A/N: OK so, here's the final chapter for this story. A few important notes before we start; first off, I know the ending is extremely rushed and such and I'm very sorry for that. Also, I'm sorry this story wasn't one of my best, perhaps even my worst and again if it wasn't what you wanted/expected. I know the ending is really bogus and whatever as well, and really far-fetched and etc, yes I realize that. And lastly, I know the following duel cards are totally out of whack, and that the last one Jodi plays is way bogus and they would never have it as a duel monsters card, but lets just chalk it up to being a bad fan fic and forget about it OK? '^_^ lol...
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh GX or any of the characters.
Six eyes watched the duel from way above, studying the scene below them intensely. For days they had been doing this. Jodi, Jim and Jesse had watched and paid attention to Aiden each and every time he dueled.
Ever since his arrival, the boy had managed to gain a great amount of popularity and a large number of fans and admirers.
To the blonde's dismay and frustration however, Jodi and her friends had taken great care to show him how very little he bothered them and just how little they thought of him and his childish antics. Thanks to her friends, Jodi had managed to snub Aiden off each and every time he tried to bait her, hurt her or embarrass her; and each time she felt better and her confidence grew. This seemed to be getting under Aiden's skin greatly, but no matter how hard he tried, he never could seem to be able to break the girl down and could rapidly feel his control over her slipping away.
Soon enough, like usual, the duel ended quickly with Aiden being the victor. Turning away form the scene, the three friends left.
"That one was quicker then usual." Jesse said thoughtfully. Jodi nodded solemnly.
"It doesn't matter." Jim said firmly. "No one is invincible and we'll find his weakness yet."
Jodi sighed heavily.
"Yea, maybe. But I don't have forever. I need to find a way to beat him asap. If I can't figure it out after his next duel, then I'm gonna have to wing it. I've gotta get it out of my system and put an end to this once and for all."
Jim and Jesse exchanged looks but said nothing as they walked with Jodi back to the dorms.
"What's this? A letter?"
"That's right sir, it's very important. You can read it if you like, but it has to get through and you're the only one who can help us."
Crowler looked over the envelope in his hands for a few moments, then opened it and scanned the contents inside. Something flickered in his eyes but was gone almost as quick as it had come. When he was finished, he folded the paper again and gently placed it back in it's envelope. He looked up at the students before him and eyed them curiously.
"Why ask me to do this for you? Why not ask the Chancellor?"
"Because he wouldn't send it." Jesse said seriously. "He'd tell us it's not important enough and that we should handle our own problems. But we've done all we could and we need a little help."
"Please Vice Chancellor." Jim pleaded with a serious face. "You're the only one who can help us, we can't do this on our own, we don't have the authority. Besides, can't you see that it's for a good cause?"
Crowler looked over the boys, then looked at Alexis and Chazz who were also in the room. The four were model students and there was no reason not to trust or believe them. Besides, what harm could a letter do?
The blonde man sniffed importantly and straightened to his full height as he looked down his nose at the students.
"Yes, well, I suppose I do have the ability don't I? Well, I'll see what I can do."
The four smiled and thanked the professor.
"Thank you sir!" Jesse said enthusiastically.
"You won't regret this Professor." Jim said with a smile.
Crowler nodded and watched his students leave the office. He smiled when they were gone and looked down at the letter in his hands. In truth, he was more then happy to help and he had every intention to. But they didn't need to know that; couldn't have his students thinking he was going soft could he?
"You, want me, to duel you?"
Jodi narrowed her eyes at the blonde before her.
"That's what I said. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so hard of hearing Aiden."
Aiden's lips turned up in a smirk that kept growing until he began to chuckle, which eventually turned into a full-out laugh.
"You've got to be kidding me!" He spat through his snickers. "This is going to the the most fun I've ever had! You're on Abbott!"
Jodi straightened and relaxed her tensed body.
"Saturday, ten o'clock pm down by the pier."
Aiden smirked and opened his mouth, but a voice stopped him.
"Make that Saturday morning, in the Obelisk arena."
Both Jody and Aiden turned to see Jesse and Jim standing with smirks. Jesse's arms were crossed with a triumphant look on his face and Jim was leaning against the wall with the same look.
"Saturday?" Jodi questioned dumbly. "Why Saturday?"
"Just trust us mate." Jim said with a smile. Jodi nodded.
"I'm fine with Saturday." She replied, looking then at Aiden questioningly. The blonde smirked.
"Whenever, where ever, makes no difference to me. Later losers."
