Chapter 15: Chrysopoeia
Vellian Crowler POV
The head of Obelisk Blue couldn't believe he was staring down a former colleague- a friend- down on the dueling field as an enemy. What other secrets lurked in the shadows? Could he even trust Sheppard, let alone the rest of the staff? Crowler couldn't be sure- all he knew is that he would protect his students to the best of his ability, even the Slifer Slackers he so often derided.
And now, even as he stepped forth in Jaden's stead, he was helpless to prevent two of his precious Obelisks from being captured by that mysterious masked man. He, as well as the other key keepers, could only hope that Jamie and Alexis could defeat the second shadow rider.
"Shit! We have to go after them, you guys!" Jaden growled, his anger peaking at the idea of his friends being in danger. He made to run off, but Erin held him back.
"They're too fast…look, we know that the shadow riders need duel energy. If anyone can win, it's those two. I don't like Rhodes, but she's a damn good duelist, and Jamie tied with the Kaiser himself!" Erin, normally hot-blooded, managed to look at the situation with a cooler perspective.
"There's nothing we can do for them right now. For the moment, we must stand behind Professor Crowler!" Bastion implored. Zane stayed silent, but it was clear that his impotence to rescue Alexis and Jamie was wearing on him as well.
For now, they had to focus on the battle before them. Slowly, Jaden calmed down, flecks of gold swimming in his dark brown eyes. Erin let go of him, a sad look on her face. Slowly, they each looked to the two professors, hoping that Crowler could manage to win. They were in a strange position, before, Banner was their kindly professor, and Crowler was an overly strict, narcissistic disciplinarian. And yet, the roles of punisher and protector had been wholly reversed.
Banner started off the duel, that catlike smile still present on his otherwise serene face.
"Let us begin. I set two cards face-down and a monster." Banner said with hurried pace. Of course, it wasn't as if he had all the time in the world...Crowler felt confident that even if he couldn't win, he could at least run out the limited time that his traitorous comrade had left. It was a dark thought, but in a way it was comforting that Banner had such a large handicap against him.
"But I will win, so there is no need to think of such things." Crowler thought as begun his turn. "I'll begin by activating the continuous spell Ancient Gear Castle! As long as this is on the field, all Ancient Gear monsters gain 300 attack points. Furthermore, a counter is added every time I normal summon or set a monster, such as my Ancient Gear Knight (2100/500 with boost) for example!"
First, a grey castle styled in a hybrid of medieval and steampunk aesthetics emerged from the ground behind Crowler, partitioning him from the other students. Afterwards, a bipedal robot with rusted armor forged in the vein of a Roman centurion walked out of the castle gate, wielding a large, blunt lance and a gear frame shield.
"A Gemini monster, huh? Wonder why Crowler's using one of those?" Erin questioned.
"Normally Gemini monsters are pretty bad, but the knight has decent stats for a level four, and the boost from the continuous spell makes it as strong as a Cyber Dragon." Zane commented.
"Charge, my knight!" Crowler commanded, and the knight rushed forward with lance extended.
"These machines of yours only scratch the surface of what science is capable of- you meddle with forces far beyond your comprehension, doctor! I activate my face-down card, Macro Cosmos!" Banner called.
The knight halted in its tracks, and everyone but Banner felt their bodies thrown off-balance at some sudden, unforeseeable shift. The clouds disappeared, and the night sky seemed all too clear. The ground beneath them vanished, and everyone suddenly found themselves floating in the depths of outer space.
The students were utterly mystified at their surroundings. Zane held his hand to his chest, and was shocked to find his lungs still were taking in air somehow. Despite the gravity (pardon the pun) of the situation, Erin found herself swimming through space in the same way she would water, a small grin on her face. Jaden stared at a nearby star, his eyes undamaged despite the intensity of the light. Bastion geeked out completely, his eyes taking in the sight of a nearby nebula greedily.
"What is this, some kind of illusion?" Crowler asked Banner, his words traveling as sound despite the lack of air. Clearly, this area did not abide by the normal laws of outer space.
"That is a more complicated question than you might think…perhaps this is an illusion, but perhaps this is reality, and the knowledge you previously accepted as true is actually the illusion." Banner replied cryptically, his smile widening.
"Ugh, forget I asked." Crowler had little patience for riddles during the best of times, let alone in the middle of a duel.
