Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, I think.

Chapter 7: Embracing the Dark Side

Ayato coughed as the smoke filled his lungs, when it cleared, he looked around. He was no longer in the abandoned dorm, let alone Duel Academy Island. He was in some type of lair, the walls had Egyptian writings on them. He suddenly heard someone or something growl. He turned around to see the cloaked man. He jumped to his feet and glared at him."Give me back my deck."

CM returned his glare, opting not to answer Ayato. Ayato knew there wasn't much he could do against someone much stronger than him, but he was going to try anyway. He charged at CM with an upraised fist. He used his left fist to punch him, the punch connected, but the man didn't even flinch. CM brought a powerful right to Ayato's stomach, who instantly hit the floor. "It was foolish of you to come here, you have no hope of escape, and there is no way you will ever get your deck back, you are not worthy of it, you are weak, look at you grovel before me."

"That is enough Faux", a boy appeared from the shadows, he too wore a cloak and he looked to be a teenager, his eyes were an icy blue, he skin was a light brown, and his hair was as black as night and looked untamed.

Faux(CM) kneeled before him. "Master Exion, I am sorry for disturbing you." Exion looked at the man before him with sterness. He then averted his gaze to Ayato, who was now standing. Exion stared at him with much interest.

"Who are you?", he asked.

"I'm Ayato Mutou."

Exion cringed upon hearing the name. Exion looked back at the still kneeling Faux. "What is he doing here?"

Faux raised his head, and stared into the eyes of his master. He was afraid of what would happen to him, but he knew better not to disobey the boy.

"I took his deck from him."

Exion face grew with anger and Faux couldn't help but tremble under his gaze. "I told you to only test the skills of some of the students, the top students, did I not?"

"Yes master you did."

"Then what happened?", Exion asked the still trembling man.

"When I stole his deck, I fled to an abandoned dorm, I then declared that one of them would have to duel me, one of them challenged me, and it ended in a draw, I tried to make my escape but the boy followed me."

"And the person you dueled, what color jacket was this person wearing?"

"He was wearing a red one, sir."

Exion's eyes once again filled with anger. "You tied with a SLIFER RED, the lowest rank of them all, I should banish you to the eternal abyss that is the Shadow Realm."

"But Master, his skills were far above average."

Exion brought his attention back to Ayato. "Is what he say true?", Exion asked Ayato.

All Ayato could do was nod. Exion strecthed his hand towards Faux. "Hand me the deck."

Faux reached in his pocket and pulled out Ayato's deck and gave it to Exion. Exion went over every card and smirked. He then walked towards Ayato and handed him his deck, much to Faux's suprise. "If you can beat Faux in a duel, I will allow you to leave, if you can not I will banish your soul to the Shadow Realm for all eternity."

Ayato nodded his head, it was obvious this was the only way. As crazy as all this seemed. Faux stood up, he knew exactly what his master was planning, if he lost now, he was to be banished to the Shadow Realm, Exion was fixing to make Ayato his replacement, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

Ayato drew a card. "I play one monster card face down, then I activate the spell card Dian Keto the Cure Master to gain 1000 extra life points."

Ayato:5000/Faux:4000

"My turn, I summon Batteryman AA and end my turn." The weird looking monster appeared before the man.

Ayato drew a card. 'Perfect', he thought. "I put one card face down and end my turn."

Faux smirked when he saw the card he had just drawn, "I play Inferno Reckless Summon, this allows us to summon all the monsters that we have on the field of the same name and I choose my other two Batterymen, and when I have three on the file their attack points rise to 3000!"

"I activate the trap card Shadow Spell, this card decreases one of your Batteryman's attack points by 700, and not only that, but it can't attack or change its battle position." One of the Batterymen were immediately assaulted by chains.

Faux shrugged, "I still have two left, second Batteryman attack his face down card."

Ayato grinned, "Its Nobleman-Eater Bug, and when he's flipped face up I can destroy two monsters on your field, and I choose both of your Batterymen, leaving you with a useless one." "Now its my draw, I play Mystical Elf in defense mode, then I place one card face down."

Faux drew a card. "I play Force Raider, then I play Axe of Despair, raising his attack points to 2900."

"So predictable, I activate my trap card Spellbinding Circle, your monster can't attack or change its battle position, so now you have to useless monsters on your field." Faux grimaced as another of his monsters was rendered useless. Faux gritted his teeth, "You must be up to something."

Ayato smirked, "Your right, I play Soul Exchange, this is how it works, I select your Force Raider and offer him in place of my Mystical Elf in order to summon Dark Magician Girl(2000/1700), and I'll use her to destroy your Batteryman." With a twirl of her staff, the female magician unleashed a blast of energy that destroyed Faux's monster.

Ayato:5000/Faux:2000

"Thats pretty good, but its gonna go downhill from here, I play Card Destruction." Ayato tensed up, he knew exactly what Faux was planning. "Now I remove one light and dark monster from my graveyard to summon Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End, now my mighty beast, destroy his Dark Magician Girl!" The powerful dragon crushed Ayato's with ease.

Ayato:4000/Faux:2000

Ayato drew a card, he already had a new plan ready. "I play Monster Reborn, to bring back Dark Magician Girl, then I summon Giant Soldier of Stone in defense mode, and finally I play the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Several glowing swords dropped down on Ayato's field, protecting him.

Faux snorted, he had nothing in his hand that would be of any use, "I end my turn."

Ayato knew victory was around the corner, it would just take a few more turns. "I sacrifice Mystical Elf and Giant Soldier of Stone to summon the Dark Magician(2500/2100), and that will do for my turn."

Faux drew a card, hoping it would help. "I end my turn", he simply stated.