As he walked away, the three teens could hear the boy talking and laughing to himself confidently about his definite win.
When Aiden was long gone, Jodi turned to her two best friends with a look of curiosity.
"Why the change?" She asked. Both boys smiled.
"Do you trust us?" Jesse asked.
"Of course."
"And do you think you can beat him?" Jim added.
Jodi considered the question for a moment before smiling confidently.
"No, I know I can."
Jesse beamed.
"Then there's nothin' to worry about! You'll catch on when the time comes."
Jodi studied the two boys for a few moments before finally nodding.
"Alright, I trust you."
Saturday morning found Jodi standing atop the Obelisk dueling platform, fiddling with her duel disk nervously. The only people in attendance were Jodi, her friends, and Aiden. Under special request and through granted permission, the group was allowed to utilize the arena alone. No teachers were present and no one would enter the arena until the duel was over. Who ever was inside the arena when the duel began would be there until the end.
"You ready to be humiliated Rosy Nose?" Aiden hissed threateningly. Jodi refused to take the bait and instead smirked confidently.
"Not this time Aiden. You've pushed me, bruised me, broken me and scarred me for way to long; and I let you do it. But I've had enough. Today I'm gonna show you Aiden that fear has it's disadvantages. If you scare something into being terrified of you, then you're only giving it the opportunity and reason to hate you. And with hate comes revenge. Fortunately I'm not that kind of person, but I am strong enough to defend myself. You're cold, and cruel and heartless, and the fact that I have feeling and reason and resentment towards you, if nothing, else, then that shows that I'm a better person then you. And I'm going to prove that."
Proving his arrogance yet again, Aiden yawned as a bored look crossed his face.
"I thought we came here to duel. What's with all the gibberish?"
"What an arrogant brat!" Alexis spat angrily. Jodi, however, simply smirked.
"You want a duel Aiden? Fine, you got one! Draw!"
Jodi and Aiden both drew cards and Jodi looked down at her own with a smile.
"I think I'll let you have a head start, since I'm such a sweet person."
Aiden smirked.
"Fine. But before we start, I say we up the stakes a bit. If I win, you owe me your best five cards. If you win, I tell my parents not to have yours fired after all."
Jodi gasped as her eyes widened in shock and horror.
"Wh-what?!" She stuttered. "You-you... they can't do that!"
"Actually, they can. When Kaiba allowed them to take me on a tour of the facility, I saw your parents stealing Kaiba corps merchandise. If they told Kaiba that, your parents would be out of there before they can say money."
"But they would never do anything like that! .. And they weren't anywhere near you when you were on that tour!!"
Aiden's obnoxious smirk widened.
"Sure I do, but Kaiba doesn't know that. And my parents believe anything I say. So why wouldn't Kaiba believe some of his most loyal and best employees and their innocent son over two grubby old poor workers. They're poor after all, you can't put anything past a poor person."
Jodi growled angrily and her fists trembled with rage.
"They're not poor anymore! And Uncle would never believe something like that!!"
Nearby, Jim and Jesse frowned.
"Don't let him get in your head Jo!" Jesse yelled out to her.
"He's only saying that to break you and ruin your concentration." Jim added. "You can do this Jo! I believe in you!"
Jodi looked at the two boys and her eyes locked with Jim's. After a few moments, and a warm, encouraging smile from Jim, Jodi smiled brightly and turned back to Aiden with a new determination.
"They're right! I won't let you get in my head Aiden. Make your move!"
Unfazed, the blonde's smirk didn't fade as he laid down a card.
"I play Gifted Sooth Sayer in attack mode. Next I play the spell card; Psychic Wave. This card allows me protection from any monster type besides psychic and prevents it from being destroyed by any such monster. I place a card face down and end my turn."
The spectators frowned worriedly and looked up at Jodi. But, undeterred, the girl simply looked at her cards and played.
"I play the field spell card Savage Garden. This boots the attack of any dark or fiend-type monsters on the field. I'll then play The Clinically Insane and equip him with Release Papers. This breaks his attack point limit, raising his attack points to twenty-three hundred. I place two cards face down and end my turn."
Aiden starred at the monster on the opposite side of the field and swallowed hard. He then looked around at the field spell card surrounding them. The image was one of a darkened, overgrown weed garden with creepy black mist hanging in the air. Strange figures and shapes loomed through the mist creating an almost terrifying atmosphere. The blonde forced a smile and looked back at Jodi.
