Chapter 26: Triangle Duel

"Students! Before class ends, I have an announcement to make." Banner stated. It was the end of Duel History class. Ghassan. Bastion and Scott were seated behind Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley. Damian chose a seat seperate from all of them, as did Adrian. "As you know, the School Duel against North Academy will be occuring this coming Saturday."

"Does this mean the student rep's been chosen?" Chumley asked.

"Well...not quite, but almost. Multiple students were discussed as possible representatives. So it was decided that there would be a duel between the candidates tomorrow, with the winner representing the school. In addition, as North Academy is sending a first year student to be their representative, all the candidates are first year students."

There was a muttering among the students. Most of them weren't expecting this to be how the rep would be chosen. And none of them, sans Damian, Ghassan, and Scott, were expecting the candidates to only be first years.

"The first candidate is Bastion Misawa of Obelisk Blue."

Bastion stood up and bowed. "It's an honor to be chosen."

"No surprise there." A Ra student said.

"Yeah, Misawa's tied with Gecko for number one in regards to written tests. And his dueling skills are pretty great too." An Obelisk stated.

"The next candidate is the Ra Yellow, Scott Sheaffer." Banner announced. Ghassan and Scott smiled at each other. Scott was told about how Ghassan convinced Zane to recommend Scott. And now, Scott had the opportunity to brainwash Chazz to their side.

Scott turned to Bastion. "You know, we talked about strategies and decks all the time when we were roommates, but we never dueled each other."

"Glad we'll finally duel each other then." Bastion replied.

Ghassan turned to Damian and Adrian. If either of them were upset that they weren't chosen as the candidates, they didn't show it. 'Guess that's that. Scott will have to duel against Bastion. Maybe he could be brainwashed too. If it works, and Bastion's still chosen as a Key Keeper, we can have a maximum of 5 spirit keys right off the bat if all goes well.'

"There's one more candidate." Banner stated. This shocked the students. The duel wasn't going to be one on one? "The third candidate is the Slifer Red student, Jaden Yuki."

Jaden pointed to himself, surprised. "Huh? Me? For real?"

"That's right. You, Bastion, and Scott will all duel each other in a battle royale. The victor will represent Duel Academy in the school duel against North Academy."

Jaden turned to Bastion and Scott, and smiled widely. The two smiled back. Bastion has been looking forward to dueling Jaden since the beginning of the school year, and Scott was more than happy to duel Jaden a third time.

"Best of luck to the three of you. I'm looking forward to an exciting match." Banner said. "With that said, class is now dismissed."

Several students stood up and walked out of the classroom. "That's amazing bro! You might actually be in the school duel!" Syrus exclaimed.

"I never saw a Slifer be the representative before." Chumley said.

"First time for everything I guess." Ghassan said while sitting down. He got out his PDA, and as he expected, he saw a message from Zane.

'I fufilled my end of the bargain. I expect you to fufill yours.' The message read. Odds are, other classes announced the candidates. Ghassan texted Zane back, telling Zane to meet him at the Slifer Red dorm at midnight before the three-way duel.

'How'd he convince the faculty to pick Jaden though? With Damian and Scott beating him, it's not like he comes off as the best first year like in canon. Guess Zane has more influence than I thought.'

Scott and Bastion got out of their desks and walked to Jaden. "Well Jaden, you ready for the score to be 3-0 tomorrow?" Scott asked.

"Heh heh. Don't be so sure you'll win. I almost beat you without even using Polymerization, remember?" Jaden pointed out.

"Yeah, then me and Scott beat you when you DID use it." Damian walked up to the six from his desk.

"Well that doesn't mean he'll beat me this time." Jaden replied.

"Well I'm looking forward to dueling both you and Scott" Bastion said. "You two have been in my sights for quite a while."

Scott turned to Bastion. "Gonna be tough figuring out how to counter two different decks at the same time, huh Bastion?"

Bastion chuckled. "You underestimate me. Rest assured, I've formulated a vast amount of decks to counter both you and Jaden over winter break." Bastion unbuttoned his jacket. "See for yourself!" Bastion opened up his jacket, and all the students he was talking with, including Scott, Ghassan, and Damian, were utterly stunned. Attached to his shirt were 18 different deck pouches.

"I...I thought you only had 6 or 7 decks..." Damian said.

Bastion smiled. "Due to the recent boom of new Duel Monsters cards, I found more and more ways to counter certain decks. Sometimes I would merely think of possible combinations with cards I bought, and before I knew it, I already had a deck constructed." Bastion rezipped his jacket. "Trust me, I'll construct a deck that will lead me to victory."

Jaden chuckled. "We'll see about that." He shook Bastion's hand, and then he shook Scott's. Scott and Bastion then shook eachother's hands.

"Anyway, we're headed out. Later." Scott, alongside Damian and Ghassan walked out of the classroom. "Well, if I beat both Bastion and Jaden and brainwash them with The Light's powers, then move on to do the same to Chazz, we'll have a maximum of six spirit keys in our possession right off the get go." Scott said. "Hell, a brainwashed Jaden will mean he's out of the picture period."

"It's not that simple." Damian said. "For starters, you have to get them to WANT to join The Light, at least partially, for the brainwashing to work. It's not as simple as 'win a duel, they're your slave.' You have to make them doubt themselves and believe that joining The Light will make them stronger."

