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

---

x-knight20 asks: "Has Alistair seen if Jaden has a thing for Alexis yet?"

Alistair says: Jaden? LIKE people? The boy doesn't even know what a fiancé is. Whoever makes the decision to start dating that naïve kid will have a lot of tutoring to do. I personally haven't seen him express anything that resembles a crush toward anyone, unless you count his cards... which would make you a very strange person.

Poison's Ivy asks: "What does Alexis hide under her bed?"

Alistair says: Old family photo albums, a box of spare Duel Monster cards, a pair of bunny slippers, and a school picture of Jaden. Remember, you didn't hear that from me.

Jon asks: "Do you think Atticus is obsessed with his sister's love life because he is insecure about his?"

Alistair says: If he is, then there's about 100 or so girls in this Academy who would like to resolve that insecurity. If I had to take a guess, I would say Atticus is merely playing the "big brother" role. That is, taking advantage of every possible opportunity to thoroughly embarrass your sister. Where Alexis and I have been warring since the beginning of the school year, she and Atticus have been warring since they were kids.

Keep on sending your questions and Alistair will keep on answering them. On with the story!

---

CHAPTER 19 – THE FIRST TERM EXAM, PART 2

Chazz 3000 – Alistair 1400

Chazz shot me a baffled look when I announced that I was playing one of his cards. The card I had played rose onto the field, depicting Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl casting a spell together in unison.

"That's not one of my cards!" he sneered. "Get your facts right!"

"Not yet it's not," I replied with a smile. "But watch carefully!" I removed Polymerization from my hand and discarded it to my graveyard, and instantly the card I had just played changed, its image becoming that of Chazz's Level Modulation spell.

"What the- ? That's my card!" he shouted angrily.

"Yes, I know," I explained. "It's a card known as Double Spell. By discarding one spell card from my hand, I can give this card the ability of any spell that sits in your Graveyard! So do you mind if I borrow your Level Modulation? Go ahead, draw two cards."

Chazz glared at me irritably and plucked two cards off the top of his deck.

"Very good," I said grinning. "Meet Silent Magician Level Eight (3500 / 1000)!" An older version of my Silent Magician LV4 materialized onto the field, dressed in fancy white and aqua robes and topped off with a giant white hat. Chazz at first seemed unsettled at the tremendous attack power, but soon that look turned to one of relief knowing I was unable to attack with my Magician this turn.

"Whatever," he laughed. "I'll just blow it away next turn! I've got two monsters that can handle THAT job!"

"We'll see about that," I chuckled. "I'll play one face-down and end my turn." Chazz grinned and drew his next card.

"Alright, first things first!" he started, before I cut in.

"Indeed, first thing – I activate Rivalry of Warlords!" I immediately declared, flipping up the trap card I had set the previous turn. "Decision time, Princeton. You have two types of monsters on your side of the field, but as long as Rivalry of Warlords is in play, each of us can only control one type of monster at a time. I have my Spellcasters, so you have to choose. Your dragon, or your machine? Which will you keep, and which goes to the Graveyard?"

Chazz gritted his teeth angrily and mulled over the decision momentarily.

"Grrr… fine! I'll keep my XYZ-Dragon Cannon on the field!!" he reluctantly decided, triggering the destruction of his Level 10 Armed Dragon. "I'll just turn it into something better! First I play my Re-Fusion spell! By paying 800 Life Points, I can bring back my VW-Tiger Catapult!"

Chazz 2200 – Alistair 1400

As Chazz had explained, his Tiger Catapult was now back on the field, and since it was a Machine-type like XYZ-Dragon Cannon, the two were able to be on the field at the same time.

"Now meet the ultimate war machine!" Chazz shouted. "Tiger Catapult and Dragon Cannon! Fuse together to create the one and only V-to-Z Dragon Catapult Cannon (3000 / 2800)!!" The two massive machines went through yet another merger, the product this time being a 25-foot-tall bipedal titan comprised of the linked pieces of Chazz's five machine monsters.

"Now for its effect!" Chazz declared. "Every turn I can remove one of your cards from play! So kiss your Silent Magician goodbye!" My Silent Magician suddenly was caught in a vortex and disappeared entirely from the field, leaving only my Dark Magician of Chaos on my field for defense.

"Dragon Catapult Cannon, attack his Magician!!" he bellowed triumphantly. His mechanical monster aimed its two giant cannons and incinerated my Magician with a surge of energy, staking claim to another 200 of my Life Points.

Chazz 2200 – Alistair 1200

"Time for me to cut in," I announced. "I activate my Enchanted Javelin trap!"

My final face-down card opened, and Chazz narrowed his eyes irritably. I suppose, for once, someone around here actually knew what one of my cards did.

"Now I gain Life Points equal to the attack points of one monster on the field," I explained. "And since I don't have much of a choice, I'll gladly take 3000 points courtesy of your Dragon Catapult Cannon!"

Chazz 2200 – Alistair 4200

"Whatever," Chazz snorted. "You've got no cards in your hand and no monsters to protect you. It doesn't really matter what you draw, cause next turn I'm gonna mop the floor with you!"

I drew my next card, and my face instantly lit up.

"Would you like to place a bet on that, Chazz?" I asked, showing him the card I drew.

"You're KIDDING me!" he snarled angrily. I ignored his angry shouts and immediately placed the card onto my duel disk.

"I activate my Trusting the Deck spell card!" I declared, gladly paying the card's cost of 2500 Life Points and destroying my Rivalry of Warlords trap. "Now let's see what I can use against you."

Chazz 2200 – Alistair 1700

I fanned out my deck and selected the three cards I found most useful before replacing my deck into my duel disk. I smiled faintly as I played the first of the three cards.

