It was late at night at Duel Academy, and everything was quiet until a bright light flashed in the sky. Then, a meteor fell out of the sky and crashed into the volcano on the island.
?: Jaden, we need your help.
Jaden heard the voice and began walking towards the impact site. When he got there, he saw that the meteor had left a tunnel into the volcano. He went down it and found himself inside the volcano on a rock ledge over the lava.
?: It's nice to see you Jaden.
Jaden: Who are you?
The next morning, Chazz was walking away from the campus, and everyone was commenting about his wardrobe change.
Student 1: I heard he totally lost it.
Student 2: Yeah, who even wears white after Labor Day?
Student 3: Bet his next outfit will be a strait jacket.
Chazz: You know, I'm not afraid to get this outfit dirty. I've got three more.
Everyone turned and ran inside as Chazz walked off.
Chazz: They'll all be dressed in white soon enough. Of course they won't look as good as me.
Up in the chancellor's office, Bonaparte had just watched the scene unfold while Crowler was signing paperwork.
Bonaparte: I just had a brilliant idea.
Crowler: You're finally going to shave off that ridiculous mustache?
Bonaparte: No, I'm thinking of getting big pink ruffles and a ponytail. Oh wait, you already have that look covered. Now listen, with Jaden still missing and Chazz a few livers shy of a pate, this is the perfect time to dismantle their dorm.
Crowler: I remember shooting that idea down. If you want the school to improve, feel free to offer tutoring to the Slifers. Finally, that's the last document.
Bonaparte: Think again. You forgot these. You may not be willing to get rid of the red dorm, but I am.
Bonaparte left the room with a paper he had snuck in, a form that would allow him to tear down the Slifer dorm if one of the students lost a duel to someone of his choosing, and he had the perfect duelist in mind.
Aster: I'm going back to Duel Academy?
Sartorius: That's right. I've booked you for a last-minute match tonight. I think you'll find it's in your best interest.
Aster: Sorry, but after losing my Destiny Heroes, I just don't feel like dueling right now.
Sartorius: I thought you would say that, which is why I had these ready.
He pulled out a deck and handed it to Aster, who looked through it and saw his Destiny Hero cards.
Aster: But how? I gave my deck to Michael after he beat me.
Sartorius: You did. This deck is a replica I had constructed in case you lost.
Aster: I can't use these. I already desecrated my father's name using his cards as tools, I can't insult him more using counterfeits.
Sartorius: Aster, look at me.
Aster looked his manager in the face, but as he did, Sartorius' eyes glowed, and Aster's glazed over.
Sartorius: What do you have to say on the matter now?
Aster: I will duel, and my opponent shall see the light.
Sartorius: Glad you could see it my way. Your flight leaves at 10 pm sharp.
That night, Alexis, Hassleberry, and Chazz were standing in front of a sign that said if they lost the duel, the dorm would be torn down.
Alexis: How could they do this?
Hassleberry: Easily. When the enemy is in charge, the battle's in their favor, but we've gotta press on. The future of our platoon is in your hands private Lexi.
Chazz: Touching speech serge, but this fight is meaningless. Soon the whole school, no the whole world will be united in the Society of Light. But go ahead and save your little dorm.
Alexis: It's your dorm too.
Hassleberry: At ease ma'am. You've gotta prepare for combat.
Alexis: Right. I won't let Jaden down.
Hassleberry: I hope that wherever he is, he's alright.
A few hours passed and the two of them walked to the front of the school.
Alexis: Who schedules a duel at midnight?
Hassleberry: Someone who's up to no good.
Syrus: Alexis, is it true?
Alexis and Hassleberry turned around and saw their friends running up to them.
Alexis: You guys?
Lily: We just heard.
Bastion: They're really going to tear down the red dorm if you lose? But that's against regulations.
Bonaparte: Not when you have the chancellor's signature.
Alexis: Bonaparte.
Lily: What do you mean the chancellor's signature?