"Hmm...that'll make trying to brainwash Jaden tough then. He has a pretty strong will." Ghassan stated.

"Brainwashing Jaden with The Light's power isn't just gonna be tough. It'll be impossible. Gentle Darkness, remember? It counters the influence of The Light of Destruction. That's why when Aster beat Jaden, despite Sartorius putting some of The Light's influence in Aster's deck, Jaden wasn't brainwashed. He simply couldn't see his cards."

"He's telling the truth." The Light said in the heads of both Ghassan and Scott. "People like Jaden or Yubel I can influence, but I can't possess entirely." Ghassan just stared at his brother. For the longest time he believed that Damian would betray him and Scott due to being attached to this world. But he's been nothing but helpful, even after finding out that they were planning on brainwashing Chazz.

"By the way, somebody else you're gonna want to brainwash is the reporter guy who sneaks into Duel Academy. I think his name was Gerard or something." Damian stated.

"Who?" Scott asked.

"Oh yeah. There was some subplot in Jaden's duel with Bastion about some reporter who was looking for info about the missing students. He could have got Duel Academy shut down, but after seeing Jaden's duel with Bastion, decided not to release the info." Ghassan remembered.

Damian nodded. "If we want to get Banner out of the picture, we can brainwash him, have him uncover information showing that Banner was responsible-"

"And with that, we'll turn it into Sheppard and get Banner expelled." Scott realized. "Hell, probably arrested."

"Bingo."

Ghassan thought for a little while. "Adrian did say it helps to have contingiencies in place. If sending Zane at Banner doesn't work out, maybe we can use this. Damian, do you know a place where I can find him alone?"

Damian nodded. "Tomorrow at the library during the duel off. In the anime, it was completely empty due to Jaden and Bastion's duel. Provided things go as they did in canon, you andf him will be the only ones at the library."

"Let me show you around old timer!" Jaden's voice exclaimed. The three turned around and saw Jaden dragging a brown haired, middle aged man with a ponytail and Slifer Red jacket. Syrus and Chumley were following him.

"Jaden noticed the trio. "Sup guys! Love to talk, but I'm showing this new guy around! Catch ya later!"

"Hey, wait a sec!" Gerard yelled. Jaden ran past the trio while dragging him around, Syrus and Chumley following.

"He's the one." Damian said.

Ghassan nodded. "Gonna keep that in mind."


It was late at night. Ghassan was waiting outside the Slifer Red dorm. 'Seriously, where is he?'

A few minutes later, Ghassan saw Zane walk towards the dorm from a distance. "About time you got here. You're almost 15 minutes late."

"The Obelisk Dorm is a fair distance away from the Slifer Red dorm you know." Zane replied.

"Fair enough. So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you get the faculty to choose Jaden? I expected Adrian or Damian to be chosen over him."

"Crowler brought up the possibility of Adrian, but Sheppard said he'd prefer if the rep was somebody whose been at Duel Academy for a while. Adrian hasn't even been here a month yet. Damian was brought up, but Crowler argued that Bastion was a better candidate. Apparently, he saw Bastion defeat Damian in a duel."

"Alright. But how'd you convince them to choose Jaden as a candidate?" Ghassan asked. "Scott and Damian beat him after all."

"Professor Banner and I both argued how Jaden's passion for dueling along with his unnatural ability to turn around nearly any situation in a duel makes him a worthy candidate. When he and Syrus dueled against Scott and Damian, they went from hanging on by a thread to having the upper hand. And according to Banner, Jaden nearly beat Scott without even fusing. Sheppard deemed Jaden worthy because of that. But enough of that. We know why I'm here."

Ghassan nodded. "Alexis might have told you that I said one of the professors at the academy knows where Atticus is."

"Yeah. She told me about you and Scott the day after she dueled you."

"Yeah. Well, I know who the professor is. And he's the one who helped you get Jaden picked as a candidate."

"Wait...Professor Banner knows where Atticus is?" Zane asked.

Ghassan nodded. "It was during one of Banner's classes that Atticus and the group of students disappeared. I know Atticus is alive because I overheard Banner talking about somebody named Atticus Rhodes the night before I dueled Alexis." Scott suggested Ghassan go with that lie just in case Zane asked for how he knew about the information.

Zane thought for a moment. "How can I be certain you're telling the truth?"

"Hey man, it's your choice if you believe me or not. I held my end of the bargain."

"No, I said that if your answer was believable, I wouldn't tell Jaden and the others that you set up the tag duel. I have doubts that Professor Banner is witholding information about a missing student." Zane closed his eyes. "So as you can guess, I don't believe you held up your end of the bargain."

Ghassan clenched his fist. 'Seriously? He's gonna tell them anyway?' "What if I find proof then?"

Zane turned around. "You have until Saturday, the day of the school duel against North Academy. If you do, I won't tell Jaden and the others that you're responsible." Zane walked off, heading back to his dorm.

Ghassan breathed a sigh of relief. 'Alright. Looks like we're still in the clear for now. I just need to make sure Gerard can uncover proof that Banner's responsible. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day.'


"It's time students! To find out who will be representing our most illustrious academy in the annual School Duel!" Crowler announced. The students gave a loud cheer.

