sharp object? You've gotta be kidding me!" Jaden responded.

"That's crazy!" Andrew added.

"Now!" The voice hissed.

"Alright, alright! You ever hear of a handshake?" Jaden asked as he and Andrew slid down the all. And as soon as they turned around, they were greeted by a bunch of spearheads pointed towards them. "I guess not." The boys got a good look on the people in front of them. The dark-skinned men holding the spears looked exactly like those they avoided earlier. Behind those spearmen were two bald men, with their chests bared except for the open black robes they wore. Each of them held a weapon similar to a trident, except that the middle fork twice as long as the other two.

And behind those two, stood one more man. He had dark skin, just like the rest of them and a moustache running into his small, dark beard. He wore a light purple shirt, green pants, white robes with black at the ends, and had his head covered with a black covering on top of his head.

No one, not even the beard man, noticed the same woman from earlier peeking from around the corner before disappearing.

"Aw, where's my manners?" Jaden asked shakily. "Introductions first. I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is my friend, Andrew. And your name would be…?"

"I am the Gravekeeper's Chief." The bearded man responded. "And you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect."

"Hey, sounds good to me, pal!" The Slifer replied nervously. "How about we just go and grab our friends downstairs? We'll say our goodbyes to you, then zip back to the dimension we came from."

"That is not possible." The Gravekeeper Chief said.

"Why not?" Andrew asked.

"Because, fools, you have tread upon my domain. And you will be punished , along with your friends."

"We didn't come here on purpose!" The Ra retorted. "We were just visiting some old ruins in our own world before getting blinded by a light and ended up here!"

"How and why you came here is none of my concerns. What matters is you trespassed here, and must be punished."

"Come on! Can't we pay a fine or something?" Jaden asked.

"You cannot."

"Let us go! We don't care about your damn tomb, you have no right to point your spears at us!" Andrew pushed the spears away, but cringed when they came back, pointed at his neck.

The Gravekeeper Chief chuckled. "You show some spirit, strangers. I shall pardon your trespasses, given you can survive my challenge." He offered. "What is your answer?"

"Well, what's the challenge?" Jaden asked. To answer his question, the bearded man smirked and held up what appeared to be a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "A duel? Now you're speaking my language!" He said excited as the spearmen moved away their spears. "You're on! But only if you pardon all of our friends along with us."

Andrew widened his eyes in realization. "Wait! That reminds me. We saw 4 of our friends down there. Where are the others?"

The Chief turned to him. "Ah, yes. The other four are suffering a similar predicament at the moment. Although they have been moved to a different place. My Oracle is overlooking them. If you want me to pardon those people as well, then you must defeat him."

Andrew stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Fine then, I'll accept the challenge. We'll see to it that everyone gets out of here safe and sound."

"That's assuming if you win."

"For our friends, there's no 'if' about it, pal." Jaden said as he and Andrew took their duel disks out of their respective backpacks. "We'll win."

The Gravekeeper then sneered. "But if you don't, you will be punished. You will be buried alive."

Andrew gasped at that.

Jaden cried out with a funny, frightened face. "BURIED ALIVE!? But then who'll save our friends!?"

"Fear not. They will be buried, along with you."

The boys were still frightened at the stakes of this challenge. But, they didn't have a choice.

"Good luck, Jaden."

"You too, Andrew. You better come out alive."

At that, some of the spearmen guided Jaden and followed the chief in one direction, while the rest of them took Andrew in another direction.


The place where Jaden and the Gravekeeper were about duel was the top of the structure surrounding the pit where the coffins with his friends were. The duelists were standing on little extensions that stuck from opposite walls. Jaden activated his duel disk. As for the Gravekeeper, a strange duel disk appeared on his arm. The looked a conch shell, with the tray for the field being straight as can be.

"Good luck, Jaden!" Banner said. "We're all rooting for you! Very, very much so."

"Jaden!" Syrus called out.

"Come on Jaden, save us!" Chumley pleaded.

"Don't worry, you'll all be fine. As long as I beat this guy." Jaden said before he focused on his opponent. "All right, get your game on!"

Jaden: 4000

Chief: 4000

"Get my game on?" The Chief repeated as he and Jaden drew their opening hands. "What do you speak of?"

