This is chapter 2! Aster vs. Zane in a battle of the titans. A OneShot to anyone who can figure out which character the Aster X Hoshi X ??? love triangle is going to come in! ^^ Oh, and I skipped a few, just don't kill me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX! (I wish I did...)

Another Disclaimer: I don't own any characters except Hoshi. I don't own any cards used!

Chapter 2

Over the next few days, Aster was nowhere to be found. Chazz Princeton managed an impressive defeat against the top freshman, Syrus Truesdale trashed a snotty Obelisk and her bugs, and Alexis and I were crashing in the Slifer Dorm with Chazz.

One more piece of news: Zane Truesdale was heading against Aster Phoenix in a head-to-head match.

Aster's P.o.V.

"Welcome back. I trust your evening was fruitful," Sartorius greeted.

"You could say that," Aster smirked. "So, what's up?"

"I wish you'd spend less time on your…juvenile games and more time preparing for your duels!" he scolded. "You're on the heels of the greatest challenge in your life."

Aster scoffed, "Please. You know I'll win!"

"Yes, the cards do predict victory… However Zane is only one step to your true destiny…"

"Any chance you're gonna tell me what my 'Destiny' might be?" Aster retorted.

"No." Aster rolled his eyes. 'I knew it!' "But you will find out in due time. And until then, you must put your complete faith in me."

"What about Jaden?" he demanded. "I threw that match for you! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?! I've got my career to think about, ya know! It's bad enough you had me enroll in that lame school, but insisting I lose to that Jaden kid?!"

"It was the only way to test him," Sartorius answered simply. "He has more ability than you know."

"But he's not even a pro!" Aster protested.

"Often times the greatest power can be found in the most unlikely of places. Now then, after your match with Zane, you will return to Duel Academy, where you will challenge Jaden Yuki to another duel."

"Alright, but do I get to win this time?" Aster asked.

"Of course. But first things first; your public awaits," Sartorius pointed out.

"Yeah, good point. I've got a big night ahead. After all, it's the night I reveal my new deck," Aster agreed.

Hoshi's P.o.V.

"Hey Jaden, Bastion!" I called down to them. The Slifer and the Ra looked up to where I was and waved.

"Hoshi!" Alexis yelled. "Jaden, Bastion! Let's go, the match is going to start soon!"

"Right!" we all replied.

"So, what's this Zane guy like?" I asked as we all sat with Syrus and Chazz.

Chazz answered, "Zane was the best duelist in the Academy. He just graduated last year after tying with Jaden during the Graduation Match."

"Wow, he's that good?"

"Haven't you faced him?" Alexis asked.

"Nope. I left the Pros this summer. Only for a short while, Jaden; I wouldn't leave my dream for good!" I exclaimed after Jaden opened his mouth to ask why I left the Pro Leagues.

The screen lit up with 'ASTER PHOENIX VS ZANE TRUESDALE'. The classroom filled with chatter.

"Even though I've never met Zane, I hope he trashes that ego-maniac's record down the drain!" I said bitterly, staring away from the screen.

"Aren't you gonna watch, Hoshi?" Jaden asked.

"Heh, nope! I can't stand seeing Phoenix's face. Honestly, I hate him."

"Oh."

"I can't believe Crowler sprung for cable!" Alexis said.

"Well, I would too if it meant being able to see one of my star students…" I muttered.

"GOOD EVENING DUELING FANS! WE ARE COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM THE KAIBA DOME!"

"THAT'S RIGHT GENE, AND THIS CAPACITY CROWD IS SPLIT RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE! IT'S THE ZANIACS VERSUS THE ASTER PHOENATICS!"

"AND THE GAME IS UNDERWAY!"

A blue flame sprouted from the ground and then dispersed, letting the crowd see Zane Truesdale standing with his arms crossed and a look that said, 'I'm going to win, there's no competition!' A bunch of fangirls off to the side were yelling "I LOVE YOU ZANE!" and "MARRY ME ZANE!"

"What does he got that I haven't got?!" Chazz demanded angrily.

"A career, a personality… oh! And a good looking little brother!" Syrus offered, grinning sheepishly.

Another flame jet shot out of the ground and Aster Phoenix rose on a platform. His serious look said that he wasn't holding back.