"Go get 'em Jaden!" Syrus cheered alongside Chumley.

Zane and Alexis were watching the duel from the upper rails. "Three students representing each of the dorms. This'll be interesting." Zane said.

"Mind if I join?" Alexis and Zane turned their heads and saw Damian walking up to them, wearing a Slifer Red jacket.

"Didn't you throw a rock at me last semester?" Zane asked.

Damian gave a sheepish grin. "Water under the bridge."

Alexis shrugged. "Sure." Despite her suspicions of him, Alexis didn't mind Damian anmore. The more he was present whenever Jaden dueled, the more she saw an upbeat, playful attitude that reminded her of Jaden. She wouldn't go as far as to call him a friend like Jaden would, but at the very least, she was fine with his company. "By the way, where's your brother?"

"Oh, he and Adrian weren't interested in coming." Damian answered. He looked at the Duel Field alongside the two.

Zane had to admit he was surprised that Alexis accepted. She was the one who found out that Damian knew about Atticus as well, but she accepted it like it was nothing. Did Ghassan saving Jasmine really erase her suspicions of the brothers? Or was she merely tolerating them since she didn't have any definitive way to draw more information out of them? 'Well, either way, by Saturday we're finding out the truth about Atticus.'

Scott, Jaden, and Damian all walked onto the Duel Field. Scott noticed that the markings on the Duel Field usually there to designate the two sides of the field was covered up by a large white tarp. 'I guess since this is gonna be a three person duel, the markings wouldn't really be able to serve it's purpose.'

The three each stood on different sides of the tarp. "Well, good luck guys." Jaden said.

"Thanks, though I won't need it." Bastion replied.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Scott stated.

"In this corner is the Obelisk Blue student, Bastion Misawa!" Crowler enthusiastically yelled. A huge applause occured. "In this corner is the Ra Yellow student, Scott Sheaffer!" Another loud applause.

"And in this corner is Jaden Yuki." Crowler hastily said.

Banner looked at Jaden. 'Jaden Yuki. A student who breeds a vast amount of talent, yet never bothers to apply himself. Your victories over Crowler and Chazz especially show how your dueling skills are far beyond Slifer Red. Your uncanny ability to defy all odds and turn things around is especially fearsome. You duel off instinct as opposed to planning, but it still almost always works out for you. Ever since the entrance exams, I desired to duel you.' Bastion clenched his fist. 'It's frustrating quite frankly. For somebody like you to choose to never stretch further despite having the potential to do so. I never even got the opportunity to duel Chazz for my promotion, but you turned down the opportunity to become a Ra Yellow after your victory. We're opposites in many ways. But now, I have the opportunity to truly settle this.'

Bastion then took a look at his former roommate. 'Scott Sheaffer. If Jaden's my opposite, than you're my duplicate. Until Adrian Gecko arrived, you were the only first year whose grades rivaled my own. And like me, you constructed several different decks and formulated a number of different strategies to counter the opponent. Despite having higher grades than you, you were one of the biggest reasons I couldn't truly view myself as the number one Ra Yellow at the academy, especially after you defeated Jaden Yuki in the tag duel.' Bastion took a look at his academy jacket. 'Ironically, it was due to your words that I decided to move up to Obelisk Blue. I suppose only accepting Obelisk Blue upon becoming the number one first year was a tad unreasonable. Still, don't think for a second that it means I've given up on that goal. Here and now, I'll prove that I've earned my way into the Obelisk Blue ranks.'

"Now, as this is a Triangle Duel, no duelist will be able to attack on their first turn. And duelists can select which opponent they decide to target for attacks or effects. In addition, card effects that normally affect two duelists in a regular duel will affect all duelists and card effects affecting a certain number of cards on the opponents field can be divided amongst the opponents." Crowler explained. "But card effects that would affect all of a type of card on the opponent's field will apply to both opponents."

"Oh. So if somebody like Bastion plays a card like Burden of the Mighty or Harpie's Feather Duster, both Jaden and Scott would be affected by it." Chumley said.

"Now, without further adieu, let's begin!" Crowler got off the Duel Field.

"Alright you two, get your game on!" Jaden yelled.

"Let's duel!" The three said simulatenously. (Scott 4000/Jaden 4000/Bastion 4000)

"I'll go first!" Bastion drew a card from his deck. "I summon Thunder King Rai-Oh (1900/800) in attack mode!" A flash of lightning occured before blue metallic figure with four lightning rods for limbs appeared. On both sides of him was a floating yellow device generating electricity. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"I'll go next." Jaden drew a card from his deck. "I summon my Elemental Hero Clayman (800/2000) in defense mode." The stone figure appeared in a guard stance. "I'll throw down two face downs and call it a turn."

"It's my move then." Scott drew from his deck. 'That Rai-Oh card's gonna be a pain. Jaden probably doesn't know what it does, but I know it can negate a special summon, and prevents adding cards to my hand from ways other than drawing. Better get rid of it now.' "I summon Alexandrite Dragon (2000/100) in attack mode!" The jeweled dragon appeared in front of Scott. "Next I activate the quick play spell, Quick Rush. With it, I can make a level 4 or lower monster attack, regardless of effects or conditions!"

"That means he can attack this turn!" Alexis gasped.