"Your little tricks won't work on me! You can play all the spell and magic cards you want but it won't make a difference! You still can't attack me because you don't have any psychic monsters!"
Jodi smiled.
"For now." She said calmly. Unnerved by the look in her eye, Aiden couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down his spin and turned instead to his cards.
"I play the monster Dirty General in attack mode. If his attack points are less then all other monsters on the field, every other monster I have gets to attack you directly. So, Gifted Sooth Sayer, attack her monster!"
Jodi smiled as she flipped over her card.
"Nice try, but not good enough. I reveal my face-down card Evil Intentions. This card takes any attack directed at me and reflects it back to you, doubled."
Aiden's eyes widened as his own attack turned and was sent back at him, knocking his life points down to twenty-five hundred. Jodi spoke again.
"Because this card is so powerful, I have to sacrifice five cards at random from my deck. But that's OK, I think I can still manage."
Aiden starred at Jodi, feeling at last that he had bitten off more then he could chew.
"I switch my monsters to defense mode and end my turn." The blonde said with a shaky voice.
Jodi drew a card.
"I sacrifice my Clinically Insane in order to bring out Mistress Of The Art Of Death. When Clinically Insane is sent to the graveyard like this, as a sort of 'last revenge', I get to possess one of your monsters for one turn. Nice special ability huh?"
Aiden's face paled as his Gifted Sooth Sayer went to Jodi's side of the field.
"Now then, since I now have a new recruit, one able to attack you, I don't see why I should wait any longer. Sooth Sayer, attack you former ally."
The monster attacked and destroyed Aiden's Dirty General.
"Now then, you don't seem to have any monsters left, so my Mistress can attack you directly."
Again Aiden was attacked, lowering his life points to a mere eight hundred.
"And last, but not least, I sacrifice eight hundred life points -- the exact amount you have -- so I can activate my spell card Unholy Contract. If I have more life points then you when I play this card, I can sacrifice as many as you have to take yours away."
Aiden's eyes widened in horror as his life points dropped to zero and the images around them all faded.
"No... No! How can I loose to you!" The blonde wailed, dropping to his knees and cradling his head in his hands. After a few more angry words and sputtering, he looked back up at Jodi again with a heated glare.
"It's not fair! If it wasn't for the Kaiba's, you wouldn't even have that deck! It's unbeatable! You didn't even earn it!"
Ignoring the spiteful words, Jodi removed her duel disk from her arm and placed her deck in the case strapped to her thigh.
"Actually," She said calmly. "The only cards Uncle gave me from this deck were a few low-level monsters and half a dozen or so minor support cards. The rest I had to obtain and earn on my own. And this deck isn't unbeatable, a nice few people have beaten me."
Jodi walked up to the blonde, who was still glaring at her heavily, and extended her hand to him. With a growl, the boy smacked the offered help away before standing on his own.
"I don't need your help! Don't think because you beat me that this is over! It'll never be over! Never!"
"Oh, I think this is more then over."
Everyone turned towards the new voice and save for Jesse, Jim, Chazz and Alexis, they all gasped in shock. Standing close by, looking very serious with crossed arms and a stern look, was Seto Kaiba himself, accompanied by another handsome man with long black hair gathered together at the nape of his neck in a low pony tail.
"Any duelist who has to resort to bribes and threats to win a duel is not worthy of my academy."
Aiden looked like he was going to have a heart-attack.
"You're expelling me for a few words?!"
Seto glared at the boy.
"Of course not. I-"
But Jodi's happy exclamation at finally noticing Seto's companion interrupted the brunette's sentence.
"Uncle!"
She ran up to the man and threw her arms around him, making the handsome man smile as he hugged her back.
"I thought you said he was your God-Father?" Jesse questioned in confusion. "Just a friend of the families."
Jodi laughed and released her hold on the man to look over at the questioning faces starring at them.
"He is. But I call him uncle. It's shorter and easier to say."
Looking back up at Mokuba, Jodi smiled wide.
"Did you see me duel Uncle? Did you see my cards? I told you I'd get them all! Well, almost, I only need Chaos Crystal.... But I'm nearly there!"
Mokuba laughed lightly and ruffled her hair playfully.
"Yes, I saw. You did really well, I'm proud of you."
Jodi grinned at him, then frowned deeply.
"You heard the stakes right? You wouldn't really fire mom and dad would you? You know they didn't steal anything, they would never do anything like that! You know that don't you?"
Mokuba smiled at the despairing look on his charge's face and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry Jo-chan, I know all about it."