"I think he's gonna reveal his new deck!" I exclaimed.

"How do you know?" Alexis asked.

"That look," I replied. "He only comes out with that look when he has a surprise in store for his opponent. I should know. I had to earn back my 25 matches. I had 29 matches won, but stupid Phoenix had to beat me."

Aster's fans were yelling, "YOU'RE SO HOT!" and "MARRY ME ASTER!" I dropped my head onto the desk and groaned loudly.

Chazz hugged his knees to his chest in disappointment. "Looks like Zane isn't the only lady-killer!" Hassleberry pointed out.

"TONIGHT'S BIG MYSTERY; WHAT'S IN ASTER'S DECK?"

"LOOKS LIKE WE'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT, GENE!"

"I've heard a lot about you. 30 professional duels and not a single defeat? That's not too shabby for a little kid," Zane remarked smugly.

"He'd better watch it. I'm the same age as Aster Phoenix and I won 29! Hmph, and he's got all these fans. Screw both of 'em," I muttered angrily, pulling out some popcorn.

"Uh, Hoshi? Popcorn?" Chazz asked.

"What? I wanted to have some while watching the enjoyable defeat of Aster Phoenix!" I retorted.

"You're too kind. Thanks Gramps!" Aster replied. Zane growled and I had to hold back a laugh at his face.

"Bring it on!" they both yelled.

|ROUND 1|

Aster Phoenix – 4000 | Zane Truesdale – 4000

Aster drew and summoned… Avian? What was that about?

"Dude, Jaden, I think Aster just cheated off your deck! He dueled you and as I remember, just seeing one monster gives him the ability to copy your deck! He got me as well…" I added bitterly.

"You mean his Dark Magic Deck?" I nodded.

"No way! A deck of Heroes?" Zane asked.

"Exactly! Just like your old Academy chum, Jaden! Like my surprise?" Aster smirked.

"Come on bro! That's not cool! Show some originality!" Jaden complained.

"And next I'll throw down a couple of face-downs and end my turn," Aster said.

"SOLID OPENING MOVE BY ASTER PHOENIX."

"I HAVE TO AGREE GENE! PLUS, A SNEEK PEEK INTO THAT NEW MYSTERY DECK OF HIS!"

'Oh God, shut up!' I groaned internally.

Zane smirked as well. "Check it out! He's smiling…" Syrus exclaimed.

"Wouldn't you be? Zane has the advantage. Remember, he's already dueled against Jaden's deck," Bastion pointed out.

"And he already knows how to defeat it," Lex added.

"IF, and only IF, it's JUST like Jaden's," I said. Lex, Chazz, and Bastion all nodded in agreement.

"Hey Aster, check this out! I play Cyber Dragon in attack mode!" A giant silver dragon appeared behind Zane. "I'm allowed to summon him when all monsters in play are on your side. A little trick I picked up at the Academy. Alright Cyber Dragon, attack with Strident Blast!" The dragon roared and breathed a beam of light and aimed it towards Avian.

"You just triggered my Draining Stream trap card!" The light was deflected and Aster continued. "Isn't that special? But not only did it block your dragon's attack, it raises my Life Points by the amount of this attack points."

"Nice move. But here's a better one! It's a spell card! And it's called Trap Booster! So that means, after I ditch a card, I can play a trap card from my hand." Zane let one of his cards go to the Graveyard. "I choose Trap Jammer! And it cancels out your trap card, junior!"

"That's your move? C'mon Zaney, you realize…a card like that…is a dime a dozen!" Aster activated his own Trap Jammer. "I have my own Trap Jammer! And it cancels out all your hard work."

Aster Phoenix – 6100 | Zane Truesdale – 4000

"What an even match!" Bastion exclaimed.

"They're neck and neck! Now this is what I call combat!" Hassleberry agreed.

'Pfft, this isn't even close. They haven't seen what Aster can do."

"Excuse me for just a few minutes…" I said, getting up and walking out. I walked to the rooftop and looked off the to, staring out into the forest and letting the wind blow my short chestnut hair.

Flashback

"AND THAT'S IF FOLKS! ASTER PHOENIX HAS BEATEN THE CURRENTLY UNDEFEATED HOSHI HANAKO RHODES!"