"In that case, I will tell you this. As long as this continuous trap card is on the field, all of our cards are banished instead of going to the graveyard. Furthermore, when this card resolves, I can summon Helios – The Primordial Sun (?/?) from the deck in defense mode!"
A female humanoid form materialized out of nowhere, made of clean white bandages. In place of a head, it had a miniature sun, a bright orange orb. "This monster gains 100 attack and defense points for each banished monster, meaning it has zero of both at the moment."
"Very well then, I will continue my attack!" Crowler replied, and the knight's charge went through and destroyed Banner's Helios. The shadow rider seemed unbothered by this, however.
"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn!" Crowler finished.
"Very well. I'll begin my next turn by activating the field spell Chaos Zone!" Banner called. All around them, white swirling portals appeared from nowhere, hanging eerily in the void of space. The students stared at them, transfixed.
"Every time a monster is banished, a chaos counter is placed on this field spell. When I have four or more counters, I can remove them to special summon a banished monster with a level equivalent to the amount of counters I removed." Banner explained the card's complicated effect.
"This card game is a load of bollocks!" Bastion protested.
"Next, I summon Banisher of the Light (100/2000) in attack mode!" A priestly figure in yellow and blue robe appeared, a soft ball of white light emanating from his fingertips.
"Did he mean to summon that thing in attack mode?" Jaden questioned.
"Sadly, I don't think Banner does anything by accident." Zane replied grimly. Crowler nodded, knowing that a greater strategy was at play.
"I activate Creature Swap! This spell card switches control of our two monsters, meaning I get your Ancient Gear Knight and you get my Banisher!" Banner said as the two monsters switched places. "Now, I attack!"
"Activate reverse card, Sakuretsu Armor! This destroys the Ancient Gear Knight, leaving my life points safe!" Crowler responded as the old machine exploded, putting one chaos counter on the field spell.
"Now I can at least use this thing as tribute fodder…" Crowler thought, looking at the seemingly useless Banisher on his field.
"I end my turn." Banner said with a deferential nod. He had no monsters but seemed unconcerned, so Crowler thought he must have had a face-down. Luckily his Ancient Gear monsters didn't care about face-downs, not one bit.
"My draw! I summon Ancient Gear Soldier (1600/1300 after boost)!" Another rusted war machine styled after the appearance of a Roman Centurion took the field, a machine gun affixed to its right arm. "Next, I'll switch Banisher of the Light to defense mode."
"Now, I'll launch a direct attack!" The Ancient Gear Soldier fired off a full clip at Banner, who hissed in pain as the bullets struck him. Of course, they did not do the same amount of damage as a real machine gun would, but they hurt nonetheless. Banner fell to one knee, his breath hitched. (Crowler 4000/Banner 2400)
"You have yet to impress me, Lyman. I would think a teacher would be able to defend against such an attack." Crowler drawled.
"Yeah, he has another face-down, why didn't he activate it?" Jaden asked in confusion.
"The Soldier prevents the opponent from activating spells or traps in response to an attack. It's an effect common to most of the Ancient Gear monsters, actually. If Banner runs a lot of backrow, then this may actually be a favorable matchup for Crowler." Bastion answered, of course.
"Which is good for us." Erin added.
Banner was silent, but the catlike smile on his face finally dropped- he recognized that Crowler was an adversary to take seriously. "It seems this will be more difficult than I thought…my draw! I set two cards face-down before activating Card of Sanctity." Despite how good it was, Card of Sanctity was not hit on the January banlist, remaining at three for the rest of this format. Crowler smiled slightly- he remembered Jamie complaining incessantly after finding that Pot of Greed and Graceful Charity were banned, but not Card of Sanctity, despite the fact that Card of Sanctity often was a better draw card. He often pointed out that the player using it could easily just set the spells and traps in their hand and then drop Sanctity for a possible plus five. Sometimes Crowler wondered just where the kid developed such a critical eye, but now was not the time to ponder such things.
"Now, I'll play one of the two spells I just set face-down. I activate Reinforcement of the Army, letting me add a level four or lower warrior from deck to hand." Banner revealed the card to be Lightray Grepher.