Aytao smirked, "I sacrifice my two Magicians in order to summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic(3200/2800), and I'll use his power to destroy your dragon." The new black garbed magician easily destroyed the weaker dragon.

Ayato:4000/Faux:1800

"And then I end my turn by placing two face down cards."

"My turn, I activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed, I discard one card in my hand in order to destroy your Sorcerer, then I play Lord of the Dragons(1200/1100), and I'll end my turn by placing one card face down." Ayato frowned as his powerful monster was now in his graveyard.

"Alright I play another Dian Keto to replenish my life points, then I play Gearfried the Iron Knight(1800/1600), then I play Release Restraint, with this card I can sacrifice my Iron Knight to summon Gearfried the Swordmaster(2600/2200), and then I'll attack your monster." A man with long flowing hair appeared before Ayato, blade at the ready.

Ayato:5000/Faux:1800

"I don't think so, I activate my trap Negate Attack." Faux then drew a card and smiled sinisterly. "I play Flute of Summoning Dragon, with this card I am allowed to summon two dragon type monsters to the field, and I choose Luster Dragon #2(2400/1400) and Horus the Black Flame Dragon (1600/1000), and finally I place one card face down." The two dragons appeared before Faux.

"Alright Gearfried attack his Lord of Dragons." Ayato ordered after drawing a card from his deck.

"No you don't, I activate my trap card Shift, when you declare an attack on one of my monsters I can choose a different monster as a target, and I chooes my Luster Dragon #2." The green dragon was cut asunder by Ayato's stronger monster.

Ayato:4000/Faux:1600

'Your defeat is undeniable Ayato, I play Level Up, this card raises my Dragon's level to 6(2300/1600), and then I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Fine, Gearfried destroy his dragon!"

"When will you ever learn Ayato, I activate one of my face downs, another Negate Attack. Now that you've wasted your turn, I play another Level Up, raising my Dragon up to level 8(3000/1800), then I play Emergency Provisions, I discard my two face down cards in order to gain 2000 life points."

Ayato:4000/Faux:3600

"Next I'll play Megamorph, when I have less life points than my opponent my monster's attack points are doubled, bringing it up to 6000, now my mighty dragon attack his Swordmaster!" Ayato's monster exploded into a million pixels.

Ayato:3400/Faux:3600

"And finally, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to get rid of my Megamorph." Faux's card was instantly ripped to shreds.

"I have to get rid of that dragon, I play Dark Hole." Ayato said after drawing another card from his deck.

"No you don't, my dragon's special ability can negate the activation of a spell card."

Ayato signaled to his face-down, "Oh yeah, I activate Zero Gravity, this card allows me to switch your Lord of Dragons to defense mode, next I'll activate my other face down, Dark Mirror Force, this card destroys all monsters in defense mode, then I place one card face down."

"Your completely defenseless, Flame Dragon attack his life points directly." Faux ordered after slipping a card from his deck.

Ayato:400/Faux:3600

"I activate my trap card Begone Knave, when I'm attacked dircetly the monster that attacked me goes back to your hand." Ayato responded.

"Fine I play Soul Resurresction, this card allows me to special summon a normal monster card in defense mode, and I choose Force Raider."

Ayato drew a card, and thats when Kuriboh appeared. "Hey Kuriboh, you came just in time to see me win." Ayato looked at Faux with a smirk. "I remove one light and dark monster from my graveyard to summon Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning(3000/2500), next I play the spell card Megamorph, doubling his attack points, now Luster Soldier attack his Raider." Ayato's monster cut Faux's in twain.

"And now I activate his special ability, when my Soldier destroys a monster, he can attack in a row, say good bye to the rest of your life points!"

Ayato:400/Faux:0

Faux couldn't believe it, he had lost, he turned to see his master smiling at him sinisterly. Exion walked toward Faux, he was going to enjoy this. Faux feel to his knees, awaiting the ultimate punishment. Exion pulled out the Millenuim Ring.

Ayato was surprised. 'I thought all the Millenium Items were sealed away, how is this possible.'

Exion smiled as his Millenuim Ring began to glow. "May your soul forever relish in the pain of eternal darkness."

Right before Ayato's eyes the man vanished and his screams dispersed. Exion brought his attention to Ayato.

"You said once I won you would let me go, I hope your not going back on your word." Ayato said.

Exion smirked at Ayato's boldness. He had no idea who he was speaking to. "I don't plan to go back on my word, I will send you back to your precious school, on one condition.

Ayato awoke in his bed. He sat up with a confused look on his face. 'Was it all a dream?' He looked over at his clock. 'Just my luck, I missed class.' He then caught sight of a red box, next to his digital clock. 'I don't remember ever having this", he thought.Ayato picked up the box and sat it on his lap. He opened it up and a bright light illuminated the entire room, blinding him.

Jaden sighed. It had been a couple of hours since Ayato had gone missing. Just then Syrus came rushing in. "Jaden, it's Ayato."

Jaden jumped up. "Ya sure?"

Syrus nodded.

"Well what are we waiting for, lets go."

Ayato grinned sinisterly as 4 Obelisk students fell before him. "Now, as I promise, I will banish you all to the Shadow Realm!"
Ayato took out the Millenium Puzzle.

Jaden and Syrus arrived on the scene just in time to see the students vanish. "Ayato, what's going on here?"

Ayato laughed. "Well what do we have here?"

Jaden looked at the item Ayato was holding in his hands. The Millenium Puzzle had strange dark energy pouring out of it. "Don't tell me your into that smoke and mirrors stuff now too.

Ayato laughed. "You are so clueless aren't you."

Just then Akari, Anna, and Alexis arrived on the scene. Ayato grinned. "So the gang's all here."