"Sheesh. It's a figure of speech. You know, like slang?"

"It's like slang? How dare you speak to me with a rotten tongue of a filthy serpent!" The Chief drew his sixth card. "I play a card facedown, in defense mode, thus ending my turn." He declared as the mentioned card appeared in front of him.

"And starting mine!" Jaden drew his card and looked at it. It was at that moment Winged Kuriboh showed and hooted. "Hey, Winged Kuriboh. It's good to see you, bud. Now watch this. I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" The blue armored, white caped water hero stood tall in front of him. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And he's got some pop. Cuz if I summon him when there's nothing else out, then I'm allowed to draw two more cards from my deck." Jaden drew his extra cards. And they turned out to be Avian and Burstinatrix. "Sweetness!"

"Coo."

'I hear ya. With these two waiting in the wings, it's just a matter of time before the wingman shows up.'

"Alright, next I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

The chief drew his next card and held it up. "Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The monster that appeared was a man, very identical to the spearmen Jaden and Andrew encountered earlier. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "I hope your Bubbleman's draw provided you with two very good cards. Because already he's outmatched in battle. And he is soon to be outnumbered as well."

"Uh oh."

"I now summon, in attack mode, Gravekeeper's Guard!" The facedown card flipped up and released one of the bald trident wielding men from earlier. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1900 LV: 4) "And his effect, lets me return a monster that's out to its owner's hand. And the monster I choose, is Bubbleman!" The guard unleashed pulsing red light that struck Jaden's hero monster.

"Ooh, red." Chumley said amazed.

"That's not a good thing, Chum!" Syrus retorted.

After the light died down, Jaden noticed that his monster card was back in his hand now. "He's back?"

"And now that you are unguarded, Jaden, I'll attack you directly! Gravekeeper's Guard, Blazing Blade Strike!" The named monster flew to Jaden's side and swung his weapon at him in a downward arc, before leaping back to his side of the field.

Jaden: 4000-3000

Jaden held his shoulder in pain. "I felt that... This is real!" He grunted.

Down below, the lids to the coffins began to slowly close.

"Hello! No joke it's real!" Banner said worriedly.

"And now, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, Wage your attack! Lunging Spear Assault!" The spearman dashed forward and stabbed Jaden at the gut, who cringed in pain when struck.

Jaden: 3000-1500

"Okay... I think that I'm getting it now." He panted, watching the monster return to his master. "This isn't just about life points, it's about my life."

"Yes, and theirs." The lids of the coffins closed up more.

"I'm claustrophobic, for real!" Syrus panicked.

"Yeah so am I, if it'll get me out of here!" Chumley added.

"It's my turn!" Jaden drew. "And I play the spell card, Polymerization! Avian and Burstinatrix, combine to create, the Flame Wingman!" The two named heroes disappeared into the fusion vortex and reappeared in the form of Jaden's headliner. (ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200 LV: 6) Jaden grinned. "So did Bubbleman give me two very good cards? Well, see for yourself. Because, from bot of them... came him!" He waved his arm to the Spear Soldier. "And this next attack!" The Flame Wingman fired a stream of flames from his dragon arm and destroyed the Spear Soldier.

Chief: 4000-3400

"Don't even think you're out of fire yet. Cuz for every attack point Spear Soldier had, you now take damage for!" Now it was the Chief's turn to be struck by the flames from the hero monster's arm.

Chief: 3400-1900

"Next I'm gonna summon on out Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The metal dog appeared alongside the green and red hero. (ATK: 800 DEF: 1200 LV: 3) "And that'll do it."

"Nice job, Jaden!" Chumley cheered.

"Way to play, Jay!" Syrus added.

"If we're gonna make it through this thing, Sy, it's the only way he can play." Alexis noted. "Because if he makes even a couple more mistakes, we're through."

"Alright, make your move!" Jaden urged the Chief. "Cuz the quicker I can win this thing, the quicker I can get my friends back!"

"Or the quicker they'll be sent to their doom." The Chief drew a card. "I change my Gravekeeper's Guard to defense mode." The guard knelt down to one knee. "And then I'll place a facedown monster in defense mode as well." A facedown card appeared next to the guard.