I groaned and pulled myself up into a sitting position. Rubbing the back of my head, I looked up when I saw an outstretched hand.

"Need a hand?" Aster asked teasingly. I ignored him and pushed myself off the ground.

"Good match, Phoenix. We'll face again one day, but the outcome will be so much different," I vowed.

"Heh, you wish." The two of us shook hands and when we let go, I felt something in mine. We left the stage and in the lounge I opened my hand. It was a slip of paper, folded into a tiny square.

I opened it and saw that there was something written on the small sheet.

'Ms. Rhodes, I request that you meet me out front. I hope that you don't take this loss seriously. Thank you for the great duel. –Aster Phoenix'

I smiled and ran outside. Sure enough, Mr. Phoenix was there, hand in his pocket.

"So, you decided to come." I nodded. "Great! Would you like to come for a ride?" he offered.

"O-Oh… Uh, thanks…Aster. That would be great!" I agreed. He opened the limo door and I slipped in, him coming after me.

"Hoshi, so you've been a Pro since you were 10?" Aster asked, handing me a water bottle.

"Yeah, oh, thanks. I was discovered by Mr. Wheeler when I was nine. He trained me to be the best duelist that he could make me. You've joined when you turned 13, right?"

"Yeah, after my dad died, the D took care of me. I just want to find out what happened to his card."

"Card? What card?" I asked.

"One he made and hid before he died," Aster replied.

"Wow, I hope you find it…Aster."

Scene Change

I ran up to Aster to meet up with him before the big match. It was the finals of that year's Junior Championship (20 and under).

That day, everything changed.

End Flashback

I returned to the room to hear Syrus ask, "Elemental who? But Aster fused Avian and Burstinitrix! Uh, hello? Where's good old Flame Wingman?"

"Somebody tell him," Chazz sighed.

"Tell me what?" Sy asked bluntly.

"It's simple Syrus; whenever you fuse Elemental Heroes, you have a choice of what high-level monster they combine to create," Bastion said while Chazz nodded.

"That's right, and each monster has different powers!" Alexis added.

"Oh, so when Jaden fuses those two heroes, he can decide to form Flame Wingman or Phoenix Enforcer!" Sy summarized.

"Wait, I can? Wow, who knew?" Jaden asked sheepishly.

"Wow, you're dumber than I thought! And that's saying a lot," Chazz snapped.

Jaden ignored him and continued, "What do you know? My deck has a new trick! Why didn't anyone tell me about this before?"

"How did this spazz ever beat me?!" Chazz cried.

"Easy, he may not be knowledgeable, but Jaden's pretty skilled!" I exclaimed.

"That was a rhetorical question!" Chazz huffed.

The round continued with Aster destroying Cyber Dragon. Zane used his Power Bond spell card and formed his Cyber Twin Dragon. With 5600 attack, Zane looked sure to win. Aster's Life Points went down to 2600, but Zane wasn't finished. His dragon was able to attack again.

"Just like I thought! Aster's gonna lose!" Chazz exclaimed smugly.

With the second attack from Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon, Aster's points decreased to 0. Or so I thought.

Aster had actually activated his trap, Elemental Recharge, which raised his points by 1000. Power Bond's price took a large chunk, 2800 points, to be exact, out of Zane's Life Points.

Aster then had the nerve to toy with Zane's dragon using his Sparkman and Spark Blaster. The crowd actually started laughing at Zane!

The gang was really shocked at how fast Aster made Zane look bad. Could I blame them? I thought Zane had more bite to him…

"I play Polymerization! I'll fuse Sparkman with Phoenix Enforcer to create… Shining Phoenix Enforcer!" With 2500 attack and a secret special ability, Zane was in deep trouble.

Zane's Twin Dragon went 'good-bye' after a fatal hit from Aster's Shining Phoenix Enforcer. Fortunately for Zane, his Dragon was in defense mode.

"I play Polymerization! Then, I'll play Cybernetic Fusion!" Zane removed all three of his Cyber Dragons to play his ultimate weapon – Cyber End Dragon.

"Talk about a sweet comeback!" Jaden said, amazed.

"Nice! He just bought himself a victory!" Bastion exclaimed.

