So yeah, my uploads are way off. A lot has piled up at home lately, but things are lightening up. I apologize for that, but anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Dimitri: 4000 LP
Jaden: 1300 LP
Syrus: Jaden is in deep trouble.
Bastion: Unfortunately Syrus, that's the understatement of the year. Look what he has to contend with: the Dark Magician of Chaos, full life points, the King of Games' deck. I'm afraid the trouble isn't deep, it's subterranean.
Jaden: I've gotta get my game on big time. After all, Dimitri not only has Yugi's deck, but he thinks he's Yugi, and the only way I can set him straight is by beating him. Well, I always wanted to see how I stacked up against my idol. Guess this could be as close as I could get. Alright, it's my turn!
He looked at his card and saw he drew his Winged Kuriboh. The spirit let out a noise, talking to Jaden.
Jaden: Are you sure? This could get rough, and we are going up against your former master's monsters. Okay then. I play my pal Winged Kuriboh in defense mode.
Level 1/Light/Fairy
ATK 300/DEF 200
Jaden: Next, I'll throw a card face-down and call it a turn.
Dimitri: Winged Kuriboh? Good to see you, of course there's nothing quite like the original. I summon Kuriboh in attack mode.
Level 1/Dark/Fiend
ATK 300/DEF 200
Dimitri: Now Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Burstinatrix!
Jaden: Not so fast, I play the trap card Super Junior Confrontation! This card calls off your magician's attack and forces your Kuriboh to attack mine. After that, the battle phase ends.
Dimitri: Not a bad counter. I place one card face-down and end my turn.
Bastion: Winged Kuriboh took one for the team there. Losing Burstinatrix would've been disastrous for Jaden.
Jaden: It's my turn. I play the spell Pot of Greed, which means I can draw 2 more cards. Sweet, I hope you like playing with bubbles, because here comes Elemental Hero Bubbleman.
Level 4/Water/Warrior
ATK 800/DEF 1200
Jaden: Next I'm playing a field spell, and it's one you might need a hard hat for. I activate Skyscraper!
Dimitri: What's with these buildings?
Syrus: They're for kicking your butt Dimitri!
Jaden: That's right, because on this field, Elemental Heroes gain 1000 attack points when they battle monsters stronger than they are. And to add to your troubles, I'm gonna equip Bubbleman with the spell card Bubble Blaster. This card gives Bubbleman 800 more attack points.
Bubbleman: 800-1600 ATK
Jaden: Now put those points to use and attack Kuriboh!
Dimitri: I activate the magic card Multiply, so by sacrificing Kuriboh, all my unused monster card zones are filled with Kuriboh tokens, all of which I summon into defense mode.
Kuriboh split into four before one of them was destroyed by Bubbleman's attack.
Jaden: I'll throw down a face-down and call it a turn.
Dimitri: Very well then, it's my turn. And I activate Card of Sanctity. This allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands. And now I activate the special ability of Watapon. When this card is added to my hand by a card effect, I can special summon it to the field.
Level 1/Light/Fairy
ATK 200/DEF 300
Dimitri: And now I sacrifice Watapon in order to summon Dark Magician Girl in attack mode!
Level 6/Dark/Spellcaster
ATK 2000/DEF 1700
Jaden: Wow, she's even cuter in person.
Dimitri: She has beauty and strength. For you see, for each Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos in either of our graveyards, she gains 300 attack points.
DMG: 2000-2300 ATK
Dimitri: Now Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Bubbleman!
Jaden: Due to Bubble Blaster's effect, if Bubbleman would be destroyed by battle, this card is destroyed instead and I take no damage.
Dimitri: But without that blaster, he won't survive this. Go Dark Magician Girl, attack Bubbleman with Dark Burning Attack!
Jaden: 800 LP
Dimitri: I'll end my turn there.
Jaden: Alright, you got me with a couple of good shots, but now I plan to return the favor and then some. And this card will let me do just that. I activate my face-down Polymerization in order to fuse Avian and Burstinatrix in order to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!
Level 6/Wind/Warrior
ATK 2100/DEF 1200
Jaden: But I'm not stopping there. Next I play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This card lets me pick a warrior type monster in my graveyard and put in my hand, so I'll add Sparkman to my hand and then summon him to the field.
Level 4/Light/Warrior
ATK 1600/DEF 1400
Jaden: Sparkman, attack one of the Kuriboh tokens!
Sparkman fired a ball of electricity at one of the tokens, destroying it.
Jaden: Now Flame Wingman, attack Dark Magician of Chaos with Skydive Scorcher! And in case you forgot, since your monster has more points, Skyscraper boosts Wingman's by 1000.
Dimitri: 3700 LP
Jaden: And don't forget about the Wingman's superpower. When he destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points.
Dimitri: 900 LP
Chumley: Take that, Yugi – Dimitri, whatever you call yourself.
Syrus: Way to play Jay! Nice work!