"Guess you don't know rule #1 in Duel Monsters." Jaden commented and drew a card. "A good defense is a sweet offense. And who better to teach you the rules than Flame Wingman? Now here goes! Attack! Infernal Rage!" Once again, the hero monster fired a stream of flames, blasting the guard to pieces and burned away the Chief's life points.

Chief: 1900-0900

"Oh yeah!" Jaden cheered before ending his turn.

The Chief drew his next card. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. They appeared to be good ones. "I shall summon Gravekeeper's Assailant in attack mode." A woman wearing a short dress and black open robe appeared. She was holding a serpentine dagger in one hand, and was wearing a hood and mask that hid her face, except for the eyes. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"And she will be joined by the mysticism of Gravekeeper's Curse." The facedown card flipped and released a man with braided hair, dressed in long dark robes with pieces of golden jewelry around his neck. He also held a thin blue and yellow staff with a circular tip. (ATK: 800 DEF: 800 LV: 3) "And now I activate the effect of Gravekeeper's Curse. An effect that will deliver to you 500 points of damage." The man with braided hair raised his staff and was surrounded by a yellow aura.

Jaden was then subjected to a shrill noise around. "That sound." He grabbed his head in pain.

Jaden: 1500-1000

"That's worse than Chum's snoring." He muttered.

The coffins closed a little bit more.

"It's a good thing I have those mints." Banner commented.

"You gotta do better than that!"

"Very well then." The Chief held up a spell card. "Perhaps this card will suffice." The end of the Chief's tray popped open and he placed a it into it. "I cast, Necrovalley." The restored ruins disappeared and a canyon with tall stone walls appeared all around them. The duelists were now standing on stone pillars while their monsters floated on nothingness.

"Uhh, not good." Jaden muttered.

"As long as this card remains on the field, the power of the Necrovalley will add 500 attack and defense points to my Gravekeepers"

"What!?"

(ATK: 1500-2000 DEF: 1500-2000) (ATK: 800-1300 DEF: 800-1300) "Gravekeeper's Assailant, attack Flame Wingman!"

That made Jaden confused. "What, you got sand in your eyes or something? Can't you see my Wingman still has more points? Unless you got some sorta…"

"Special ability?" The Chief filled in. "Yes, the Assailant does, actually. And it allows her to change the battle mode of your Wingman from attack, to defense." The Assailant's eyes glowed white and was surrounded by a purple aura. Flame Wingman was surrounded by the same aura, and then forced to kneel down.

"Oh man!" Jaden gave the Chief a smile. "Boy, you can really duel."

"The best has yet to come. Attack him!" The Assailant leapt in the air and appeared behind the Wingman. Her dagger extended into a sword before she stabbed hero in the back, making him exploded. "And now, my Gravekeeper's Curse will destroy that cur. Take him down!" The named man raised his staff and was surrounded by a yellow aura again. The same aura surrounded Wroughtweiler before it exploded in a shower of pixels.

"Whoopsie! Forgot his special effect? When he's destroyed, I get two cards back from the grave. An Elemental HERO and Polymerization."

"You have the wisdom of dirt." The Chief spat. "Necrovalley negates that effect!"

"Huh?"

"Any spell, trap or monster effect involving the graveyard is completely useless. Just as you have proven to be in your attempts to rescue your friends. Don't you see? Both you and your cards are futile here!"

"No, I refuse to believe it." Alexis said. "I know Jaden can find a way!"

"I hope." Chumley and Syrus said at the same.

"Oh no! Its no use, we're done for!" Banner moaned.

"That's not true, Professor Banner!" Syrus protested. "Jay's still winning! Just look at the life points!"

"Forget the life points! Look at the field!" Banner reminded his students. "Jaden has no monsters out! And the Gravekeeper's Chief has two!"

Jaden felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as the Chief laughed confidently. 'How did this happen? We set out looking for ruins, and suddenly, we're about to become some! This is no joke... If I don't get my game on, we're all gonna be long gone!' The screams and cries for help from his friends didn't make the situation better.

"Fret not." The Chief spoke. "You won't hear your friends' screams, when they're muffled by the buried earth!"

Down below, Jaden's friends watched on for their would-be savior.

"Jaden." Alexis said worriedly.

"I know you can win this, Jay!" Syrus said hopefully.

"And I know I want outta here!" Chumley added.