"Now, I'll discard one level five or higher light monster from my hand to special summon my Lightray Grepher (1700/1600)!" The rogue professor banished Soul of Purity and Light from his hand to call forth his new monster. A large, muscled warrior in light blue garb appeared, wielding a two-handed broadsword. In the process, a second counter was added to the Chaos Zone.
"And with my normal summon, I'll play Cyber Valley (0/0)." A mechanical serpent covered from head to tail in steel blue plate slithered onto the field.
"Hey, that looks like a Cyber Dragon!" Erin pointed out.
"There's a good reason for that…Cyber Valley is one of the cards belonging to the Cyber Style. I own three copies of the card myself, although I usually only play one in my deck. I'm curious why Banner would use it…and why he has it." Zane said with furrowed brow.
"This guy's deck is very mysterious...it seems to be based around banishing cards, but there doesn't seem to be a unifying archetype. I can't tell if it's a bad deck or if there's some kind of strategy here." Jaden scratched his head.
"Jamie's deck doesn't have an archetype either, and we know that he's no pushover. Banner is a professor, so he surely has some plan. I only wonder if Crowler knows what he's getting into." Bastion said with concern. To no one's reassurance, however, it seemed Crowler was just as confused as they were.
"Now that you mention it, Banner's deck kinda reminds me of Jamie's. They're both very mysterious as well…" Erin said, her thoughts fuzzy. Banner seemed to be a kind man before, a smile ever-present on his face. Aloof and friendly in equal measure, there was an odd quality about him no one could quite place. And now that the mask was seemingly off, Banner was proven to be a calculating and ruthless figure in his own right.
"Jamie was the one who revealed Banner's true nature to us…but I can tell that he has more than a few secrets as well…" She thought. And yet, she had no idea what the Lion of Obelisk could possibly be hiding. Was it just paranoia that drove these suspicions? Or was it something deeper? Jamie had never shared a single thing about his personal life to her…beneath the wit and arrogance, he was unfathomable. It is said that the truth is often either terrible or boring...Erin could not be sure which moniker would apply to Jamie's case.
Erin needed to figure out how she felt about him in order to move forward.…but first they had to survive this battle. Despite her personal distaste for doctor Crowler, she cheered loudly for his success in this fight. Banner had already proven that he could not be trusted.
"Next, I'll attack the Ancient Gear Soldier with Lightray Grepher!" Banner called. Grepher's sword began to glow with yellow light as it swung down at Crowler's monster. The strike successfully went through, Crowler choosing not activating any of his face-downs. The Ancient Gear Soldier was smelted down by the white-hot blade, and a third counter was placed on the field spell. (Crowler 3900/Banner 2400)
Crowler winced, feeling the fiery embrace of the blade despite not being physically touched. "What? That actually hurt! This really is a shadow game…" The professor thought with mounting trepidation.
"With that, I end my turn." Banner finished. Crowler drew, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was falling for a ploy. Everything seemed to be going fine now, but the thought of a trap suddenly and irrevocably turning the tide still gave him pause. Banner had three monsters on the field, one of them set face-down. but Crowler knew he had more powerful fighters lurking in his deck still. The head of Obelisk Blue couldn't help but feel as though he was out of his depth.
"I sacrifice Banisher of the Light to tribute summon Ancient Gear Beast (2300/2000 after boost)." A mechanical hound pounced onto the field, its fangs sharpened, yet rusty bars of iron.
"I'll attack your set monster!" The beast coiled back, the sounds of whining gears echoing through space. Then, it rushed forward, taking out Banner's set monster with a nasty crunch of its maw. Briefly, the creature was seen to have a red turban with a royal blue cape.
"Your Crystal Seer's (100/100) flip effect is negated by the effect of my Ancient Gear Beast, Lyman! You won't be able to defend against me forever!" Crowler challenged.
"You understand little, Vellian, so very little." Was all Banner responded with. A fourth counter was added to Chaos Zone. Crowler ticked, but ended his turn nonetheless. He would need to summon more monsters soon, or else he would never be able to get through to Banner's life points.
"I'll begin my next turn by playing Foolish Burial. Normally, this spell sends a card to my graveyard, but due to Macro Cosmos, that card is banished instead." Foolish Burial was not yet limited- players were still allowed to have three copies in their deck, which would surely be beneficial to Banner and players like him.
"The card I banished happened to be Necroface (1200/1800), funnily enough. When this monster card is banished, we each must banish the top five cards from our decks!" Banner smirked, peeling off his top five cards and smoothly pocketing them.
