Following Nicola's win in her graduation duel against Sarah she was led to a room where only a few students were allowed access to and for good reason as it was the room where they kept the graduating students when it came to graduation day, the proctor leading her to the room opened the door for her and she was met by a cheer from the other duelists.
"There she is!" Hu greeted her happily as he walked up Nicola, both he and Ash where in Obelisk Blue now having moved up with Chloe and Chelsea from Ra Yellow alongside Louella and Latoya. "Congrats Nicola, you really kicked some ass back there!"
"Thanks." Nicola responded with a grin before she helped herself to a drink that was on the table. "Though I think this room will be pretty cramped if the others all win their duels."
"To be fair, we are used to that thanks to the meetings we used to have in Theresa's dorm room." Jason chimed in with a grin as the Obelisk Blue student greeted Nicola. "So, I thought I heard that you and Andreas were going to face off for your graduation duels? Like Hu and Ash and Latoya and Louella." Jason asked and Nicola shrugged her shoulders.
"We were both in favor but by the time we proposed the idea to Martin our opponents had already been selected." Nicola responded as she shook her head before making herself comfortable in front of the TV that the graduating students were watching the duels on. "On the other hand, I could never beat Andreas in a duel so maybe it is for the best."
"That didn't stop Chloe from challenging Theresa, I think her record against Theresa was something like 5-0 in Theresa's favor by the time Theresa graduated." Chakra pointed out before she shared a quick kiss with Jason who she had started dating after Jason moved up to Ra Yellow. "That said the one duel I'm looking forward too is Chelsea vs. Tyler, mostly to see if she can finally graduate from a school."
"I don't think your in the minority there, Chakra." Nicola chimed in before turning her attention back to the TV. "And speaking of graduations, Marcus's match is about to start!" Nicola added and the assembled teens gathered to watch the match,
*back at the main duel field*
Whilst that was going on at the graduation room Marcus and Jeff where getting ready for their duel with the entire school watching on alongside Sophia Pegasus.
"So far there's been a record number of graduating students, now I have to make sure that I'm among them." Marcus thought as he stared down the Ra Yellow Headmaster. "Okay Jeff, who's going first?" Marcus asked and Jeff looked over his hand.
"I will." Jeff responded as he looked over his hand. "I activate Terra-Forming!" Jeff added as he played the card and searched through his deck, once he found the Spell Card, he was looking for he let his deck auto-shuffle before playing the card. "Now I activate Necrovalley!" Jeff announced as he played the Field Spell and the scenery changed to a scorching desert. "As long as Necrovalley remains on the field we cannot interact with the graveyard in any way, well, aside from a few of my Gravekeepers."
"Well, there goes my usual method of summoning Five Headed Dragon." Marcus thought with a frown as Jeff picked up three cards.
"I set two cards facedown and I summon Gravekeepers Nobleman." Jeff announced as he played the card and a blue haired Egyptian man in a black robe appeared on the field (3/1000/1000). "In addition to the effect I mentioned previously, whilst Necrovalley is on the field all Gravekeepers again five hundred attack and defense points." Jeff added as Gravekeepers' Nobleman's attack and defense points increased to 1500. "That ends my turn." Jeff announced and Marcus drew his card.
"Jeff may have locked me out of using cards like Dragon's Mirror and Return of the Dragon Lords but that's hardly the only way my deck can kick ass." Marcus thought before looking at his drawn card and subsequently playing it. "I activate Cards of Consonance, I discard one weak Dragon Type Tuner Monster and in exchange I get to draw two cards." Marcus explained as he discarded a card and drew two cards. "And the monster I just sent to the graveyard is White Stone of Legend which lets me search my deck for one of my heavy hitters."
"That's fine, White Stone of Legend's effect kicks in when it's sent to the graveyard, not whilst it's in the graveyard." Jeff nodded as Marcus started inputting commands into his duel disk. "If Marcus manages to summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragon I'm in trouble, there aren't a lot of Gravekeepers that can deal with a monster with that much attack points." Jeff thought as Marcus added the card to his hand and let his deck auto shuffle.
"We'll worry about him later, I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the beautiful sapphire dragon appeared on the field (4/2000/400). "Attack Gravekeepers Nobleman!" Marcus commanded and his dragon prepared his attack destroying the Nobleman and bringing Jeff's life-points down to 7500. "Heh, this is going to be easier than I thought!" Marcus said with a confident grin and Jeff shook his head.
"Don't be so sure, when Gravekeepers Nobleman is destroyed and sent to the graveyard I can search my deck for another Gravekeeper and set it facedown." Jeff responded before he started inputting commands into his duel disk. "Anything else you want to do?" Jeff asked once he had set the monster and Marcus picked up two cards.