However, Cyber End Dragon's 4000 attack points were no match for Aster and his trap, Destruction of Destiny, which allowed Aster to toss five cards, four of which were heroes. Add that to the four he already had, multiply that by 300, and add it to 2500, and that's the amount of attack strength that Shining Phoenix Enforcer had. If you're too lazy, that's 4900. Enough to take out Cyber End and Zane's Life Points all in one shot.

"UNBELIEVABLE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! ZANE TRUESDALE HAS LOST!"

"HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE HERE AT THE KAIBA DOME!"

"How can this be?" Zane asked, unbelievingly.

"It's simple; you can't hide from destiny!" Aster replied.

"The Demon! It's you!" Zane cried out.

"I can't believe Aster just took out my brother!" Syrus cried.

"What do you expect?" I asked, my voice stone cold. Everyone turned to me, but I crossed my arms and stared at the screen. "He's Aster Phoenix. No one has defeated him. No one."

"He beat you?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah. Even the Black Skull Mage wasn't a match for him. Aster used a Red-Eyes Black Dragon deck." My hand curled into a fist and Bastion placed his hand on my fist. "Sorry, dueling rage…"

"What an impressive win! What's your secret?" Amanda, another reporter, asked.

"Like I tell my fans, winning duels is a piece of cake – when destiny's got your back."

"Leave it to Aster to yuck it up and Amanda to make him look good," I muttered. There were three different reporters that stood out; Kimi, my best friend, who helps both Aster and my reputation, Amanda, who makes male duelists look good, and Kara, the gossip girl. "Thank god Kara isn't there…"

"Why's that?" Alexis asked.

"I'll tell you guys later."

"Now, tell us about this new deck of yours."

"Well, there's a reason I unveiled it today. See last week I paid a visit to Duel Academy and get this; there's a student there that totally copied my deck!" Aster explained.

Jaden's face turned a little red with anger and his eyes narrowed. "Jay, don't let him get to you! He did this to me to get me to challenge him to a re-match, so don't play into his hands," I whispered.

"I guess I can't blame him. I mean, who wouldn't want to be just like me, right?" Aster continued.

'Everyone, jerk.'

"But before this wanna-be took all the credit, I had to reveal MY deck. You see, this student, who shall remain nameless, has sort of a 'following' among hard-core dueling fans. And the last thing I need is some prep school punk taking the credit for MY hard work!"

"That settles it; I officially can't stand this bloke!" Bastion said.

"Hey, just chill. He's like this...a lot," I told him. 'Not a while ago.'

"Now whether you like me or not, there's one fact no one out there can dispute; I'm the best. I can't be beat. And to prove it, I'm challenging this school-boy! I won't tell you his name, but it rhymes with: Shmaden Shmuki."

"The heck?" I asked.

"Hear me Shmaden? You know who you are, you card thief!" Aster yelled into the camera. "You think your Aster rip-off deck is so great? Prove it! By putting it up against my deck."

'If he beats Jaden, it's all over! Just like me…'

Flashback

"Look Hoshi, just because you're a Pro doesn't mean that you can defeat destiny!" Aster yelled from across the field. "No one can hide from destiny."

"I'm not saying I can! Just shut up and make your move!" I shouted back.

"I will!" Aster drew and smirked. "Now, I'll play Flute of Summoning Dragon! I summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" The giant black dragon roared and flew down behind Aster.

"Oh crud…" I said.

"That's right! Now, I'll use Change of Heart and take your Summoned Skull!" My last line of defense, Summoned Skull, disappeared and reappeared on Aster's side of the field. "I'm not done yet! I play Polymerization and fuse Summoned Skull and Red-Eyes Black Dragon together to form Black Skull Dragon!" A giant dragon – bigger than Red-Eyes Black Dragon – reared its ugly head and took place besides Aster. "Now attack Hoshi's Life Points directly!"

"Ah!" I braced myself for the hit. With only 1000 Life Points left, Black Skull Dragon finished my Life Points and the duel. "Ouch…"

Aster simply smirked and said, "As I've said, you can't hide from destiny."

End Flashback

So, did ya like the flashback/cliffie? ^^" Not much of a cliffie... Please leave a review! I'll answer to you in a message! Oh, and a OneShot to anyone to figures out the love triangle!