"Alexandrite Dragon, destroy Thunder King Rai-Oh!" The dragon charged at Bastion's monster.

"Well if that's how it'll be, I activate my continuous trap card, Escalation of the Monarchs. Once per turn during my opponents Main Phase or Battle Phase, I can immediately tribute summon a monster." Right before Alexandrite Dragon slashed throuh Rai-Oh, Rai-Oh disappeared. In it's place was a large shining cloaked figure in gold armor. "I sacrifice my Thunder King Rai-Oh to summon Kuraz the Light Monarch (2400/1000)"

"Whoa. Wasn't expecting a tribute on an opponent's turn." Jaden stated.

"And that's not all. When Kuraz is summoned, I can target up to two cards on the opponents field and destroy them. Or in this case, fields. Kuraz, destroy Alexandrite Dragon and Clayman! Go Kuraz, Flash Incineration!" Kuraz sent out beams of energy from it's hands, destroying both Scott's Alexandrite Dragon and Jaden's Clayman. "Fortunately for you, you get to draw a card for each monster destroyed."

"Sweet!" Jaden drew a card, as did Scott.

"Since you destroyed a Dragon type monster, I can special summon my Keeper of the Shrine (0/2100) from my hand!"

"I don't think so. I activate my trap card, Vanity's Emptiness!" Bastion replied. Scott gasped.

"Umm...what does that card do?" Jaden asked.

"With this continuous trap, none of us can special summon monsters." Bastion explained.

Jaden widened his eyes. "No special summons?!"

"It's not permanent though. If we send a card of yours from the deck or field to the graveyard, that card's instantly destroyed." Scott pointed out. "I set two cards face down and end my turn." Scott said.

"Then it's my move." Bastion drew a card. "How about I repay your attack against me Scott? Kuraz, attack Scott directly! Holy Ray!" Kuraz put it's hands together before firing a blast of light at Scott.

"I activate my trap card, Draining Shield. I negate your attack, and gain life points equal to your monsters attack points." (Scott 4000-6400)

"Fine then. I set a card facedown and end my turn."

"It's my move then." Jaden drew a card from his deck. "I activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two." Jaden did exactly that. "Now, I normal summon my Elemental Hero Bladedge (2600/1800) in attack mode!" The golden warrior appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

"I take it that Necroshade was one of the cards you discarded then?" Bastion asked.

Jaden nodded. "And with Necroshade in the grave, I can normal summon a level 5 or higher Elemental Hero monster without sacrificing one time. Now go Bladedge, destroy Kuraz the Light Monarch!"

"He's not gonna attack Scott directly?" Syrus wondered.

"He must view that Vanity's Emptiness card a bigger threat." Chumley replied.

"First I activate my trap card, Imperial Custom. Next, I activate the effect of my Escalation of the Monarchs to tribute summon during your battle phase! I sacrifice my Kuraz the Light Monarch to summon Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000) in attack mode!" Kuraz disappeared, an equaly large figure with blue armor and a green generator on it's head taking Kuraz's place. "And when Zaborg is tribute summoned, I can destroy one monster on the field. Thunder Crush!" Zaborg sent a blast of electricity towards Bladedge, destroying it.

Jaden held up his arm to protect himself from the dust being kicked in. "Ugh...at least his Vanity's Emptiness is gone since he sent Kuraz to the grave."

"Sadly, it isn't." Scott said. He pointed to a recently flipped continuous trap. "Imperial Custom prevents face up Continuous Traps from being destroyed other than itself."

"No way!"

"Indeed. So if you want to get rid of Vanity's Emptiness to special summon again, you'll need to get rid of Imperial Custom first. And it means that as long as I have Imperial Custom, I can tribute summon all I like without needing to worry about Vanity's Emptiness being destroyed."

"Damn..." Damian said in amazement.

"Indeed. Bastion's maintained a way to simultaneously shut out Jaden from his Fusion summoning and Scott from his Synchro and Xyz summoning while still being able to Tribute summon without penalty." Zane stated.

"I guess I'll end my turn." Jaden stated.

Scott drew. 'I figured Bastion would be a tough opponent. With all the decks he uses, I wasn't sure which deck to pick either. I went with one of my generic Dragon decks since I figured Bastion would use a deck to shut down the Extra Deck, but I didn't think he'd shut down special summon entirely. Still, I tend to have a lot of spell and trap removal in my decks.' "First I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards from my deck." Scott did exactly that. He then looked at the cards he drew, and smiled before getting out another one. "Now, I activate Double Summon. This lets me normal summon twice. First I normal summon Keeper of the Shrine (0/2100) in defense mode. But he won't be here for long, because I'm sacrificing him to summon Rabidragon (2950/2900) in attack mode!" A large amount of snow and wind came together before the hare-like dragon emerged from it.

"Isn't that monster level 8?" Syrus asked.

"Keeper of the Shrine can be used as two tributes for a Dragon Type monster." Chumley told him.

"Next, I activate Stamping Destruction!" Scott hapipily activated one of the cards he recently drew. "If I control a Dragon monster, I can destroy a spell or trap an opponent controls, and deal 500 points of damage to you!"

Bastion gritted his teeth as both Imperial Custom and Vanity's Emptiness shattered. (Bastion 4000-3500) "Since a card left the field, Vanity's Emptiness is destroyed as well."

