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

CHAPTER 7 – THE SEMIFINAL DUEL, PART 2

Alexis 0700 – Alistair 2000

Alexis and I were still locked in our fiery Semifinal duel, and I had felt I had gained the upper hand. With a 2000 to 700 advantage in Life Points and the trap card I had just activated, things were starting to go my way again after taking a rather brutal beating from Alexis's powered-up Cyber Blader. I slipped the Injection Fairy Lily back into my pocket as the Cyber Blader returned to Alexis's side of the field.

"Elemental Absorber," I stated, "is a trap card that allows me to remove one monster in my hand from the game. By removing my Injection Fairy Lily, an Earth-type monster, all of YOUR Earth-type monsters are unable to attack as long as this card is in play! And that's right, Alexis… guess what type your Cyber Blader is."

"Fine," Alexis conceded. "But I'll still play this! My Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards from my deck and add them to my hand."

As Alexis did so, the staff held by my Skilled Dark Magician began to emanate a faint glow. I smiled a bit at Alexis's puzzled expression.

"Oh, you're just witnessing my Magician's special effect," I told her. "Every time one of us uses a spell card, such as your Pot of Greed, my Skilled Dark Magician gains one spell counter. And when he has three… well, you'll see."

Alexis stared at the Skilled Dark Magician uneasily before ending her turn. I drew my card and added it to my hand, giving me a total of two. I thought for a moment, realizing that I didn't really have a whole lot of options at the moment. Thankfully my Elemental Absorber was holding Alexis off.

"I'll just play one card face down," I said with a sigh. "That'll do it for me."

Alexis drew, her expression slowly turning to one of frustration. "I'll just play a face-down card as well," she said calmly. "That Absorber won't hold me off forever, you know."

I drew my next card, and chuckled.

"I don't expect it to," I told her. "I only want it to last long enough for me to get rid of that Cyber Blader. I activate my face-down card, Pitch-Black Power Stone."

My face-down card rose, and a black circular stone with a golden triangle on it materialized in front of the card's hologram. One of the three glowing points on the triangle faded, and the light flowing from the staff of my Skilled Dark Magician got brighter.

"This card contains three spell counters," I explained to Alexis. "Every turn I can transfer one counter from my Power Stone to any card on the field. So I use its effect to transfer one counter to my Skilled Dark Magician."

I looked down at the two cards I held in my hand, and opted to play.

"I now play Graceful Charity!" I proclaimed, happy to finally be able to get some variety into my hand. "Having just played it a couple of turns ago, you should know what it does." I drew three cards into my hand and thought about which two to discard. After making my decision, the staff of my Skilled Dark Magician grew to full power.

"Now with three spell counters, I can sacrifice my Skilled Dark Magician!" I shouted as the monster dissolved and disappeared. I fanned out my entire deck and selected one card, placing it on my dueling device to replace the monster I had sacrificed. "Thanks to his special effect, I now am able to summon the Dark Magician (2500 / 2100)!" Perhaps one of the most famous Duel Monsters in the world, the Dark Magician materialized on my side of the field, earning a plethora of "ooh"s and "aah"s from the crowd.

"I'll also summon my Skilled WHITE Magician (1700 / 1900) in defense mode!" I added, as a being similar to the Skilled Dark Magician emerged, this one covered with white robes. Alexis grew increasingly annoyed as her situation only grew more hazardous. Looking at the single card in my hand, I had a feeling things would get a lot worse for her if things went my way.

"I see no need to play any face-downs," I laughed confidently. "Seeing how you can't attack anyway." Alexis glared at me harshly and drew a card.

"That's where you're wrong!" she finally shouted with an air of determination. "I summon Cyber Petit Angel (300 / 200)!"

The monster she summoned almost had me doubling over in laughter. A tiny little pink puffball with miniature wings and a halo appeared on Alexis's side of the field.

"You're going to attack me with cotton candy?" I joked, raising an eyebrow.

"You wish," she shot back, searching through her deck. "By summoning Cyber Petit Angel, I can add one Ritual magic card from my deck to my hand!" Alexis found the card she was looking for, and pulled it out.

"Now I can play this! Machine Angel Ritual!"

A bright line of light split the duel arena in half and began to expand, covering every surface in the stadium in a sort of stainless steel coating. The entire field had been transformed into a cold, metallic chamber.

"I'm not sure I like the interior decorating," I teased Alexis, getting an angry look from her.

"You'll like it a lot less after this summon!" she insisted. "I sacrifice my Cyber Blader and my Cyber Petit Angel to summon Cyber Angel Dakini (2700 / 2400)!" A four-armed female warrior emerged onto the field, wielding a pair of swords and a large staff. This I hadn't seen coming.

"2700 points??" I stammered with surprise. Alexis smiled and nodded. "AND it has a special effect," she told me all too happily. "When Dakini is summoned to the field, one of your monsters is automatically destroyed!"

I found myself shielding myself again as my Skilled White Magician instantly exploded. The crowd was cheering on Alexis's comeback, and found myself with only my Dark Magician guarding me.