"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Marcus announced as the two facedown cards appeared behind his dragon and Jeff drew his card. "Just gotta play Ancient Rules and I can get my dragon out! Off course, first I have to draw the card."
"First, I flip summon Gravekeepers Curse!" Jeff announced as he flipped his monster up and another Egyptian man in a dark robe who was glowing ominously appeared on the field (3/800/800) and his attack and defense points increased to 1300 thanks to Necrovalley. "When I flip summon Gravekeepers Curse his effect activates, allowing me to inflict five hundred points of damage to my opponent's life-points." Jeff added and the Gravekeeper fired a beam of light at Marcus bringing his life-points down to 7500. "It seems we're tied, for now, I summon Gravekeepers Assailant!" Jeff announced as he played the card and another robed figure appeared on the field all though this one had his face concealed by a robe (4/1500/1500) and his attack and defense increased 2000 thanks to Necrovalley. "Now I activate Royal Tribute!"
"Okay, what does that do?" Marcus asked and Jeff grinned.
"I'm glad you asked, since I have Necrovalley on the field this Spell Card will force us both to discard all monsters in our hands." Jeff explained and Marcus's eyes widened before he discarded the three remaining monsters in his hand whilst Jeff discarded two. "If you needed one of those cards for anything, too bad, Gravekeepers' Assailant, attack Alexandrite Dragon!" Jeff commanded and the assailant charged into battle. "This activates my assailant's effect, forcing your dragon into defense mode!"
"What?!" Marcus asked as his dragon knelt. "In that case, that's as far as your assailant's going to go! I activate my facedown card Dragon Fortress!" Marcus announced as the facedown card flipped up depicting the Blue-Eyes White Dragon landing atop a heavily fortified fortress decorated with dragons' heads. "Since you just forced my dragon into defense mode, this trap card will destroy Gravekeepers Assailant!"
"Nice try, but not good enough, I chain Imperial Tombs of the Necrovalley!" Jeff responded as his own trap card flipped up. "As you just activated a Trap Card and I have Necrovalley and a Gravekeepers on my side of the field my trap card will negate the activation and destroy it." Jeff added as Dragon Fortress's hologram shattered and Gravekeepers Assailant slashed Alexandrite Dragon's throat destroying it. "And I'm not done! Gravekeepers Curse, attack his life-points directly!" Jeff commanded and the weaker Gravekeeper fired a beam of light at Marcus bringing his life-points down to 6200. "If your going to graduate from this academy, you'll have to try a lot harder than that."
"Maybe but that attack allows me to activate my other facedown card, Damage Condenser!" Marcus announced as his second facedown card flipped up. "I discard a card from my hand so I can summon one monster with attack equal to or less than the damage I took from that attack, unless you've got another Imperial Tomb set."
"Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to use it." Jeff responded as he shook his head. "Imperial Tomb of the Necrovalley can only be used once per turn."
"That's fine by me, I use my trap card's effect to summon Totem Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the small green dragon appeared on the field (2/400/200). "I know he has a card in his deck that makes it so that only Gravekeepers can be Special Summoned, otherwise Jason York would've joined last year's graduation class but then again he was still experimenting with his new deck since his Empty Jay deck was rendered unplayable by a ban list." Marcus thought with a frown before shaking his head. "Totem Dragon's ability to count for two tributes of a Dragon Type Monster will help me get around that."
"I end my turn." Jeff announced and Marcus drew his card.
"Marcus isn't doing to badly considering that he's already lost one of his most powerful dragons." Sophia thought as she took a sip from her drink "It will be interesting to see how he gets around Necrovalley's effect, if he manages too off course." Sophia thought before setting down her drink and turning to Martin. "I wasn't aware that people still played Gravekeepers."
"Jeff plays it for sentimental value more than anything else." Martin responded as he shook his head whilst they watched Marcus go over his hand. "It was his main deck during his days on the Pro-League, after he retired to become a teacher it was the only deck he kept."
"It certainly is effective, I'll give him that." Sophia commented as she leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed. "Might see if Gravekeepers might be viable on the pro-league with some more support in the upcoming set, as a control deck it is effective but without Necrovalley on the field it is very weak and Jeff was fortunate to draw Terra Forming when he did, if I do decide to release further support for the archetype, I might need to address that problem." Sophia thought as they watched Marcus make a move.
"I activate Raiding the Dragon's Cave, since you were kind enough to make me discard my Blue-Eyes White Dragon this card will allow me to draw two cards." Marcus announced before he draw his cards. "This is more like it." Marcus thought before playing the card. "I tribute Totem Dragon to summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the famous dragon appeared on the field with a roar (7/2400/2100). "Don't get to used to my dragon however, because I'm sacrificing it to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon."