"Pretty big weakness in that combo of yours. Now Rabidragon, destroy Zaborg!" Rabidragon unleashed a breath of snow at Zaborg, destroying it. (Bastion 3500-2950)

"Merely a setback. No matter what you two do, I'll have ways t shut you down."

"Looks like Scott turned things around." Alexis stated.

Damian nodded. "Figured Scott would find a way to break through it. Now, he can special summon again."

"Unfortunately for him, so can Jaden." Zane stated.

"Though I gotta say, it looks like Bastion wants to deal with them at the same time." Alexis stated.

"Indeed. Bastion wants to prove his talen above all else. He's been goading the two to attack him, and making plays where it would benefit Jaden or Scott to focus on him rather than each other."

"Hmm. Wonder how that'll work out for him." Damian said. He then took a glance at one of the doorways that led out of the arena. 'Scott's doing ok with his role. But I wonder how Ghassan and Adrian are doing?'


"Wh-what are you doing here?!" Gerard demanded. Adrian and Ghassan were in the library, confronting Gerard. Next to Gerard was a monitor displaying the duel between Jaden, Bastion, and Scott.

"We could ask you the same question." Adrian replied. "Then again, we would just be asking what we already know."

"You're a pretty good hacker." Ghassan said. "But we're gonna need you to do a little more."

"What are you talking about?"

Adrian took a look at the computer Gerard was on. "Duel Academy's reported the missing students as merely studying overseas, but with you finding out how there's no actual address to where they're studying, it's obvious that's a lie. If you reveal it to the public, there's gonna be a major scandal. Sadly, we can't have that."

"And what are kids like you gonna do about it?"

Adrian smiled. He reached into his pocket and got out what looked to be a trap card. It depicted a timer on a machine goin haywire. "This is what we'd do about it." Adrian threw the card to a different computer. Electric sparks immediately shot out of the computer before smoke started to come out. "Don't worry about any smoke detectors being triggered. I already had them go haywire earlier this morning. But we'd hate to have to make all that data you gathered mean nothing."

"You're...you're kidding. You have Duel Monsters cards that can disable electronics?!" Gerard asked in shock.

'What even is GX?' Ghassan asked himself. The more time he spent in this dimension, the more he realized how bizarre a show it was. "Unless you want us to do the same thing to the computer you're using and the device you're putting information into, you'll duel me. If I win, you hack the email account of a professor, we want to look into and give US the info exclusively."

'Huh? A duel? He could have just threatened me to do what they wanted, but they're gonna give me a way out?' Gerard sighed. "Fine. I don't like dueling, but I'll do it to get what I came here for." Gerard got out a deck from his pocket. "Either of you have a duel disk on you?"

Adrian got out a duel disk, and tossed it to Gerard. 'We could have just threatened him to hack Banners's email, but then we wouldn't get to brainwash him. Having an undercover reporter working for us will definitely come in handy.' Adrian turned to Ghassan. 'It'll also be a good way to see the talents of Ghassan. I know he's not as good a duelist as Damian or Scott. But will he still be skilled enough to be useful?' "You ready Ghassan?"

Ghassan put his duel disk on. "Yeah." Both he and Gerard activated their duel disks. (Ghassan 4000/Gerard 4000)

"I'll go first." Gerard drew a card from his deck. "I set a card face down, and summon Elemental Hero Woodsman (1000/2000) in defense mode." A green humanoid with his right arm, right leg, and part of his right body being made out of wood appeared.

'He uses Elemental Heroes?' Ghassan asked.

"I end my turn with that."

Ghassan drew. "I use it's own effect to special summon Gilasaurus (1400/400) to the field. Normally you'd be able to special summon a monster from your graveyard, but you don't have any. Now, I sacrifice my Gilasaurus to summon Jurrac Hera (2300/1500) in attack mode." The twin-cannoned dinosaur emerged on Ghassan's side of the field. "Hera, destroy his Woodsman!" Hera fired two blasts of fire from the cannons on it's back.

"I activate my trap card, Hero Ring!" A red shield materalized on Woodsman's arm, shielding him from the attack. "By equiping this card to a Warrior with 1500 or less attack points, you can't target it for an attack with a monster that has 1900 or more attack points!"

"And with Woodsman having 2000 defense points, then Ghassan won't be able to destroy Woodsman by battle with any of his monsters." Adrian stated.

"Fine. I set two cards face down and end my turn."

Gerard drew. "Since it's my standby phase, I get to add a copy of Polymerization to my hand thanks to Woodsman's effect." Gerard searched through his deck, and got out a copy of the card. "How about we activate it now? I use Polymerization to fuse my Elemental Hero Lady Heat with my Elemental Hero Ocean. Come on out Elemental Hero Absolute Zero (2500/2000)" A hero wearing white armor and a flowing white cape descended onto Gerard's field. "Absolute Zero, destroy Jurrac Hera!" The hero created a spear made out of ice, and charged at the Jurrac.

"I activate my trap card, Magic Cylinder! I target the attacking monster, negate the attack, and deal damage to you equal to it's attack points."