"Alright, now let's finish this!" Jaden drew a card.

"Coo." He looked at it and saw it was Winged Kuriboh.

"I should have known." He said to his friend with a smile. "You're always around to get my back. Or in this case, to guard my front. Winged Kuriboh, I'm summoning you in defense mode!" The furry duel spirit disappeared from his side before reappearing on his field. (ATK: 300 DEF: 200 LV: 1) "Hang on, guys! I'll get you out of there!" He called out to his friends. "Your move!"

"How fitting." The Chief said amused. "The blind lead the blind and the weak protects the weak. Hiding behind that Kuriboh may be your idea of defense, but in my world, rodents like that are for pounding, not protection."

"He's no rodent! He's one of my very best friends!" Jaden smirked. 'And you're about to see why.'

"Well, with friends like you, he needs no enemies." The Chief jabbed as he drew a card. "After all, you've just thrown him to the wolves!" The Assailant prepared herself to strike.

"Wrong! Because I got a spell card out!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. "Transcendent Wings! Now by giving up two cards, Winged Kuriboh evolves way up to level 10!" After Jaden discarded two cards, the duel spirit glowed brightly and started to evolve.

"As foolhardy as it was predictable." The Chief insulted. "Brainless cur, I knew that you would play that!"

"Huh?"

"Which is why I have this ready! Feast your eyes! The power of Gravekeeper's Watcher!" He held up a monster card that released purple energy that then took the form of man holding a tome and was clad in black and white clothes, similar to the Chief. He floated over to Jaden's field and grabbed Kuriboh's wings, preventing them from growing further.

"What the…! Hey, what's happening!?"

"Fool! The same thing that's been happening this whole duel. You're losing! You see, by sending Watcher to the graveyard, I can negate your level up." Kuriboh's evolving was halted, and he returned to his original form. "And since I have, I'll wage an attack. Stealth Slice Strike!" The Assailant's blade grew longer again and she lunged at the furry duel spirit, destroying him with one swing.

"Sorry, Winged Kuriboh." Jaden apologized. "You took one for the team there. Thanks pal."

"Good thing Winged Kuriboh was there." Syrus said.

"You could say that again, Sy." Chumley added. "His effect makes it so Jaden doesn't take any damage during the turn that he's destroyed."

"That's true." Alexis agreed. "Now we just have to worry about next turn. Because now Jaden doesn't have any monsters out."

"Let's see…" The Chief said. "I've countered your move. I've destroyed your rodent. There's not much left to do but place a facedown." He inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Hey, enough!" Jaden snapped. "Winged Kuriboh's no rodent!"

The Chief laughed. "Would you prefer vermin? Or perhaps rat?"

"That's it! My draw!" Jaden drew a card. "First, I'm activating Pot of Greed. And with this spell, I can draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards. "And now, I'll play one. Dark Catapulter!" The humanoid machine with long neck appeared and kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "But I'm not done yet. I play Mirgae of Nightmare." The named spell card appeared. "And I'm gonna throw down three facedowns." He concluded as three facedown cards appeared. 'Okay, that should do it. And that should set me up perfectly to win this match.'
"I end my turn."

"Very well, my draw."

"And my chance to activate that Mirage card!" Jaden interrupted. "During your standby phase, it lets me keep drawing until I have four cards in my hand." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. "Sweet!"

"Sweet?" The Chief repeated. "Does that wretched slang mean you've draw some good cards? Well don't be so sure. You don't know what is good because you don't know what you're up against."

'I don't like the sound of this.' Jaden thought.

"I now sacrifice Gravekeeper's Curse... to summon myself!"

"Summon yourself!?" Jaden exclaimed.

Both the Chief and the staff wielding man were enveloped in light. When it died down, the Gravekeeper's Chief was now standing at the Curse's place. (ATK: 1900 DEF: 1200 LV: 5) "Due to Necrovalley's effect, I gain 500 attack points." (ATK: 1900-2400 DEF: 1200-1700) "And as long as I'm on the field, my graveyard's not affected by Necrovalley. Meaning I can use traps, spells and monster effects on any monsters laid rest there. And that's not all, I also get to summon one Gravekeeper from my graveyard."

"No way!"

