Hey everyone! Well, this weekend wasn't too bad. I spent Saturday with my mate, which was fun. We went to the mall nearby, where we picked up a game and some other stuff. It was a relaxing weekend more than anything else. Sunday, I spent the afternoon with my grandmother and grandfather. Really no change in grandpa unfortunately, which kind of sucks. Still, he seems with it, which is good. I'm just glad that he's still here, although sometimes I find myself thinking of how things were, but I just remember that I'm glad he's still here, regardless of what state. Other than that, not much else is happening in my life.
Writing wise, I'm still working hard on Another, but I began putting some work into MtM yesterday. I'm going to work on some more of it since I'm to a part in Another that I can't really work on at work, hehe.
Last time around, Illidan and family arrived back at the island, with him making the rounds and talking with Chancellor Shepherd and Jaden. The tournament is going to start soon, and things are going to be exciting, I'm sure of it. Still, who could be attacking the students? And will Illidan, Marie, and Yugi get to the bottom of this business?
Alrighty, it's time once more for the reviews!
Metal Overlord 2.0: Lol, poor Adrian. Yes, he's awful for what he does in season 3 to that poor woman he loves/loved. Yep, the champions are all there for Kaiba's fun publicity stunt. True, it'll be interesting to see how Illidan handles himself against the new generation of students, along with Yugi and the others. And true, there are some rivalries that aren't finished yet too. Yugi and Seto, Yugi and Illidan, Illidan and Seto, and so many others! You never know what may happen. Thanks for the review!
Nathan: Sorry about that. I messaged everyone on the favs list for the last story, but I forgot you use the anonymous posting. My fault on that. I'm glad though that you did return, and you're not too far behind. Glad you liked the duels thus far in this story. I think what ardee brought to this story has helped it out a great it. Yeah, I think the plot for this story will be better than season 3's plot. Lol, yes, Arya is so lovable. She's just got a bit of a problem with controlling her developing Shadow Powers, hehe. I'm glad you like this story thus far, and hope you continue to. Thanks for the review!
Raymond Barrett: LOL! The truth is about Machine Swarm and Mechanical Fusion, they're created cards by ardee. Neither have been used in the show, so nah, as far as I know, they've not been used in the Yugioh History. Heh, me using the new duelists decks should be interesting. Actually, Jesse is from the Duel Academy North and Jim is the southern one. I would have guessed both were southern, but oh well, lol. Thanks for the review!
x-knight20: Thanks. Yep, the Crystal Beats (Gem Beasts) are at Duel Academy now. I bet they will be surprised to see those cards, hehe. I used the English version of what they're called. Gem is cool sounding, but I'm used to the name of Crystal. Thanks for the review!
Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yep, all the duelists are there, but no Viper, sad to say. Never know what I'll be up to with this plot, hehe. Me and ardee (mostly ardee) came up with an interesting storyline and plot, so no worries. I don't think anyone will be disappointed, hehe. Glad you find it interesting. It'll tie together, so no worries. Thanks for the review!
That's all she wrote for now. Now she must write murder! Lol, my brain must be damaged to say stuff like that. Couldn't be due that my mom dropped me on the edge of a fireplace, where my head hit, as a child? Hmm, nah, couldn't be, lol. But it's all good.
Thank you everyone for your reviews. I'm surprised at the responses I've gotten thus far on this story, so thanks. I only wish Another would do as well as this one, but that's a different genre, and different set of readers. Thank you all though for your reviews. They mean a lot.
Without any further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 5
Sighing softly while walking along with Marie and pushing Arya in her stroller, Illidan lightly grumbled in his mind about recent events. "It feels good to be back at the school, but just to know that every student here is in danger doesn't sit well with me. Since we've been back, things have been quiet. Other than the announcements about preliminary duels, things are quiet. Heh, I'm still interested to see how the exhibition match goes."
Frowning, he growled back in his mind "And then there are those damn Pro League Duelists. What a bunch of jerks and snobs! Do they expect us to cater to each and every single need they have! I mean, they need to take some responsibility. And then they have the gull to treat all the students except for the Obelisk Blues, with disrespect, like they're not with their time to talk to. At least I took care of that one."