"I don't think so. I activate my quickplay spell De-Fusion!" Absolute Zero split into two beams of light, transforming into Elemental Hero Ocean (1500/1200) and Elemental Hero Lady Heat (1300/1200) both in attack mode. As Zero disappeared, a burst of cold air shot out, freezing Jurrac Hera solid.

"Wh-what happened to Hera?!" Ghassan shouted.

"When Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters my opponent controls are destroyed." Gerald stated. As if on cue, Jurrac Hera shattered into pieces. "Now, Ocean and Lady Heat are gonna attack you direct-"

"I activate my second trap card, Threatening Roar. This prevents you from attacking me this turn." Ghassan interupted.

"Tch. Fine. I end my turn. And since I control Lady Heat, you take 200 damage for each Elemental Hero I control during my End Phase." Lady Heat generated three small balls of fire before hurling them at Ghassan. (Ghassan 4000-3400)

"You're seriously having trouble against somebody like him?" Adrian asked Ghassan.

"Shut up." He growled.

"Don't underestimate me kid. I might have quit dueling, but I used to duel in the pro leagues." Gerard said.

Ghassan drew a card. "I activate Monster Reborn to special summon my destroyed Hera!" Jurrac Hera returned in a shining light on Ghassan's field. "Now, I normal summon my Jurrac Guaiba (1700/400) in attack mode." Ghassan had the pieces ready. "Jurrac Guaiba, destroy his Elemental Hero Ocean!" Guaiba shot out a fireball at the Elemental Hero, destroying it. (Gerard 4000-3800)

"When Guaiba destroys a monster, I can special summon a Jurrac with 1500 or less attack points, but it can't attack this turn. I choose my Jurrac Velo (1700/1000)." The flaming raptor emerged on the field. "Now, Jurrac Hera, destroy his Lady Heat!" Hera shot out two blasts of fire at Lady Heat, destroying her as well. (Gerard 3800-2800)

Gerard clenched his fist. 'At least he still can't touch Woodsman. I just need to get Polymerization again.'

"Now, I overlay my level 4 Jurrac Velo with my level 4 Jurrac Guaiba!" A swirling black vortex appeared on the ground. Guaiba and Velo transformed into trails of light and entered it. "I Xyz summon the Rank 4 Evolzar Dolkka!" (2300/1700) From the vortex, a white dragon with two horns it's sides, and a third smaller one on it's head appeared.

"An Xyz monster huh? I haven't dueled in a few years, but that's one of those new types of monsters, right?"

"That's right. I end my turn."

Gerard drew a card. "Since it's my standby phase, I activate my Woodsman's effect to add Polymerization from my graveyard to my hand."

Ghassan smiled. "Sorry." One of the two orbs trailing around Dolkka disappeared. Afterwards, a large flame surrounded Woodsman, consuming the monster.

"What the-?!"

"During either player's turn, when a monster effect activates, Dolkka can detach an Xyz material from it The effect is negated, and the monster is destroyed."

"And with Woodsman gone, so was the Hero Ring card that was equipped to it." Adrian added. "There goes your wall."

Gerard's heart sank. "I summon a card in defense mode and end my turn."

Ghassan drew a card. 'Damnit. He's lucky I didn't draw a monster card.' "I set a card facedown. Now, Dolkka, Hera! Attack!" Dolkka breathed fire to incinerate Gerard's facedown Elemental Hero Voltic (1000/1500), before Hera ran towards Gerard, and struck him with his tail, knocking him to the ground. (Gerard 2800-500)

"No way...am I really gonna lose my fortune because I lost a duel?!"

Ghassan smiled. "You don't get it do you? In this world, dueling means power. A washed up pro duelist like you isn't going to get anywhere if you aren't a strong duelist."

Gerard clenched his fists. "Damnit...why...?" Gerard started to think back to his last duel as a pro duelist. His utterly humiliating defeat at the hands of Seto Kaiba and Kaiba's scatching insults about his skill was what led him to throw in the towel as a duelist. 'I turned to the career of an underground reporter to get by. I was an unknown who didn't make that much, but this scoop about the missing students can change all that. But because of these two kids, that's gonna be taken away from me too! Damnit...' "WHY CAN'T THINGS EVER GO MY WAY?!"

"Because you're weak. But you can grow stronger." A white aura began to surround Ghassan's fist.

'He's tapping into The Light's power.' Adrian noticed.

From a distance, Ghassan offered a hand as if he would help Gerard up. "Give up, and listen to us. It'll make you stronger."

Gerard lifted his head up. "Make me...stronger?"


"It's my move!" Bastion drew a card. He had no monsters, and an activated Escalation of the Monarchs. Jaden had two facedown cards. Scott had Rabidragon and a facedown.

"I activate Graceful Charity." Bastion drew three cards. He then discarded a card he already had in his hand, and one that he recently drawn. "Hm hm hm. I activate the continuous spell card Return of the Monarchs. As long as this card is on the field, whenever I tribute summon a monster, I can add from my deck a monster with 2400 attack points and 1000 defense points, or a monster with 2800 attack points and 1000 defense points, as long as it has a different name."

"That's...oddly specific." Jaden said.

"Unfortunately, that means he'll be able to add any Monarch or Mega Monarch monster to his hand when he tribute summons." Scott replied.