"Speaking of which." Seto said loudly, a little ruffled at being interrupted. He looked over at Aiden again; who by now had turned ashen-faced. "Every single card you used is a limited edition rare card and was stolen about the same time you toured the facility. You couldn't possibly have gotten your hands on them other then to buy them and I know for a fact that you would never be able to afford a single one in a million years. Also, they weren't yet released on the date upon which you acquired them."
Seto Kaiba narrowed his eyes at the boy.
"You are to return each and every card you ever stole from me and any one you might have acquired before you were supposed to or could have possibly done legally."
Aiden looked ready to faint.
"But that's nearly my entire deck!" The blonde screeched, his voice an octave higher then normal.
"Tough." Seto seethed. "Maybe next time you'll know better then to steal from me. When you've given back all the cards, I want you out of my school by this time tomorrow."
Aiden wailed helplessly but no one could justify feeling sorry for him, not when it was his own fault.
Seto turned to leave but his brother's voice stopped him.
"Seto." The younger man said suggestively. Seto stopped and looked over his shoulder with a bored look.
"Don't you have something for Jodi?"
Seto sighed with great annoyance, then turned back around and walked up to the small group. He pulled a small case from the inside of his coat and handed it to her.
"What's this?" The girl asked in confusion. Mokuba smiled.
"Take it. You've earned it."
Jodi accepted the case and opened it carefully. She gasped loudly as she saw that it was the last card she needed to complete her deck, the Chaos Crystal card. Looking up at the brunette man, she smiled gratefully.
"Thank you Seto." She said softly.
Seto nodded and turned around again with a swish of his coat, finally walking away from the group. When he was so far away, the brunette looked over his shoulder.
"Good job with the duel by the way."
Opening the doors, sunlight streamed into the building as Seto finally disappeared.
Everyone starred out through the open doors and watched Seto disappear into a helicopter.
"Good job?" Jesse repeated in disbelief. "You took him out in just a few turns and all he can say is 'good job'?!"
Jodi and Mokuba both laughed.
"Are you kidding?" Jodi said through her laughter. "From Seto, that's like 'Hey, you were awesome in there! I'm really proud of you, keep up the good work!' and then some!"
Jesse blinked at her then laughed.
"Oh, well in that case... you must have been good!"
Everyone laughed and Mokuba turned to look at Jodi.
"I really am proud of you. You did an awesome job in your duel and you really earned that card. I'll see ya later kiddo."
With one last hug and ruffle of the hair, Mokuba left and disappeared into the helicopter too. The group of friends ran out into the sunlight and shaded their eyes as they watched the chopper lift off and finally disappear into the distance.
"Well, that takes care of that!" Jesse said with a grin. "Let's go get some breakfast, I'm starving!"
Everyone, save Jodi and Jim, cheered loudly and took off for the cafeteria. The two left behind watched them go, then looked at each other and laughed. Looking at Jim, Jodi gave him a warm smile.
"It was you wasn't it?" She asked gently. Jim returned her smile.
"Actually, both Jesse and I came up with the idea. We took Alexis and Chazz with us to see Crowler because we knew he favored them and might help our chances; that was Jesse's idea. We sent a letter to Kaiba and your Uncle through Crowler asking for them to come and told them what had happened and what was going on; that was my idea. Lucky for us, they showed up at our doors this morning."
Jodi beamed at the Australian bred boy and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, causing him to smile brightly and hug the girl back.
"Thank you so much Jim, you've done so much for me already. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
Jim smiled down at Jodi when they pulled away.
"That's the beauty of friendship mate, you don't have to pay me back. That's just the kinda thing friends do."
Jodi couldn't help herself; without really thinking, she stretched up on her tip-toes and pressed a quick, sweet kiss to Jim's lips.
Jim's eyes widened in shock, but when the girl moved to pull away, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Jodi sighed as she sank back down on her feet and allowed Jim to follow her. He held her tight and kissed her long and hard, making her melt into his arms.
When the two finally pulled away, Jodi gave Jim a playful smile.
"What happened to our friendship?" She teased, making the boy laugh. "Friends don't kiss friends."
Jim laughed.
"I said I didn't know how I felt about you and I wanted to get to know you. Besides, it takes two; you started it."
Jodi laughed, making Jim laugh again too.
"Guess we can still be friends but.... be something more too?"
Jim smiled and wrapped an arm around Jodi's shoulder, pulling her close to him as he lead her in the direction everyone else had gone.
"Sounds good mate, I say we give 'er a try."