"And since Dakini is a Light-type, she's unaffected by your Elemental Absorber! Now Cyber Angel Dakini, attack his Dark Magician!" she commanded, as Dakini slashed twice, destroying my Dark Magician in the same fashion my Skilled White Magician went down. My frustration built as the score got closer, my Life Points decreasing to 1800.

Alexis 0700 – Alistair 1800

"Since you have no more cards in your hand, I assume you're finished," I mocked, drawing a card before she answered. I looked at my two cards and smiled in anticipation.

"I play one monster in defense mode and one card face-down," I said cunningly. "Your turn, Alexis. And I hope it's a good one." Visibly unfazed by my words, Alexis drew her next card.

"How's this for a move? Dakini, attack his defense monster!" she shouted, ordering her monster to do exactly what I expected. I extended my hand over my face-down card, causing it to rise and emit a brilliant red and blue vortex that forced Dakini back to Alexis's side of the field.

"My trap card, Negate Attack, automatically ends your Battle Phase," I explained to her. "So sorry, but my face-down monster will remain that way for now." Alexis gave me a calculating stare, and then looked down at the card in her hand.

"Finished?" I asked with a grin. She certainly didn't trust me, and reacted as such.

"I'll play Soul of the Pure, allowing me to regain 800 Life Points!" she decided, her Life Point total rising to 1500. "That ends my turn."

Alexis 1500 – Alistair 1800

I drew my next card, somehow knowing that the end was near.

"First, I play this card face-down, and then switch my hidden Morphing Jar to attack mode!" I started off, revealing my defense monster and thus activating its ability. "When summoned, the Morphing Jar destroys both our hands, and then allows us to draw five new cards. But since neither of us HAVE any cards in our hands, we each have nothing to lose."

We each drew five cards, and noticing my hand, my mind formulated a plan almost immediately.

"Next, I'll use this magic card, Premature Burial!" I started off. "By paying 800 Life Points, I can resurrect one monster from my graveyard, and I choose my Dark Magician!" My Life Points fell to 1000, and in return my Dark Magician reappeared on the field in attack position.

Alexis 1500 – Alistair 1000

"But he won't be here for long, Alexis," I explained with a smile. I then displayed two other cards in my hand: Buster Blader and Polymerization. "I use Polymerization to fuse the Dark Magician and the Buster Blader together to create the Dark Paladin (2900 / 2400)!"

The black-armored entity took the place of the Dark Magician, the first monster I was capable of summoning that could overpower her Cyber Angel Dakini. But that wasn't enough. I was going to defeat Alexis in this single turn.

"And now this duel concludes, thanks to my Paladin's special effect," I boasted. "For every Dragon-type monster in our graveyards, my Dark Paladin gains 500 more attack points!"

Alexis seemed stunned, but quickly recovered when she realized one minor detail.

"But there ARE no Dragon-type monsters in our graveyards!" she argued. I smiled at my hand, and with a flourish, flipped up the face-down card I played just before calling out my Morphing Jar.

"But soon there will be, for now I activate Trap Booster!" I proclaimed. I took one card from my hand and sent it to my graveyard. "By destroying a single card, I can activate a trap card straight from my hand! And I only have one card left… and what are the odds, Alexis, that my final card is Samsara Dogma!!"

Alexis widened her eyes incredulously and quickly looked at her dueling device. Her graveyard was now spitting out all its monsters, as was mine.

"By activating Samsara Dogma, every monster in our graveyards BECOMES a Dragon-type! Now then, let's count off, shall we?" I said confidently. "There are four monsters in your graveyard, and SEVEN monsters in mine! I think you can do the math…"

Alexis was absolutely silent as my Dark Paladin's attack power skyrocketed to a crippling and horrifying total of 8400.

"Attack, Dark Paladin, and destroy Cyber Angel Dakini!" I bellowed triumphantly, watching as my Paladin launched itself into the air, slamming down its giant edged staff and engulfing Alexis's entire side of the field in a tremendous explosion that rocked the whole duel arena. There were groans from Alexis's fans and cheers from mine as the dust finally settled, the monsters and effects of Machine Angel Ritual faded, and Alexis's Life Points dropped to 0.

Alexis 0000 – Alistair 1000

The entire staff was on their feet, applauding for a magnificently exciting duel. I could hear Alexis's dazed mumbling and politely crossed the arena, helping her up. We shook hands in the name of sportsmanship, and stepped out of the dueling ring.

"I lost…" she sighed with disappointment. I sympathized and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You are, without a doubt in my mind, the most talented duelist I have ever faced," I told her seriously. "I never told you… actually, I haven't told anyone, not even Crowler or Sheppard, that I've never lost a duel in my entire life. And you nearly did it."

Alexis gave me a skeptical look, obviously not believing me.

"Why would you keep something like that from the academy?" she asked me. "You could be a graduate by now, if that's true."

I sighed and shook my head. "I don't want to graduate in a week," I explained. "I like it here. I want to enjoy my time here. If I graduated that fast, all my efforts to come here would have been for nothing."

Alexis went quiet, so I assumed she understood. We went back to our seats and had a few more moments to talk while Chazz and Jaden prepared for their Semifinal match.

"I've got a feeling, Alexis," I said quietly, "that one of these days, you'll be the duelist that defeats me."