Smirking, he remembered that that one had challenged him to a duel. He had at first politely declined, saying that he was late to class. The arrogant duelists though had gone too far though, insulting him by saying Illidan was scared of losing and was a disgrace to dueling.
At that point, Illidan lost his temper and demanded that the duelist wait in that spot. Running to the Chancellor's office, he asked Shepherd himself for permission to use the Dueling Arena. The Chancellor agreed, with a smirk of bemusement on his face.
Returning to retrieve the Pro League Duelist, Illidan dragged him along to grab his class, in which he moved to the arena, and then dueled the obnoxious fool in front of them all. He made no concessions to the poor man and within fifteen minutes, he won the duel with still sixty-six hundred life points left. On his field, he had both Cyber End Dragon and Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning left before ending it.
His class had applauded his actions, while the disgruntled duelist had mumbled a word of congratulation and stomped off angrily while lowly swearing to himself.
The memory quickly faded, making Illidan lightly chuckle to himself over it. Lightly squeezing Marie's hand, he saw her look up at him and softly smile. The three were on their way to Yugi's house for dinner, which had become quite a habit as of late.
Tea had proven herself to be an excellent cook, which instantly got both Illidan and Marie coming often to their home. Yugi and Tea actually enjoyed the company, and gladly invited the pair usually nightly.
Hand in hand, while pushing Arya's stroller, the pair saw the beautiful home coming into view. Approaching it, they saw a young girl with black hair that had pink and blonde highlights, and beautiful violet eyes. She wore a simple pair of jeans and an orange t-shirt while playing in their front yard.
Upon seeing them, the girl squealed in delight and ran towards the three, calling out excitedly "Uncle Illidan! Auntie Marie! Cousin Arya!"
The two gave soft smiles to the girl as she rushed up to meet them. She exchanged hugs with each one and happily said "I'm so happy to see you!"
"We're happy to see you too Yoshi." Illidan commented.
Nodding, Yoshi then suddenly turned around and ran back to the house and opened the door, yelling "Mom, Dad, they're here!"
A very tired looking Yugi stepped out first, followed behind him by a worn out Tea. Raising his eyebrows at this, Illidan walked forward and gave Yugi a rough, one-armed hug and whispered "You look exhausted."
Yugi, in a bit of a daze, replied "Neither of us was this hyper! Where did she get it from? I don't understand!"
Hugging Tea, Marie gave her a questioning look, which was quickly answered. "It's Yoshi," Tea explained weakly. "It's like she eats raw sugar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."
"I've told you so many times Tea, if it hadn't been for that third cup of sake that night…" Yugi lightly teased, earning him a playful smack from her.
Both Illidan and Marie lightly chuckled, with Marie replying with a comforting voice "Don't worry about him Tea. He can hardly hold his liquor anyways."
The group once again had a good chuckle, with Yugi joining in on his own roasting.
--
Dinner had finally finished up, with Marie and Tea taking the dishes away. The two girls were chatting it up in the kitchen, leaving Yugi and Illidan alone to talk by themselves.
"I've compiled a list of suspects." Yugi stated. "I find Adrian Gecko very suspicious due to his family and past reports on him, but it's not possible that it's him since he only just got to the island. A large part of the list includes these Pro League Duelists, but the problem is they've only made it to the island this past week as well. I guess we have a right to suspect everyone, but I don't see why anyone on the island would have any kind of motive."
Resting back against his chair, Illidan lightly rubbed his temples and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is getting out of hand. These children have done nothing to deserve this."
"Do you want to consider the possibility that the ones who caused such a mess last year have survived?" Yugi softly asked.
Shaking his head, Illidan replied "Impossible for either. Legato was taken by the Shadows because he neglected to honor his side of the deal. Zell on the other hand was banished from Zane's body, and with no host in the area, he had to have passed on."
"In that case, it has to be someone new." he added after a moment.
Sighing, Yugi softly asked "But who?"
--
The next night, almost everyone on the island gathered together at the main dueling arena to watch the exhibition duel. With everyone packed in, Chancellor Shepherd made a motion for the commentator to start the duel.
Standing up, the man with long brown hair and a goatee moved to the middle of the dueling ring and cleared his throat. In a thick Scottish accent, he called out "STUDENTS, LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE EXHIBITION MATCH OF THE GENEX TOURNAMENT!"