Bonaparte: Simple, Crowler signed this, which means if you lose, it's au revoir Red Dorm.
Syrus: I can't believe Crowler did that.
Bonaparte: Well, he may or may not have known what he was signing. After all, he had so much to sign, he just rushed right through it.
Hassleberry: You tricked him into signing it?
Alexis: That's a dirty trick.
Bonaparte: Hey, if Crowler doesn't pay attention, is that really my fault? In any case, you should be more worried about your opponent.
Alexis: Okay, so who is it?
Aster: Me.
Everyone: Aster Phoenix?
Aster: Long time no see. Let's get this over with.
They made their way into the arena and Alexis and Aster stood on opposing sides of the ring. Aster put his deck into his duel disk and Alexis could sense a powerful aura coming off of him.
Alexis: What's this pressure? I have a bad feeling about this. Let's do this.
Aster: Get your game on.
?: That's my line!
Syrus: That voice.
Hassleberry: Is it really?
Everyone turned to the arena entrance and saw a familiar person running towards them.
Alexis: Jaden! You're okay!
The two ran and embraced each other.
Alexis: I was so worried about you.
Jaden: I was worried about you too. I'm just sorry it took so long to keep my promise.
Hassleberry: Where ya been soldier?
Jaden: Michael's plan worked. I got transported to Neo Space and met new heroes who breathed new life into my deck.
Bastion: You don't say.
Syrus: So does that mean you can see your cards again?
Jaden: Yep. I got back to Duel Academy and since then I've been going around the island meeting up with other Neo-Spacians. When I met up with the last of them, I ran back to the dorm and saw the sign for the duel. Lex, let me take your place, please?
Alexis: Okay Jaden.
Jaden: Thanks Lex, I owe you one.
Alexis: Just be sure to win.
Lily: Go get him Jaden!
Hassleberry: We're all behind you!
Aster: Fine. No heroes on earth can stand up to my Destiny Heroes.
Jaden: Weren't you listening? My heroes are from space, not earth.
Syrus: Wait, I thought Michael took Aster's Destiny Heroes.
Bastion: So did I.
Jaden: Alright, let's duel Aster!
Aster: Fine.
Both: Let's go!
Aster: 4000 LP
Jaden: 4000 LP
Aster: I'll kick things off, and who better to start the hurt than my Diamond Dude?
Level 4/Dark/Warrior
ATK 1400/DEF 1600
Syrus: How does he still have his Destiny Heroes?
Hassleberry: Search me, but let's hope Jaden is better equipped to take them on this time.
Aster: Now I activate Diamond Dude's special ability. Once each turn, I can look at the top card of my deck, and if that card is a normal spell, it's sent to my graveyard and I can activate it on my next turn. The card is Graceful Charity, so it's sent to my graveyard. I'll end my turn there.
Jaden: My move, I draw! And this monster will certainly make a splash. I summon Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin in attack mode!
Level 3/Water/Warrior
ATK 600/DEF 800
Bastion: Jaden really did meet aliens!
Jaden: Next I play the spell Fake Hero! This will let me special summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, but it can't attack and returns to my hand at the end of the turn. So come on out, Bladedge!
Level 7/Earth/Warrior
ATK 2600/DEF 1800
Jaden: Now I activate Aqua Dolphin's special ability. By discarding a card, I get to peek at your hand and pick a monster card, and then if there's a monster on my field that has more attack points, your monster is destroyed, and you take 500 points of damage.
Aqua Dolphin emitted a barrage of sound waves at Aster's hand, revealing his Captain Tenacious.
Jaden: Since your monster only has 800 attack points, and Bladedge has 2600, he's automatically destroyed.
Aster: 3500 LP
Jaden: I'll throw down a face-down and call it a turn, which means Bladedge returns to my hand.
Aster: Lucky shot. I draw! And since Diamond Dude sent it to my graveyard last turn, I can activate Graceful Charity, letting me draw 3 cards as long as I discard two after. And now I play the field spell Mausoleum of the Emperor!