Crowler grimaced as he looked upon his newly banished cards. He was forced to pitch an Ancient Gear Golem and a Mirror Force, among other useful resources.
"I was hoping to get use my Cyber Valley's effect, but I suppose you're too clever to attack into it, Vellian. Instead, I do believe it's time to go on the offensive, if you don't mind." Banner said with impeccable politeness. "I sacrifice my Cyber Valley to tribute summon Golden Homunculus (1500/1500)."
The metallic eel vanished, dispersing into stardust, and leaving only its silver plating behind. The silver quickly transformed into gold, as though a lens filter was placed upon it. From nowhere, more and more gold coalesced into the shape of a giant, humanoid golem.
"One of the fundamental aims of alchemy is the transmutation of base metals into noble, purer elements. Gold was often the end goal of this transformation; humanity has always been fascinated with gold for one reason or another. But mere gold has never been the summit for true alchemists, we aspire to something greater." Banner exposited.
"The philosopher's stone…" Bastion finished, causing all heads to turn towards him.
"That is what I seek. The legendary substance capable of producing the elixir of life. Once I have the Sacred Beast cards, I will use their power to craft this substance for own use." Banner replied.
"It is not your goals I take issue with, but your methods. You cannot have your way, Lyman!" Crowler fiercely retorted.
"I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand. Those monsters of yours are comprised of naught but lead and iron…how dull. It's time to put you to rest for good! My Golden Homunculus gains 300 attack and defense points for each one of my banished cards, and I have twelve! My monster now sits at 5100 points!" Golden heat coiled off of the homunculus in waves, its eyes glowing crimson.
"Okay, that's a bit of a problem. Crowler's definitely got no way of beating that thing in battle." Zane said, his teeth grit.
"Let's hope he pulls a Jamie and flips over Magic Cylinder on him!" Jaden nervously laughed.
"Yeah, you can say that again." Zane responded.
"Let's hope he pulls a Jamie and flips over Magic Cylinder on him!" Jaden repeated with the exact same vocal tone and inflection. He tried to hold a straight face, but soon enough he succumbed to the giggles.
Erin laughed uncontrollably, Bastion facepalmed and Zane shook his head. "I can't believe you can joke around at a time like this…" The Kaiser grumbled.
"Crowler can pull through, he's got a face-down which Banner has no choice but to trigger. I know how strong Crowler is, I faced him at the entrance exams!" Jaden exclaimed, a beacon of optimism even as things looked dark. Despite himself, Zane chuckled.
"That seems like forever ago…"
"It does, and we've got a long road ahead. This is not the end, not for us." Bastion said with clenched fists. Crowler looked upon his students with pride- he couldn't find it in himself to be irritated at Jaden's goofiness.
"Your hypothesis will be tested soon, Misawa! Golden Homunculus, attack the Ancient Gear Beast now!" The golden statue punched forward, unerring in its trajectory and strength.
"I activate Negate Attack!" Crowler revealed his reverse card, causing the battle phase to end. The giant's fist was diverted just before it found its mark by a ripple in the fabric of spacetime.
"Very well. Before I end my turn, I shall activate the effect of Chaos Zone. By removing four counters from it, I can special summon a level four monster from the banished zone. I choose Helios – The Primordial Sun (1100/1100)." The bandaged idol emerged from one of the pearly portals in space, kneeling before Banner.
"But it will not remain for long. I sacrifice The Primordial Sun to special summon Helios Duo Megistus!" The idol shrunk in stature, now taking the shape of a plump child rather than a slim adult. Besides the head-like sun atop its body, a smaller star orbited.
"What a bizarre creature…" Bastion murmured.
"This monster gains 200 attack and defense for each of my banished cards (2200/2200). With one more face-down, I end my turn." Banner said with a deferential wave.
"I wonder why he didn't summon that before he began his battle phase. He probably was afraid of my trap card. At least now, I have a target I can do some damage to." Crowler thought, banking on his next draw
Banner did not seem concerned- Ancient Gears did not have many ways of beating out monsters with high attack points. Usually, they didn't have to worry about being beaten in battle and could attack through any backrow. Not this time, however.
Crowler, on the other hand, was beginning to look distinctly unnerved, knowing that he had few ways of getting past the Golden Homunculus. This next move could decide everything.