"Rise, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The black clad spearman rose next to his chief. (ATK: 1500-2000 DEF: 1000-1500) "And now I'll play, the trap, known as Rite of Spirit. This lets me summon yet another Gravekeeper. And I choose Gravekeeper's Curse!" The named monster appeared again and was surrounded by a yellow aura again. (ATK: 800-1300 DEF: 800-1300) "When this card is summoned, 500 points of damage are dealt... to you!" Jaden cried out painfully as the same aura surrounded him.

Jaden: 1000-0500

"Behold! The power of the Shadow Game!"

"Shadow game? Is that what this is?"

"Yes, and the game's almost over. For you, your life points and for your friends!" The coffins got even closer to being fully closed.

"Come on, Jaden." He tried to motivate himself. "You gotta get your game on. You gotta get it on for your friends. They're all counting on you. And I won't let them down. Especially when down means... six feet under in an old sarcophagus. No way, no how! They're coming home!"

"Yes, their eternal home! Assailant, attack!" The woman's dagger grew longer again and she leapt in the air at Dark Catapulter. "And with Necrovalley still out, it will be an attack that's 500 points stronger, more than enough to destroy that Catapulter, especially since my Assailant's special effect has just changed it's battle mode to offense!" The machine monster stood up. The woman almost seemed to hesitate as she came closer. "Face it, you've lost the duel!"

"I don't think so! Go, Emergency Provisions!" One of Jaden's facedown cards flipped up. "Now by sending two spell or trap cards on my field to the graveyard, I regain 2000 life points." The Mirage card, along with one of the two other facedown cards disappeared.

Jaden: 0500-2500

"Curse you! But Assailant's attack still cuts through! Go, Stealth Slice Strike!" She cut across the machine monster with her blade, causing it explode.

Jaden: 2500-1500

After Jaden recovered from the explosion, he saw the Assailant return to her master's field.

"You should have attacked faster!" The Chief said angrily to his servant. All she did was bowing her head and back away.

"Hey, it's not her fault you messed up! It's your own!" Jaden pointed out.

"Shut your mouth! Better yet, Why don't I just shut it for you?" The Chief asked as he conjured red energy from his right palm. "After all, do not forget that I still have an attack. And now, I will use it!" He let those a stream of the same red energy.

"Oh no, you don't! Go trap card, Draining Shield!" Jaden's last facedown card flipped and created a green dome that surrounded him and blocked the attack.

"You can't!"

"Oh, I can, and I did. Your attack's cancelled out. But there's more too. Now I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points. Pretty sweet, huh?"

Jaden: 1500-3900

"Fool! So you blocked one attack. But still, I have another! Go, Spear Soldier!" The spearman charged and stabbed Jaden with his weapon, knocking himdown on his back in the process.

Jaden: 3900-1900

"And now, Gravekeeper's Curse attacks, with Doomsday Purge!" Once again, the named man was surrounded by a yellow aura, which then spread to Jaden, causing him to cry out in pain.

Jaden: 1900-0600

The coffins closed up more, leaving but a slight opening. Jaden got to his hands and knees, breathing hard.

"You're proving to be even less of a challenge than I thought." The Chief commented before he heard some sobbing sounds from his opponent. "Come now, fight back. This is barely fun anymore!"

He then realized that Jaden was actually laughing. "Really? Cus I'm having a blast!"

"Your friends' lives hang by but a thread, and you... you say that you are having a blast?" The Chief questioned Jaden's behavior.

"You got that right!" He replied as he got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Cuz no thread's about to be cut. I'm just one turn away from winning this duel."

"You are wrong!" The Chief argued. "And once you see what I'm about play, you will see why!" He activated a card. "Go, Royal Tribute! It's a spell, that I can activate so long as I have Necrovally on my field. Now we discard all monsters in our hand, to the graveyard."

All but one card disappeared from Jaden's hand. "Not good!"

"No, it's not. Well, it's not for you at least. For now, whatever monsters you were planning to win with…"

"Are gone." Jaden filled in as he looked at the remaining card in his hand. 'And the only card I have left is The Warrior Returning Alive, which I can't even use cuz of Necrovalley. It all comes down to this. With no monsters, if I'm gonna save my friends, I've gotta draw something big right now.' He prepared himself to draw. "Alright, here goes something!" He drew, and got a certain, powerful hero. 'Sweet! Elemental HERO Bladedge, one of my most powerful creatures.'