Michael: Keep up the pressure and you can beat him. He's really doing it. Dimitri is playing the deck exactly like Yugi would, and Jaden is winning. It took him a few turns to find his footing, but he's really turned this duel around.
Jaden: Next I'll place two cards face-down and activate the spell Emergency Provisions, so by sending one of 'em to the graveyard, I gain 1000 life points.
Jaden: 1800 LP
Jaden: It's your move. All I have to do is attack Dark Magician Girl with Flame Wingman on my next turn and I'll have beaten the King of Games' deck.
Dimitri: It's my turn! First, I switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode. Next, I play the spell Spider Web, which will allow to choose any card that was sent to your graveyard last turn and add it to my hand.
A thread of energy shot from his spell and into Jaden's graveyard before pulling a card out of it and placing it into his hand.
Dimitri: And the card I've chosen is Emergency Provisions. Next, I'll place two cards face-down and activate Monster Reincarnation, but before I continue, I shall send it and my two face-downs to the graveyard, allowing me to regain 3000 life points using Emergency Provisions. Then, using Monster Reincarnation's effect, I shall add Kuriboh to my hand. It's your move.
Dimitri: 3900 LP
Syrus: No way, he gained back almost all his life points in a single turn!
Jaden: Well, I guess I'll just have to take 'em away again. Go Flame Wingman, attack Dark Magician Girl with Skydive Scorcher!
Flame Wingman cloaked himself in flames and divebombed Dark Magician Girl, destroying her.
Jaden: Next due to Flame Wingman's special ability, you take damage equal to Dark Magician Girl's attack points.
Flame Wingman landed in front of Dimitri and shot a jet of flames from his arm.
Dimitri: 1600 LP
Dimitri: Good thing I gained back some life points last turn.
Jaden: Yeah, well it's a good thing for me I have a few attacks left. I play De-Fusion to split Flame Wingman back into Burstinatrix and Avian.
Bastion: If all of Jaden's attacks go through, he'll have won the duel!
Jaden: Now Avian and Burstinatrix, attack his remaining Kuriboh tokens!
Avian launched a volley of feathers while Burstinatrix shot a fireball at the two remaining Kuriboh tokens, leaving Dimitri wide open.
Jaden: Now Sparkman, attack directly with Static Shockwave!
Syrus: He's gonna win!
Michael: I'm afraid not.
Dimitri: I activate the special ability of Kuriboh. By discarding him, I take no damage from your attack.
Jaden: Rats, I almost had him.
Michael: He may not have finished the duel, but he's certainly put Dimitri in a tough spot. With no cards in his hand or on his field, if he can't turn the duel around on his next turn, Dimitri will lose for sure.
Syrus: You hear that Jaden? You're in the home stretch!
Dimitri: We'll see about that. I draw. Just the card I needed. I banish the dark attribute Kuriboh and the light attribute Watapon from my graveyard.
Bastion: There's no way!
Syrus: What's wrong Bastion?
Michael: Dimitri is about to summon a powerful monster.
Chumley: What? How do you know?
Michael: There are two monsters that can be summoned by banishing both a light and dark attribute monster from your graveyard. You may know one of them: Chaos Emperor Dragon – Envoy of the End.
Syrus: Oh yeah. Didn't Kaiba use that monster in his duel against Zigfried in the Grand Championship?
Michael: That's right, but since then it's been banned from use in tournaments because of how powerful it is.
Chumley: Okay, so what about the other one?
Michael: The other monster is Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning. It's never been banned, simply because of how rare the card is. In fact I've never even seen the card or met anyone who has, but I have heard a rumor that a copy of it lies in Yugi's deck.
Dimitri: And the rumors are true. Meet Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning!
Level 8/Light/Warrior
ATK 3000/DEF 2500
Dimitri: Now, attack Avian with Luster Blade Attack!
His monster slashed his sword towards Avian, sending a blast of energy that ripped right through him.
Jaden: 800 LP
Syrus: Oh man, Avian didn't stand a chance against that monster.
Michael: And I'm afraid it's not done with Jaden yet.
Dimitri: Your friend is right. You see, when my Envoy destroys your monster in battle, he's allowed to attack again.
Jaden: No way!
Syrus: Oh man. Now I'm starting to see why monsters like this are banned.
Dimitri: Now Black Luster Soldier, attack Burstinatrix and end this duel!
Bastion: This is bad. Jaden's life points can't withstand a hit like that.
Dimitri: It's over!
Jaden: Not yet! I play the trap Hero Spirit!
A ghostly image of Avian appeared and protected Burstinatrix.
Dimitri: What just happened?
Jaden: Due to the effect of Hero Spirit, during the turn an Elemental Hero is destroyed, I can make the damage from one of your attacks 0 while also keeping my monster from being destroyed.
Dimitri: Fine, I'll just finish you off next turn. The Heart of the Cards will see to that.
Jaden: He may be right. Yugi's deck is just so powerful. I thought I could win but now I don't know.
Winged Kuriboh appeared and began speaking to Jaden.
Jaden: Sorry Kuriboh, but what can I do? He's got the Heart of the Cards on his side.
