Author's Note: I own nothing in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

CHAPTER 5 – THE TOURNAMENT BEGINS

Atticus 4000 – Alistair 4000

My first duel at the academy had just begun, and I was up against a rather confident Atticus Rhodes. We each drew five cards for our starting hands, and our Life Points were set at 4000. I looked down at my hand, trying to suppress one heck of a grin from lighting up my face.

"You can go first, Atticus," I offered politely. I figured he wouldn't complain.

"Fine with me," he said with a smirk as he drew a sixth card. "I summon Pitch-Black Warwolf (1600 / 600) in attack mode!"

I blinked as a large black-haired beast with eerie yellow eyes, a sword gripped in its right arm, and a foreboding black aura emanating from its coat of fur. It growled at me menacingly, but unknown to Atticus, I was well aware that I already had my spot in the semifinals secured.

"My Warwolf there has a pretty neat special effect, you know," Atticus explained. "As long as he's on the field, you can't activate any trap cards during our Battle Phases! Now I'll just play a face-down and end my turn! Spotlight's on you, now!"

I grinned and drew a sixth card, adding it to the five already in my hand. It was all but over, and I knew exactly how to orchestrate it. I started with a single face-down card.

"No trap cards during the Battle Phase, huh?" I asked indifferently. "Good thing he won't be around much longer." Atticus widened his eyes in surprise as I played my first card of the game.

"I play the magic card, Change of Heart! Now I can take control of your Warwolf, and use it as a sacrifice to perform a Tribute summon!" At that moment, a red field of light enveloped the Pitch-Black Warwolf and dissolved into thin air, leaving Atticus's front line completely bare.

"By sacrificing that Warwolf, I can introduce you to my Cybernetic Magician (2400 / 1000)!" I announced, summoning the white-cloaked wizard to my side of the field. Atticus still appeared unfazed, probably because his face-down was likely an anti-attack trap. I resolved the issue with another spell.

"I also play Giant Trunade, blowing your face-down card back into your hand!" I continued as a ferocious hurricane-force wind caused Atticus's only card on the field to vanish and reappear in his hand. At this point, he began to show signs of panic. I still, however, had one move left to make.

"Last but not least, Atticus, I use the magic card, Graceful Charity!" I said, displaying the card to him. He gave me a look as if to ask if I would ever end my turn. I smiled, continuing with the effect, "I can now draw three cards from my deck, and then discard any two from my hand."

I did so, adding three cards to my hand to make a total of five. My smile grew brighter, realizing I had drawn what I needed.

"I choose to discard my Skilled Dark Magician and my Mystical Elf, but instead of putting them in the graveyard, I'm going to remove them from the game!" I sternly declared, slipping the two cards into my pocket. I then lifted another card out of my hand, the one that represented my entire deck.

"By removing from my graveyard one Light and one Dark monster, I can summon the one and only Chaos Sorcerer (2300 / 2000)!" I placed the card onto my dueling device in attack position, and watched with the rest of the crowd as the Chaos Sorcerer rose onto the field, cloaked in black and wielding both light and dark energy in his hands.

"Any last words, Atticus?" I asked him with a smile. His mouth was agape, and his voice silent. I took that as a no. "Fine with me. Cybernetic Magician! Chaos Sorcerer! Attack Atticus directly!"

Atticus 0000 – Alistair 4000

Atticus was visibly overwhelmed by the magical force of both monsters, and fell to his knees as his Life Points went from 4000 to 0 in seconds. My Cybernetic Magician and Chaos Sorcerer faded and disappeared, and the crowd sympathetically cheered Atticus. Even Alexis, who I had seen breathing a sigh of relief after my victory, went over to help her brother up. I sighed and crossed the dueling ring, and extended my hand. Atticus grinned and shook.

"A deal's a deal," he said reluctantly. "Nice dueling, man." I shook my head, knowing I couldn't possibly accept his compliment.

"It was a lucky draw," I insisted. "We'll have a rematch one of these days."

Atticus laughed and nodded. "You bet, but you know what Max Pegasus used to say… it's better to be lucky than good." Smiling, I gave Atticus a pat on the back and stepped down from the dueling ring to the applause of the crowd. I made my way back to my seat, receiving congratulations and compliments from the other participants. Dropping back into my seat, I heard Chancellor Sheppard announce the next match between Alexis and Syrus. I quietly pulled out my notepad and pen as the clearly nervous blue-haired Slifer ascended onto the dueling ring. Alexis had just ushered her brother off and returned to her position for her Quarterfinal duel.

"The winner of this match will face Alistair Rhein in the semifinals!" Sheppard informed everyone. I glanced over at the bracket where my name had been written into the top slot of the Semifinal round. The crowd cheered loudly as the second Quarterfinal match began, and I made sure to note each monster, spell, and trap used by Alexis and Syrus. Everything from Syrus's use of Roid monsters and spells like Vehicroid Connection Zone to Alexis's Cyber Angel monsters and her Machine Angel Ritual card. I watched as Syrus managed to summon his Super Vehicroid Jumbo Drill through his Vehicroid Connection Zone card, but made an unfortunate error when he summoned Jetroid to help it out. Alexis quickly took advantage by summoning her Cyber Blader, which had its attack power doubled to 4200 since Syrus had two monsters on his side of the field. The Vehicroid Jumbo Drill was scrapped, and Syrus was ultimately defeated.

I stood and applauded with the rest of the crowd and Alexis and Syrus shook hands and congratulated each other on a well-played duel. Syrus was understandably upset, but Jaden was there for encouragement as usual. Alexis sat down next to me right after I had slipped the notepad back into my pocket. I couldn't have her knowing that I was studying her every card.

"You're not bad," I commented without looking at her. It was honestly a bit awkward, considering I had just come out of a bet with Atticus regarding a date with her.

"I have to be," she answered. "I'm the Queen of Obelisk Blue, remember?"

"You actually ENJOY having that nickname?" I inquired with a hint of shock.

She just laughed and sighed. "Thanks for putting Atticus in his place," she finally told me.

"If you're trying to sweet talk me into going easy on you in the Semifinals, it won't work," I countered with a grin. Alexis smiled back confidently. "Don't worry, I'm going to beat you anyway."

Our conversation was cut short by Sheppard, calling Chazz and Tyranno to the dueling ring for the third Quarterfinal match. I crossed my arms and observed, just like the other eight thousand students, never tiring of the action.