"First I play Fusion Recovery!" I proclaimed, my Graveyard spitting out Polymerization and my Dark Magician. "Now with the materials I need in my hand, I'll play Polymerization to fuse Dark Magician and the Buster Blader I took from my deck in order to summon my Dark Paladin (2900 / 2400)!"

I felt a lot more comfortable with my only Fusion monster on the field, and potentially the most powerful monster in my deck. Chazz tapped his foot on the floor, waiting impatiently for his next turn.

"Now I activate my Dark Paladin's special ability!" I continued. "For every Dragon-type monster on the field or in our graveyard, my Paladin gains an extra 500 attack points! And with Armed Dragon Level 7 and Level 10 in your Graveyard, my Dark Paladin's attack power becomes 3900!" A smoky red aura began to flow over my Dark Paladin to Chazz's horror, amplifying its strength.

"Dark Paladin, attack! Dismantle that oversized pile of bolts!" I commanded. The Dark Paladin's weapon became engulfed in the fiery scarlet energy that enhanced its power, and came crashing down upon the Dragon Catapult Cannon, effectively blasting it to pieces and reducing Chazz to 1300 Life Points.

Chazz 1300 – Alistair 1700

I looked down at the final card I had selected with my Trusting the Deck spell, and slipped it into one of my magic and trap zones.

"I'll play my final card face-down and end my turn," I concluded, allowing Chazz to make his next draw.

"I activate my Reckless Greed spell card!" he announced. "It works like Pot of Greed, except after I draw two cards, I can't draw for two turns. But that's not a problem, because I've got a feeling that this'll be the LAST turn!" He snatched two cards off the top of his deck and continued.

"Alright, pay attention! Next I play Emergency Provisions!" he then shouted at me, his Frontline Base and Reckless Greed cards dissolving away. "By sending these two cards to the Graveyard, my I get a 2000-point boost to my Life Points!"

Chazz 3300 – Alistair 1700

"Next I play my Dimension Fusion spell!!" he declared with determination. "By paying the 2000 Life Points I just got back, we can both summon monsters that have been removed from play!"

Chazz 1300 – Alistair 1700

"Fine," I agreed. "Then I'll summon back my Dark Magician of Chaos (2800 / 2600)! And with it comes another spell card from my Graveyard!" The Dark Magician of Chaos rematerialized onto the field, and Graceful Charity reappeared in my hand.

"I don't care!" Chazz sneered back. "Because now I'm gonna reintroduce to you V-Tiger Jet (1600 / 1800), W-Wing Catapult (1300 / 1500), X-Head Cannon (1800 / 1500), Y-Dragon Head (1400 / 1500), and Z-Metal Tank (1500 / 1300)!!" Each of the five components of the Dragon Catapult Cannon materialized onto the field, filling every one of Chazz's monster zones.

"Now X-Head Cannon and Y-Dragon Head! Fuse together to create XY-Dragon Cannon (2200 / 1900)!!" he continued, linking together the two machines to create an even larger contraption. I still wasn't sure what he was up to, until he played the final card in his hand.

"Finally I play this!! LIMITER REMOVAL!" he bellowed gloriously. I blinked in surprise as a white glow enveloped all of his machines, sending their attack points rocketing upwards.

"Now the attack points of all my monsters are DOUBLED!" he stated proudly. I was now facing down a squadron of machines with attack ratings of 3200, 2600, 3000, and 4400.

"V-Tiger Jet! Attack his Dark Magician of Chaos now!!" he ordered, as the left-most unit barraged my Magician with a flurry of laser blasts, knocking my Life Points down to 1300.

Chazz 1300 – Alistair 1300

"Now XY-Dragon Cannon! Destroy his Dark Paladin!" Chazz continued, sending his biggest machine after my only remaining monster. The time to act was now or never.

"I activate my trap card!" I immediately shot back, flipping up the final card I had played. "Samsara Dogma!! It lets me change all monsters in our Graveyards to a type I declare! And I select Dragon-type!"

All of our monsters began sliding out of our Graveyards, and one by one, they transferred additional energy to my Dark Paladin, increasing his attack power to 8900.

"No way!!" Chazz shouted in shock, clenching his fists. "Grrrr… I activate my other Ring of Destruction!!"

His final face-down card was revealed, and conjured a ring of grenades around my Dark Paladin. The explosion engulfed the entire battlefield, leaving nothing behind in the smoky aftermath. No monsters, no trap cards, no Life Points.

Chazz 0000 – Alistair 0000

I stood there in disbelief, hearing absolute silence other than the appreciative clapping from the teachers that we seemed to have forgotten were watching the entire duel. I stared across the battlefield at Chazz, who was spread-eagled on the floor.

"…Well done," I remarked, sincerely impressed. Chazz merely grumbled and got to his feet.

"Yeah, whatever," he responded, stepping down from the duel ring. Sheppard informed us that we would be getting our results tomorrow morning, and that we were free to go. On the way out, I was called back by Crowler.

"Mr. Rhein, may I have a word?" he inquired. I backtracked to find out what he wanted.

"Yes, Professor?" I asked curiously.

"The staff is pleased to know you're still a top-notch duelist without using your two Envoy cards," he explained. "So I hope it's not too much of a hinderance for you to know that starting next turn they will be banned from use."

My eyes widened with terror.

"My Envoy cards are now… banned??" I choked out. "Since when?"

"Just a proposal that was submitted by Alexis Rhodes, which the staff approved," he explained snootily. "That's all, enjoy your winter break!"

Crowler then left me there, my blood boiling. My face felt like it was going to burst into flames at any moment, and I could almost hear the hissing of steam exiting my ears. I looked down at my deck and fanned it out, staring mournfully at my two Envoy cards.

It was fun and games no more. Alexis had crossed the line.