"Perfect." Crowler muttered.
"Oh, here we go." Zane said with a growing smile.
"I'll begin by activating Terraforming, allowing me to add a field spell from my deck to my hand! Now, I'll activate the field spell I just got! Geartown!"
"Nice! Now Banner's Chaos Zone is destroyed!" Erin said with a fist pump During this time period, two field spells could not exist on the field at the same time. The activation of a second field spell would always destroy the first. This ruling would be changed a few years down the road in Jamie Lancaster's timeline, but obviously no one present had knowledge of this.
The white portals disappeared, to be replaced with a city made of gears and pre-industrial metals. The buildings rose around the duelists and spectators, but the spacial environment still remained; stars and nebulae hung above the structures.
"As long as this field spell is live, I can normal summon Ancient Gear monsters with one less tribute." Crowler explained
"I'm aware. But that isn't the real reason why you've done this, is it? However, I gain something from this as well. When Chaos Zone leaves the field, I can add a Light or Dark monster to my hand from my deck with a level equal to or less the number of counters that were on the field spell. I had two, so I can add a level two or lower Light or Dark monster to my hand." Banner explained the field spell's convoluted effect succinctly.
"I'll add the level one Battle Fader to my hand." Banner revealed with sly smirk. Crowler frowned, knowing that card would be an annoyance in the future. Still, he had no choice but to continue his move.
"I'm beginning to tire of your banishing tactics! It's time to show why I am the one with the P.H.D in dueling, while you only graduated from Duel Monsters Community College!" Crowler barbed.
"Look, money was tight at the time, ok? I was planning to go back to the school eventually!" Banner replied, finally rattled by one of Crowler's comments.
"I doubt that! Either way, there will be no chance of that now! First, I will activate the secondary effect of Ancient Gear Castle! Since it has more than one counter on it, I can use it as a tribute for the summon of an Ancient Gear monster!" The castle disappeared, its parts being used to build something else.
"Here comes the big gun! I summon Ancient Gear Golem (3000/3000) in attack mode!" The legendary giant took the field with a lumber, looking right in home in the main square of Geartown. Banner looked upon the golem with a look of amusement. For all its power, it was still dwarfed in size by the Golden Homunculus.
"Impressive, but he'll need more than that to take down the Golden Homunculus." Bastion observed, his penchant for stating the obvious shining through.
"He's got two cards left in hand. Golem and Beast on the field…what can he do?" Jaden wondered.
"Now, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Macro Cosmos! Now, our cards will once again go to the graveyard! Your monsters won't gain any more attack points, either!"
"Smart." Banner conceded as the outer space environment faded away. Once again, they were on the island, although their surroundings were obscured by the Geartown field spell.
"And finally, it's time for that Golden Homunculus to be melted down! I equip my Beast with Ancient Gear Fist! Now, when Ancient Gear Beast attacks it, your Golden Homunculus will be destroyed after damage calculation!" A rocket-powered fist was attached to the mechanical dog's back, ready to fire.
"Shoot, Crowler's gonna take a lot of damage from this." Erin said with a wince.
"He has no choice, that Golden Homunculus will steamroll him next turn unless he does something now." Zane said, grudgingly accepting this strategy.
"Ancient Gear Beast, attack Golden Homunculus now!" Crowler went through with the move despite the immense pain it would surely cause him. He wouldn't be out of the duel, but he would be damned close. Crowler was betting everything on this move, and hoped that Banner didn't have a backup strategy.
The four-legged machine leapt at the gilded giant, only to be swatted away by its fist. However, the rocket punch was released right before the Ancient Gear Beast was destroyed. With a whine, it flew into the Golden Homunculus and blew it up completely, sending chunks of precious metal clattering across the ground. The explosion blew Crowler onto his back, the wind knocked out of him. Saliva and blood flew from his mouth as he skidded across the grass. Banner shielded his face from the blast, soot blackening his formerly white shirt. Miraculously, however, his glasses somehow remained intact. (Crowler 800/Banner 2400)
"Professor!" The students rushed to Crowler's aid, only to find themselves repelled by a telekinetic force. They were flung backwards, landing in various states of disarray.
Jaden looked up to find Banner's hands outstretched. "Please, do not come any closer, children. This duel of darkness is solely between myself and Professor Crowler. If you come any closer…" His crimson eyes flashed maliciously. "Something bad might happen."