"Well, this will hurt in the morning." Jeff thought with a frown as the already large dragon grew into it's larger, more menacing form (9/2400/2000). "Too think, I was there when he won that card in the first Battle City Tournament that Duel Academy was represented by."
"And I'm going to have to thank you for making me discard so many dragons the other turn because on top of Totem Dragon, Alexandrite Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon that's a total of six dragon type monsters and my new dragon gains three hundred attack points for each!" Marcus added as his dragon's attack points went up to 4200. "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack Gravekeepers Curse!" Marcus commanded and the dragon unleased it's attack at the much weaker monster destroying it and bringing Jeff's life-points down to 4400. "So much for that lead you had."
"Maybe so but I can still turn this around." Jeff responded with a nod as Marcus looked over his hand. "Anything else?"
"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Marcus announced as he set the two cards and Jeff drew his card.
"If I'm going to win this, I'll need to get rid of that dragon, easier said than done considering that none of my Gravekeepers can attack over it." Jeff thought with a frown as he looked at the dragon. "And that dragon will only get stronger the more monsters I destroy, and if he draws Dragon Rage or worse, already has it set then it won't be long until he wipes out my life-points." Jeff thought before looking at his hand and playing the drawn card. "I activate Treasure of Necrovalley."
"That's a new one." Marcus commented as the Spell Card flipped up depicting a golden chest bearing the Pot of Greed symbol being dug out of the sands of Necrovalley. "And since that gold chest has the Pot of Greed on it, I'm willing to bet that I know what it does."
"Yes, you'd think Sophia Pegasus would find a different card to reference considering that the game has been around longer than she's been alive." Jeff admitted and if Sophia was anywhere near a microphone, they would've heard her awkwardly clearing her throat at that comment. "Anyway, as I have Necrovalley on the field this Spell Card lets me draw three cards." Jeff added before he drew his three cards.
"Note to self, when I return to the corporate headquarters, challenge the design team to not reference Pot of Greed in the artwork for any draw cards that have nothing to do with pots." Sophia thought before finishing her drink. "Even if that means that Mirage of Nightmare gets referenced in every other card that gets released."
"Now I activate Hidden Temples of Necrovalley!" Jeff announced as his Spell Card appeared on the field. "From now on, the only monsters that can be special summoned are Gravekeepers."
"Bit late for that, isn't it?" Marcus asked as he motioned to his dragon and Jeff frowned in response.
"Perhaps, but if I had any choice in the matter, I would've drawn this on my first turn so count yourself lucky." Jeff responded before switching Gravekeepers Assailant to defense mode. "I move my assailant to defense mode, set a monster in defense mode and set two cards facedown, your move Marcus." Jeff added as he set the three cards and Marcus nodded before drawing his card.
"If I can just draw A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, then I can blow his strategy out of the water, or in this case, the desert." Marcus thought with a frown before looking at his drawn card, he added it to his hand and activated his facedown card. "Don't think your defenses will save you, I activate Dragon's Rage! With this my dragon can inflict piercing damage and with your life-points as low as they are, that means that this duel will end before you know it!"
"Which is why I can't allow that! I activate my second Imperial Tombs of the Necrovalley to negate Dragon's Rage." Jeff responded as his facedown card flipped up and Dragon's Rage shattered. "You won't get at my life-points that easily."
"And now I'm glad that I didn't draw A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, otherwise? Jeff would've negated it." Marcus thought as he sent his Trap Card to the graveyard. "Fine, I'll just blow apart your defenses until I can get to your life-points instead! Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, attack Gravekeepers Assailant!" Marcus commanded and his dragon prepared his attack.
"Us teachers have a saying, the game giveth, and the game taketh away." Jeff responded before his other facedown card flipped up. "I activate Dimension Wall!"
"Oh shit!" Marcus exclaimed as the blast hit a wall causing it to bounce back to Marcus and bringing his life-points down to 2000. "I can't take another hit like that." Marcus thought before setting his drawn monster. "I set a card in defense mode and end my turn."
"If your hoping that your defense position monster will protect your life-points, your sadly mistaken." Jeff commented as he played his drawn card. "I summon Gravekeepers Spear Soldier!" Jeff announced as the spear wielding Gravekeeper appeared on the field (4/1500/1000) and his attack points went up to two thousand whilst his defense points went up to 1500 thanks to the seal. "Spear Soldier can inflict Piercing Damage, but I have a way to secure your defeat even more." Jeff added before he played a card. "I equip Spear Soldier will with Wonder Wand! Now he gains five hundred attack points!"