The Chief laughed a little after noticing Jaden's smiling expression. "Drawn a good monster, have you? Shame you have nothing to sacrifice so you can summon it."

Jaden frowned. 'He's right. If I'm gonna bring out Bladedge, I'd need to trade two monsters for him, and I don't have any.' But then, after a moment, something struck his mind, making him smirk. "But then again, on second thought. Maybe... just maybe, I don't need any. Yeah, for sure! The Necrovalley field spell card is all I need!"

The Chief scoffed. "Please, Necrovalley simply negates any effects aimed at monsters in the graveyard."

"Exactly, but not the effects coming out of the graveyard."

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me. You know exactly what I mean. My monsters that are in the graveyard... if they have an effect I can use, I can use them."

"No!"

"Yes ~. And I'm sure I can find one that'll come in handy right now. After all, it's been a long duel, and I got a whole bunch of monsters down in the graveyard that I can choose from…"


Flashback

You are wrong!" The Chief argued. "And once you see what I'm about to play, you will see why!" He played a card. "Go, Royal Tribute! It's a spell, that I can activate so long as I have Necrovalley on my field. Now we discard all monsters in our hand, to the graveyard."

Flashbak end


"Yeah, you see, what helped you out so much back then, will hurt you now. Cuz one of the monsters I discarded... was a certain Elemental HERO known as Necorshade." A transparent version of a red-skinned voodoo figure with bone shoulder guards appeared behind Jaden. "And he allows me to summon an Elemental HERO without any sacrifices one time, and one time is all that I need."

The Chief gasped.

"Because the monster that I'm gonna bring out is the Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The golden armored hero rose up on Jaden's field. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"No!" The Chief exclaimed, being as shocked as the other Gravekeepers.

"Now Bladedge, attack Gravekeeper's Curse with Slice and Dice attack!" The golden warrior dived at the weakest Gravekeeper, taking him out with a swing of his arm.

Chief: 0900-0000

"That's game!" Jaden did his two finger salute as the holograms disappeared and the scenery turned back to normal.

"Chief!" The assailant called out as she ran to her groaning master.

"Hey, is he okay!?" Jaden called out as he ran over to see himself. But before he could reach them, his path was block by the other Gravekeepers.

"No!" They turned to their master who got up, with some support from the Assailant. "He lives! He was an impressive opponent."

Jaden grinned. "Hey thanks. Some of your moves were pretty tight too there. It was a sweet match. Let's duel again sometime."

"What?" The Chief asked surprised. "You mean to say you enjoyed the Shadow Game?"

"Totally! I mean, I could've done without the whole 'friends in the coffin thing', but it was fun. And you three guys…" He looked at the Gravekeepers who blocked his path. " Very scary. Very tough."

They were not sure what to say in response to those words.

"And you too." Jaden directed towards the Assailant. "You all fought great."

"Only one other person has ever passed this challenge. That is, until now. For having overcome your trials, I bequeath to you this mystic medallion." The Chief took a half of a medallion from around his neck It had unusual designs on it and a small ruby in the middle. "It is yours."

"Really? For me?" Jaden took it and noticed that it wasn't whole. "Some gift. There's only half."

"But of course. You see, the only other to have passed this challenge holds the other half. Hopefully when the time comes for you to battle in another shadow game, this medallion will serve you well."

"Sweetness! I'll be sure to remember that." Jaden placed it around his neck and let it drop over his shirt.

The Gravekeeper's Chief turned around and pointed his hand towards the four coffins below. They then opened up, letting the sun shine on those inside.

"We're free!" Syrus cheered.

"Whoa! Turn down the lights." Chumley said.

"I love light." Banner stated. "Light is my friend!"

"Wow, Jaden. You saved us." Alexis said in awe. All their bandages then dissolved, freeing them.

The Chief then turned back to Jaden. "Now, you may have passed your challenge, but your friend has to pass his own if you want him and your other friends to leave here as well."

"Right. But knowing Andrew, he can do it." Jaden replied confidently. 'Good luck, buddy. You better win.'


Well, that was Jaden's challenge. How Andrew's gonna survive his challenge… that's something for you guys to find out. Until next time.