"You bastard!" Gold shone in Jaden's brown eyes. "I can't believe I let this happen! I should have been the one to duel!"
"Calm down!" Zane commanded fiercely. He pointed to their professor's prone frame. "Crowler's not out of this yet."
Slowly, but surely, Crowler began to rise. Unsteadily, he stood with wobbling knees. "Don't worry about me, Jaden."
Jaden paused- that was the first time that Crowler had ever called him by his name, rather than by some disparaging moniker like "Slacker" or "Dropout".
"This is all part of the plan! Ancient Gear Golem, attack Helios with ultimate pound!" The golem nodded slowly before landing a devastating uppercut on Banner's strange creature, shattering it into pixels. (Crowler 800/Banner 1600)
An afterimage of the fist passed through Banner's body, and blood slowly dipped from the corner of his mouth as he gasped in pain.
"Crowler's got this! Banner has no way to protect his life points from another attack like that!" Jaden said optimistically.
"Not quite. That wasn't the last we've seen of Helios Duo Megistus, now that he's in the graveyard." Bastion added dourly.
"Wait, if his deck is focused around banishing his own cards, why would his monster have a graveyard effect?" Erin asked, scratching her temple.
"Who knows? Kind of sounds like bad card design. I guess Banner's gonna make it work though." Zane huffed.
"I end my turn." Crowler said with heavy breath, hoping that Banner didn't have anything up his sleeve.
"When Helios Duo Megistus is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon it during the end phase. It then gains 300 attack and defense points (2500/2500)." The sun model returned, burning ever the brighter despite Crowler's efforts.
Crowler grimaced. "I can still win. As long as he doesn't draw anything, I can summon another monster next turn and finish him off. His monster is not strong enough to defeat my golem, even if I destroy it one more time. He can't put it in defense either because I have piercing. I just need to last this turn and get a good draw."
"Well professor, it seems grading papers and sitting in that office all day hasn't made you lose your edge. You are a rather troublesome opponent. But I haven't the time to waste with you anymore. Draw." Banner declared, and as soon as he drew his next card, he raised it into the air.
"I sacrifice Helios Duo Megistus to evolve it into its final form. Come forth, Helios Trice Megistus (?/?)!"
The bandaged creature split apart eerily, now resembling three distinct infantile bodies with small suns for heads. "This monster gains 300 attack and defense points for each banished card I have, putting it at 3300!"
The students were shocked that Banner's boss monster had another form strong enough to take out the Ancient Gear Golem, and that Crowler would most likely lose now. What would happen to him? Furthermore, what would happen to them? They looked between each other, unsure of who would step forward next.
Crowler's teeth chattered, knowing that the fight was lost now. This attack wouldn't finish him, but with one card in his hand, he doubted he would be able to mount a comeback now. But no matter how much he wished to cower and flee, he would remain stoic for the sake of the students. Teachers were supposed to set an example for their students, even if they could not protect them ultimately.
"Helios Trice Megistus, attack Ancient Gear Golem now!" Between the three sun idols, a beam of blazing orange energy coalesced for a brief period before firing with a searing intensity. It struck the golem in the chest, the iron melting down rapidly. Before long, the laser wore through the mechanical man and struck Crowler with a hiss. (Crowler 500/Banner 1600)
"Tch! Is that all you got? I thought you shadow riders were supposed to be tough!" Crowler wiped blood from the side of his mouth, the shadow game exposing to him to whole new levels of pain. And yet, Crowler remained defiant.
"As a matter of fact, it isn't all I've got. I activate my trap card, Return From the Different Dimension! At the cost of half my life points, this lets me summon as many of my banished monsters to the field as possible! They are normally banished at the end of the turn, but that isn't something either of us need to worry about, is it?" As Banner spoke, a deep violet portal opened behind him, solar winds spewing from its maw. (Crowler 500/Banner 800)
From the portal leapt four monsters. Two warriors, one male and one female, were the first to rise. Both blond of hair, the male hoisted an impossible large cleaver while the woman held a short sword imbued with blinding white energy.
"First, I'll summon D.D Assailant (1700/1600) and D.D Warrior Lady (1500/1600), both of which were banished by Necroface's effect earlier. Speaking of which…" Next to Banner materialized the horrible rotting babyface, its visage especially horrifying now.