Winged Kuriboh began to chitter angrily.
Jaden: What do you mean he doesn't? After all that's Yugi's deck. That's it! That's Yugi's deck. There's no way the Heart of the Cards could be on Dimitri's side, because that comes from believing in your own cards, not the ones you stole, and I believe in my deck, so if the Heart of the Cards is on anyone's side, it's on mine. Sorry Dimitri, but this duel is mine. I play the spell Silent Doom! This card will let me summon a monster from my graveyard in defense mode, so I'll bring back my fine feathered friend Avian.
Bastion: Looks like Jaden has something planned.
Jaden: You better believe it. I play the magic card Double Spell. With it, if I send a spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I can use any spell card that's in my opponent's graveyard, like the Polymerization you used at the start of the duel, and with it, I'll fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to once again summon my deck's headliner: The Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!
Bastion: And since Skyscraper is still active, it gains 1000 attack points, giving him just enough fire power to eliminate Black Luster Soldier.
Wingman: 2100-3100 ATK
Jaden: Now Flame Wingman, attack Black Luster Soldier with Skydive Scorcher!
Flame Wingman cloaked himself in flames and dove straight into Dimitri's monster, destroying him in an instant.
Dimitri: 1500 LP
Dimitri: He's gone! My Black Luster Soldier is gone!
Jaden: Don't sweat it, because he was never yours to begin with. Besides, if you want to worry about something, I'd worry about the Wingman's superpower, because now your monster's attack points are coming right out of your life points.
Dimitri: 0 LP
Winner: Jaden
Jaden: That's game. And the end of you using that deck.
Michael: Simply incredible. Even though it wasn't Yugi using the deck, Jaden still beat one of the strongest decks in history. He's destined for greatness.
Dimitri: I've been beaten. Even with my, no, with Yugi's legendary cards. What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever win?
?: The answer to that is obvious.
Zane, Alexis, and Lily walked up to the group.
Jaden: Why are you all here?
Zane: Why else? To see the deck, except it was gone.
Alexis: We snuck into the event hall and saw how the case had been broken in to. We figured the thief couldn't have gotten far, so we decided to look around.
Zane: Which lead us here.
Lily: We found you a while ago, but we didn't want to interrupt your duel.
Jaden: Wait, you saw it all? Me and Dimitri? The whole thing?
Zane: Not just us. You're match attracted quite a bit of attention.
He gestured behind them, pointing out most, if not all, of the student body.
Jaden: Uh, hi. Glad you all could make it.
Dimitri: So what happens now?
Zane: Well kid, the punishment for theft has always been crystal clear: straight-up expulsion. But, since I believe everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi's deck in a duel rather than a display case, I don't think anyone is going to turn you in.
Ra Student: Yeah, don't sweat it Dimitri. But you gotta tell us, how did you get so good with those spellcasters?
Dimitri: What difference does it make? I still lost.
Jaden: Except you didn't. The person you were pretending to be was the one who lost.
Dimitri: You mean Yugi?
Jaden: Nope. You could never be Yugi.
Dimitri: Then who was I?
Jaden: You were you, but you also weren't. You see, when you copy someone, it's not like you're that person, you're you copying that person.
Dimitri: You lost me.
Zane: Let me attempt to interpret for him Dimitri. You'll never win or lose until you put yourself out there, and that means creating your own deck and your own strategies, not piggybacking off someone else's. After all, there is no amount of studying you can do to able to use someone else's deck as well as they can.
Jaden: Yep. And no offense, but just because I beat you, that doesn't mean I could've beat Yugi. Now how about we put that deck back where it belongs?
Dimitri: Yeah, okay.
Timeskip
The next day, the exhibit hall was open, and everyone was gathered around the display case trying to get a look.
Jaden: Looks like everything is back to normal.
Chumley: Well, as normal as things get around this crazy place. By the way, what have you got there Jaden?
Jaden: I this poster at the merch shop. Isn't it great?
Before Chumley could answer, they both heard Syrus calling out to them as he ran up to them.
Jaden: What's wrong Syrus?
Syrus: Dimitri is at it again.
They followed Syrus to Dimitri, only to find him standing with his back to them dressed like Jaden.
Jaden: Dimitri, what are you doing?
Dimitri: Who's this Dimitri? My name is Jaden, and I'm a Slifer Red. Now listen, we're dueling, so turn your game on.
Jaden: It's "get your game on". If you're gonna copy me, you can at least do it right.
Dimitri: Whatever, we're gonna settle this in a duel, so get ready to throw up. I mean, let's throw down. Look let's just duel. Come on, get your deck out. This is gonna be swell!
Dimitri struck a terrible impersonation of Jaden's signature pose.
Jaden: It's sweet! And you're not even close to doing my pose right!
Dimitri: What am I doing wrong?
Jaden: Relax your wrist, straighten up your left leg, and shout from your diaphragm. That's sweet!
Chumley: This is ridiculous.
Syrus: Just another day at Duel Academy.