A thick mist covered the arena, and when it lifted, Jaden and Aster were standing on a bridge over a pit filled with stone statues.
Aster: See the statues underneath us? Well they're not just for show. We can sacrifice them instead of monsters to tribute summon, as long as we sacrifice 500 life points for every monster we'd need to sacrifice. Using that effect, I'll gave up 1000 life points to summon Destiny Hero Dreadmaster in attack mode!
Aster: 2500 LP
Dreadmaster
Level 8/Dark/Warrior
ATK & DEF ?
Aster: And since he was summoned, I can bring back up to two Destiny Heroes in my graveyard, so welcome back, Captain Tenacious and Doom Lord!
Captain
Level 3/Dark/Warrior
ATK & DEF 800
Doom Lord
Level 3/Dark/Warrior
ATK 600/DEF 800
Aster: Due to Dreadmaster's other effect, his attack and defense become equal to the total attack of my other Destiny Heroes.
Dreadmaster: ?-2800 ATK/DEF
Syrus: Three monsters at once?!
Bastion: If Jaden takes all of those attacks, he'll lose the duel!
Aster: Dreadmaster, turn flippers into fish sticks!
Jaden: Not so fast muscle head, I play Negate Attack! With this, your attack is cancelled and your battle phase is over.
Aster: I end my turn.
Hassleberry: That was too close.
Jaden: My turn, I draw! Thanks for playing this field spell Aster. After all, now I can sacrifice a couple of those statues to summon Neo Space's own hero.
Aster: What?
Jaden: Welcome to Duel Academy, Elemental Hero Neos!
Jaden: 3000 LP
Neos
Level 7/Light/Warrior
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
Aster: I've never seen that monster before.
Jaden: Neos can use the breath of the cosmos to contact Neo-Spacians. He's a unique, miraculous hero!
Aster: What are you even talking about?
Jaden: Let me show you Neos' true power. I join Neos and Aqua Dolphin with contact fusion! Come forth, Elemental Hero Aqua Neos!
Level 7/Water/Warrior
ATK 2500/DEF 2000
Alexis: This is Jaden's new deck?
Syrus: I gotta admit, it's pretty cool.
Jaden: I activate Aqua Neos' special ability. By discarding one card from my hand, two random cards in your hand are destroyed.
Aqua Dolphin fired beams of light from his eyes, hitting the center cards in Aster's hand and causing them to vanish.
Jaden: And now I play the spell H - Heated Heart, which will power up Aqua Neos by 500 points this turn.
Neos: 2500-3000 ATK
Jaden: Now Aqua Neos, destroy Dreadmaster with Rapid Storm!
Aqua Neos created a ball of water in his hands before launching it as a stream at Dreadmaster, destroying him.
Aster: 2300 LP
Alexis: Way to go Jaden!
Lily: He got rid of Dreadmaster!
Aster: My Dreadmaster was beaten? I won't acknowledge that any heroes are better than mine!
Jaden: Like it or not, they just kicked your monster's butt. I end my turn.
As soon as Jaden finished his sentence, Aqua Neos glowed and returned to Jaden's deck.
Syrus: What just happened?
Hassleberry: It looked like he went back to Jaden's deck, but why would he do that?
Jaden: Why'd you leave? We're kinda in the middle of something here!
Bastion: It looks like Jaden hasn't learned everything about his new deck.
Syrus: And with Neos gone, Jaden is wide open.
Aster: My turn. Jaden, if you think you can overcome your destiny to lose, then go ahead and try. But first, I'll have all three of my monsters wage a direct attack on you.
All of his monsters rushed Jaden, knocking him to the floor.
Jaden: 200 LP
Alexis: Jaden!
Lily: He's only got 200 life points left. If he can't turn things around next turn, he'll lose!
Aster: My victory is practically assured.
Jaden: Sorry Aster, but I'm nowhere near done yet. I haven't even started to show you what my new deck can really do.
To be continued...