"Finally, I'll bring back Golden Homunculus! It only has 1800 attack now, but that is much more than is needed." The glittering golden giant looked eager to enact vengeance upon Crowler for its part.
"This is the end, Vellian. Please understand that I wish it had not come to this. From one teacher to another, I hold you in the highest of esteem." Banner said softly as the portal closed.
"I've nothing more to say to you but this; you will regret betraying these students. I may have failed, but these boys and girls will shine far brighter than either of us." Crowler said stonily as he gazed right into Banner's scarlet eyes.
"Perhaps. But then, perhaps not." Was Banner's cold response. "Golden Homunculus, end this now."
The giant let loose one final punch that sent Crowler reeling to the ground, unconscious. (Crowler 0/Banner 800)
The key around Crowler's neck began to glow a harsh yellow light. By itself, the pendant floated in the air for a moment before materializing in Banner's hands.
The students rushed over to Crowler, both inspired by his bravery and frightened for his life. Before any of them could reach him, however, Crowler's body was enveloped by an imprisonment sphere, similar to the ones Nightshroud used on Jamie and Alexis earlier that night.
Jaden glared over, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Let him go, Banner! You got the key, isn't that enough?"
Banner shook his head with infuriating lethargy. "In a shadow game, the loser's life is forfeit to the whims of the winner, as per the ancient laws."
"You would really kill one of your own colleagues?" Zane asked in dawning disgust.
"It matters not whether he lives or dies. Now that his key is ours, he no longer poses a threat to the shadow rider's interests. To that end, I will give you this one chance to save him. If you can defeat me, then Crowler will be freed. Each of you will have your chance in time, but I should like to see your power, Jaden Yuki." The stress of the duel had caused a vein to throb in Banner's forehead, and it seemed that his hair was slowly turning shades from black to a faded grey over time.
Only rage could be seen in Jaden's eyes as he activated his duel disk. "You want me? You got me!" He growled.
"Hold on, Jaden. I can handle him. There's no point in rising to his bait!" Zane protested.
"No. I was chosen to guard these keys for a reason. All I ask is that you believe in me, Zane. I'm not the same kid I was at the beginning of the year. You, Jamie, Chazz….all of you have shown me that I still have a long way to go. But I won't let anyone else sacrifice themselves for my sake!" Jaden said firmly, looking over at Crowler's unconscious frame.
"I'll prove it…that I can be a hero!" The Slifer declared.
Erin and Bastion looked at Jaden's resolve and found that they believed in him. He may have lost against Chazz in the school duel, but they knew that there was something special about Jaden, something that others did not possess. They hoped that quality could turn the tide against Banner.
Zane crossed his arms. "Jaden…I saw something in you that day when you challenged me. But since you lost to Chazz, I haven't been so sure. Show me what's really inside you!" He said with rare passion.
Jaden gave him a boyish grin, but there was the conviction of a man in his words. "I will." Was all he said. "Come on, Banner!"
A/N
Hope you all enjoyed. This chapter took a bit longer than I hoped, but you how it is with Christmas and stuff. Hoping to get the next chapter out a little quicker. Btw a belated MERI KURISMASU to you all! I hope you enjoyed yourselves and spent time with your loved ones. God bless!
This duel was actually quite challenging to write, as I had to keep track of how many cards were banished the whole time. Hopefully I didn't make any major mistakes. I decided to give Banner a more generic banishing deck. His canon cards (the Alchemy Beasts and such) are really bad, bad enough that I couldn't have him plausibly win against an actually decent archetype like Ancient Gears. I think the cards I gave him still fit his personality though, and of course we have not seen the last of his deck just yet. Oh yeah, and btw I have placed the first three character fanmixes in my profile for Jamie, Jaden, and Alexis respectively. As time goes on I'll add more!
Banner winning against Crowler was probably not the biggest of shockers, considering Banner is touted as the most powerful Shadow Rider and all. I hope the duel illustrated Crowler's skill, though. He was able to put up a good fight. He is sort of a comic relief antagonist most of the time, but Crowler ultimately did earn his position as head of Obelisk. I still think his match with Jaden in season 4 is one of the best duels in the series. He'll have more duels in the future for sure.
Next chapter, we will see the duel between Alexis and Nightshroud.