"That means he's strong enough to destroy my Red-Eyes!" Marcus realized as his eyes widened. "But only if Gravekeeper Assailant forces him into defense mode!"
"And that's exactly what's going to happen, Gravekeepers Assailant, attack his dragon!" Jeff commanded and the assailant charged into battle. "I use my Assailant's effect to force Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon into defense mode!" Jeff added and the dragon knelt just as the Assailant's Dagger bounced off him harmlessly. "As my Assailant's attack power is the same as your dragon's defense points, nothing happens, even so, the stage has been set! Spear Soldier, destroy Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon!" Jeff commanded and the soldier charged into battle before piercing the dragon's heart destroying it and bringing Marcus's life-points down to 1700. "Looks like you won't be graduating this year Marcus, shame that the streak we had going is about to be broken, I end my turn."
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Marcus thought before drawing his card. "Dead draw, but I have one chance left, and that's my facedown card, here goes nothing." Marcus thought before activating the card. "I activate Reckless Greed! I have to skip my next two draw steps but in exchange I draw two cards." Marcus announced before drawing his cards. "It's over Jeff, I've won."
"Are you sure about that?" Jeff asked confidently as he motioned to his field. "Even without Spear Soldier's effect, I still have two strong monsters on the field whilst you have one facedown monster, how exactly do you expect to win."
"By getting the sand blower out! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! And I use it to destroy Necrovalley!" Marcus announced and Jeff's eyes widened as the storm washed over the field destroying his field spell. "You said so yourself, most of your cards rely on your Field Spell, including the one that prevents me from Special Summoning monsters, and your Gravekeepers lose the boost they got!" Marcus added as the attack powers of Assailant and Spear Soldier dropped down to 1500.
"Even so, you have a long way to go and I have more than one copy of Necrovalley in my deck." Jeff responded as he folded his arms and Marcus nodded.
"That's why you won't get a chance to use it! I activate Return of the Dragon Lords to bring back an old friend!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (8/3000/2500). "Why him and not Darkness Dragon? Well, aside from the fact that I can't summon Darkness Dragon that way, I couldn't play this either! Burst Stream of Destruction!" Marcus announced as he played the card and Jeff's eyes widened as the dragon unleashed his famous attack wiping out his monsters.
"It seems you've forgotten one important detail." Jeff responded as he folded his arms. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon can't attack the same turn you use Burst Stream of Destruction!"
"True, but I don't need him to attack." Marcus responded as he played the card. "I activate Dragon's Mirror! I remove Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, Alexandrite Dragon and Totem Dragon from my graveyard alongside my facedown Masked Dragon to fusion summon Five-Headed Dragon!" Marcus announced and Jeff lowered his head as the five dragons were sucked into the fusion portal and the Five Headed Dragon emerged from it (10/5000/5000). "Five-Headed Dragon, finish him off!" Marcus commanded and the dragon unleashed its attacks on Jeff bringing his life-points down to zero.
"The winner of the match is Marcus Reynolds! And he will join the rapidly growing graduating class!" Martin announced and the crowd cheered as the holograms disappeared. "Up next, Andreas Freshier hopes to keep the streak going against the Osiris Red Headmaster Thomas Hamden!"
"Congratulations Marcus." Jeff congratulated hm as he got up to his feet. "You've earned it, just try to leave some food for the other graduating students when you join them."
"I make no promises." Marcus responded with a grin before he hopped off the duel arena, he was met with Lance, Chelsea and Andreas who offered him celebratory fist bumps along the way. "Good luck guys, especially you Chelsea, your going to need it going up against Tyler and all."
"Don't I know it." Chelsea responded with a grin before glancing over at Andreas. "Feel free to take your time with Hamden so I can strategize for my match Andreas."
"Chelsea, you've had all weekend to strategize." Andreas pointed out as he turned to her. "You'll be fine."
"Easy for you to say! You're not going up against Kaiba's stepson!" Chelsea pointed out before grinning. "Seriously though, good luck against Hamden." Chelsea added and Andreas nodded before hopping onto the duel arena where Hamden was waiting for him.
"Sorry for messing with your plans to face Nicola in your graduation duel Andreas." Hamden commented as they activated their duel disks. "But that would've left me with nothing to do since Chelsea, Chloe and Lance had chosen their opponents in advance."
"I would've thought you'd appreciate the day off." Andreas commented with a grin as they drew their opening hands. "Instead of being beaten by one of your students."
"Touché." Hamden admitted before grinning. "As for the second part, we'll see about that." Hamden added as he stared down Andreas.