"Now, I activate the equip spell Restoration of the Monarchs. I choose a monster with 2400 attack points and 1000 defense points or a monster with 2800 attack points and 1000 defense points from my graveyard and special summon it in defense mode with it's effects negated! I had this in my hand as a contingency in case you got rid of Vanity's Emptiness." Bastion stated. "I special summon my discarded Angmarl the Fiendish Monarch! (2400/1000)" A thin dark armored figure with a tattered cape appeared on Bastion's side of the field.

"Let me guess, you're gonna use it for a tribute summon?" Jaden asked.

"Indeed. And with Restoration of the Monarchs equipped to it, Angmarl counts as two tributes. I sacrifice Angmarl to summon Caius the Mega Monarch!" (2800/1000) As Angmarl disappeared, a purple, bulky, gigantic horned figure with a cape made out of shadows appeared. "With my Return of the Monarchs, I can add Zaborg the Mega Monarch to my hand. Now, I activate the effect of Caius. When he's Tribute Summoned, I can remove from play any card on the field, and deal 1000 damage to my opponent. But when I tribute summon him with a DARK attribute monster, I can remove two cards from play."

Scott and Jaden both gasped.

"Go Caius! Remove Rabidragon and Jaden's left facedown from play! Distortion Vacuum!" Caius generated a miniature black hole in it's hands, sucking in both Scott's Rabidragon and Jaden's facedown Mirror Force. After sucking the monsters in, the black hole then shot two blasts of energy at Jaden and Scott. (Jaden 4000-3000) (Scott 6400-5400) "Now Caius, attack Jaden directly!" Caius began to generate a dark orb of energy.

"Not so fast Bastion! I activate my quickplay spell, The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This lets me special summon Winged Kuriboh (300/200) from my deck!" The winged puffball appeared infront of Jaden in defense mode.

"Fine then, I'll attack Scott instead!" Caius fired the orb of energy at Scott, who was barely resisting being knocked down from the shockwaves. (5400-2600) "I end my turn."

Crowler chuckled to himself. "This is perfect. Bastion clearly has the upper hand. This will prove to the school the value of the Obelisk Blue rank."

"And just like that, Bastion's took the upperhand back." Damian said.

"Indeed. Jaden's forced on the defensive, and Scott has no monsters protecting him." Zane observed. "Bastion could be dueling two on one and the duel would be occuring the same way so far."

Alexis took a look at Jaden's side of the field. 'I'm sure he'll be able to turn things around.'

"It's my move." Jaden drew a card from his deck. "I activate Pot of Greed to draw two cards." Jaden took a look at one of the cards he drew. "Sweetness! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Escalation of the Monarchs card Bastion!" A blue typhoon swept up Bastion's continuous trap.

"Sweet! Now Bastion can't tribute on his opponent's turns anymore!" Syrus exclaimed.

"Now, since that Vanity's Emptiness card is gone, I can activate my Polymerization! I fuse my Elemental Hero Avian with my Elemental Hero Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! (2100/1200)" Jaden's signature monster appeared.

Scott braced himself. Since Flame Wingman was too weak to destroy Bastion's Monarch, it was obvious who Jaden's target would be.

Jaden looked at the other card he drew from Pot of Greed. 'I have Soul Union, so if Bastion attacks my Flame Wingman on his turn, I can use it to boost my monster's attack points.' "Flame Wingman, attack Scott directly!" Flame Wingman aimed it's dragon arm at Scott and unleashed a torrent of fire.

Scott smiled. "Sorry. I activate my trap card Magical Arm Shield! With this trap, when I'm attacked, I take control of another monster my opponent controls until the end of the battle phase, and make it the attack target instead. I could just have Flame Wingman destroy your Winged Kuriboh, but since there's two opponents..." Scott turned to Bastion. "I'll be taking control of your Mega Monarch if you don't mind!"

"Very well. It's not like I'll be taking the damage." Bastion responded.

Scott smiled as a mechanical arm with two discs instead of a hand grapped Caius the Mega Monarch, and dragged it to Scott's side of the field. "Now Caius, take him out!" Caius generated an orb of dark energy before blasting it at Flame Wingman. The orb overpowered the flames before it collided with Jaden's monster, destroying it. (Jaden 3000-2300)

"Not good...I'll set two cards and end my turn." Jaden said.

Scott drew. 'Hmm...Jaden won't be hard to take out at this rate, but Bastion's gonna be trouble. If I don't step things up, I won't even be able to beat him, let alone brainwash him. I hate to give them more cards, but with a second copy of Keeper of the Shrine being the only monster in my hand, I need to get more cards.' "I activate Card of Sanctity. All of us draw until we have 6 cards in our hand!"

"Sweet!" Jaden had no cards left in his hand, so getting it back to 6 was very much appreciated. Bastion drew until he had 6 cards in his hand as well.

"Alright. I activate Graceful Charity to draw three cards and discard two." Scott discarded Keeper of the Shrine, and one of the cards he drew. "Now, I normal summon Rescue Rabbit (300/100)" A bunny wearing a safety hat and goggles over it's head appeared.

"I thought Scott was using purely dragons with this deck." Chumley said.

"I activate the effect of Rescue Rabbit. By removing it from play, I can special summon two level 4 or lower normal monsters from my deck, but they're destroyed during the end phase. I special summon two copies of Gakaxy Serpent (1000/0) from my deck!" Rescue Rabbit dissolved in light, and in it's place were two shimmering blue serpentine dragons.

"Are you ready?" The Light asked Scott.

Scott nodded. "Time to drag them into despair." "I activate Monster Reborn to special summon the discarded Wattaildragon (2500/1000)!" A white aura began to glow around Scott.

Winged Kuriboh turned to Jaden looking uncomfortable. "Kuri kuri kuri!"

"Huh? What's wrong pal?" Jaden asked. Winged Kuriboh pointed to Scott. "Whoa...what's going on?"

"What the-?" Chumley rubbed his eyes.

"Huh? What's wrong Chumley?" Syrus asked.

"Umm...I guess it's nothing." 'What's that stuff around Scott? And why can't Syrus see it?'

"My Galaxy Serpents are both level 2 tuners, and my Wattaildragon is a level 6 non-tuner." Scott stated.

"Is he gonna get a level 10 Synchro out?" Jaden asked.

"Well, first he'll need to summon a level 8 synchro monster. Only one tuner monster can be used as a material at a time." Bastion replied.

"That's where you're wrong Bastion. There's a few exceptions." The energy around Scott grew larger and larger. "I tune my level 6 Wattaildragon with both of my level 2 Galaxy Serpents! Double Tune!"

"WHA-?!" Bastion reacted.

The two galaxy serpents flew into the air, and each transformed into two red flaming circles. As Wattaildragon flew through the circles, it dissolved into light.

"Kuri kuri kuri!" Winged Kuriboh yelled.

"I hear ya pal. I'm worrying about what's going on too."

Damian took a look at the fieldm then at where Chumley and Syrus were sitting. He saw both Jaden and Chumley look confused and worried. 'I get it. They can see something the rest of us can't because they can see Duel Spirits.'

"I never heard of a Synchro Summon with two Tuners before." Alexis said in shock.

"Hmm? Oh, they're rare, but they exist. Not the first time I saw this happen." Damian replied.

"You and your friends seem to have quite the familiarity with Synchro and Xyz monsters compared to everybody else at the academy." Zane said.

Damian shrugged. "What can I say? They came to America before Japan I guess."

"Servants of the red devil, combine! Come together and raise up the cry of creation! SYNCHRO SUMMON!" A crimson red flash occured. Large amount of flames burned in the air. "I synchro summon the savage soul! Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend! (3500/3000)!" From the flames emerged a demonic dragon red and black dragon. "Time to be eliminated Bastion."

"What are you talking about? I have 2950 life points left, so even if you destroy Caius-" Bastion began to say.

"During my Main Phase, Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend can destroy all other cards on the field. Winged Kuriboh will protect Jaden's life points due to it's effect, but you don't have that same courtesy."

Bastion gasped in shock.

"Destroy everything Tyrant! Absolute Power Inferno!" As the white aura around Scott grew, a flaming red aura around his monster grew as well. "Sorry Bastion. Looks like all that planning was for naught. You gotta get stronger man."

Bastion gritted his teeth in annoyance. The Synchro Monster let out a mighty roar before it shot out a flaming wave of energy.

"No! Blast it all!" Crowler yelled.

"Before you destroy it, I activate my quickplay spell, Shrink to halve your monster's attack points!" Jaden yelled. (Tyrant Red Dragon Archfiend 3500-1750)

"HUH?!" Bastion and Scott both reacted. The explosion reached Jaden and Bastion's sides of the field, destroying all their cards. Winged Kuriboh turned to Jaden and gave a determined look before exploding.

"Jaden, why'd you do that?!" Syrus yelled in shock.

"I take it you want to be the one who defeats me then?" Bastion asked Jaden.

"Yeah, you could say that." Jaden responded. 'I don't know why, but there's something about that energy around Scott that's giving me a bad feeling.'

"Heh heh. You're unpredictable as ever Jaden." Scott smiled. Inside though, it was anything but one. 'God damnit...why did Jaden have to get in the way?'

"He's beginning to recognize me." The Light said to Scott.

"Huh? Like, you mean he's remembering from the previous timeline?"

"No. I mean from the past."

Scott was confused. Jaden dealt with The Light of Destruction before coming to Duel Academy? "What are you talking about?"

"I suppose I never did explain it to you. Jaden's been warned about me in the past. Though technically, he wasn't Jaden at the time.'

"Wait, you mean...Jaden's a reincarnation?" Scott asked.

"Indeed. Your two friends probably know this already. Jaden was an enemy of mine countless centuries ago. He had a different title, but wielded the same Gentle Darkness. The Supreme King."

Scott's eyes widened. He might not have remembered the details surrounding it, but he at the very least remembered that there was a brief time Jaden was a villain in GX. "Hold on...you're telling me that?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, Jaden's memories as Supreme King are returning faster than anticipated."


Hoo boy. This was my longest chapter yet, so it took a lot out of me. Was a ton of fun writing the battle royal, especially having Bastion be in control of the duel for a while. He was really done dirty in the show, so I definitely intend to give him more moments to shine, both in this duel, and in future ones.

Both Scott and Ghassan have the upper hand in their respective duels. Will they be able to brainwash their targets? And with Jaden already having a feeling of deja vu, what will this mean for the trio's future interactions with him? Only time will tell. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to the next one!