Most of the students had covered their ears to deafen the sound, but once the announcement had been made, the crowd roared to life of applause.
Seeing he had their attention, the man continued on and said "Now, no one knows who the two duelists are, but you're about to find out! First up, is Duel Academy's very own wonder-boy! People, I want a round of applause for the incredible, amazing, ZANE TRUESDALE!"
Every single Duel Academy Student and Teacher went crazy and cheered the young man approaching the stage. He had green mid-back length hair with matching green eyes. His attire consisted of a white and red coat with long red coat tails and black matching pants. His eyes were bloodshot, showing his visible lack of sleep, along with the dark circles under his eyes. Taking the stage, he moved to one side of the field in front of the announcer.
Noting Zane looked exhausted, Illidan mumbled lowly to Marie "He's been out every night searching for Syrus from what I understand since he vanished."
"Poor Zane…" Marie sympathetically whispered. "He blames himself over not being able to find his brother I bet."
The pair's conversation was soon cut short by the announcer calling out "As for his opponent, please welcome someone from my own home land, the SCOTTISH NATIONAL CHAMPION, DARREN HIRUGASHI!"
A great deal of the female audience members instantly swooned at the young man approaching the dueling ring. He was about six foot two, and very well built. He wore a black trench coat that fanned out rather far. His hair was jet-black, and he wore sunglasses, obscuring his green eyes. He grinned at the crowed, revealing gleaming white teeth, instantly making most of the girls in the audience swoon once more.
Zane rolled his eyes with irritation at the attention that Darren was receiving. Finally closing the gap between the two till they were both in position beside of the announcer, Darren scoffed at Zane and pointed at his coat tails, mouthing "Mine are bigger than yours."
Not entertained, Zane coldly said "We'll see if you can duel as well as you can talk."
Noting the tension, the announcer chuckled nervously and said "Now, now, gentlemen, let's not get nasty… At least not yet."
Making a motion for the two to come forward, the announcer declared "Duelists, shake hands!"
Darren shrugged and extended his right hand while walking forward. Zane did the same and the two shook.
Moving off the stage, the announcer called out "Shuffle your decks and move into position. Once done, draw your first five cards. Mr. Hirugashi will lead off."
Obeying the announcer, the two made their way to their positions. Finally in them, each shuffled their decks and stuck them into their Duel Disks. Instantly, each Duel Disk powered up and activated. Drawing their five cards, both called out at once "LET'S DUEL!"
Drawing his sixth card, Darren smirked and boasted "You will have the honor of feeling my power in this duel. I summon Inazu the Lightning Prince (1400/700) in attack mode."
A thin man appeared, dressed in gray armor and a blue cape coming down to his ankles. The man glared at Zane, and drew an axe out from his cape.
Picking a card from his hand, Darren showed it to Zane and called out "I play the spell Quick Summon, giving me an opportunity to summon another monster. Please welcome Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800/1200)!"
A man in slender, pale blue armor instantly materialized onto the field beside of the man in gray armor. He carried a silver sword and his chest plate was decorated with a silver crest.
"I set one card facedown and end my turn." (Darren 8000, Zane 8000)
With no emotion on his face, Zane drew his new card and stoically said "I special summon Cyber Dragon (2100/1600)!"
Rising up onto the field was a metal snake like dragon that let out a soft mechanical roar upon settling.
"Next I'd like you to meet my Mechanical Chaser (1850/1800)!"
A circular, metal hunter like robot that floated in the air instantly appeared. In two thin arms it held two swords, and a spear extended from the bottom of its body.
Pointing at Darren's field, Zane nonchalantly said "Time to begin! Cyber Dragon, destroy his Lightning Prince with Strident Blaze!"
The mechanical dragon let out low mechanical growl and opened it's jaws, allowing white energy to lick the outside of it's mouth. In a blaze, the dragon fired a stream of white energy and struck the monster in grey armor, incinerating it easily.
"How very lovely." Darren smugly said.
Snarling in anger, Zane glared at Darren. With all the stress he had been going through with Syrus's disappearance, he was bound and determined to release his anger and rage within the duel.
"Mechanical Chaser, tear his Tourken apart with Machine Hunter!"
The monster buzzed to life and rushed forward, its swords spinning. The weaker warrior in pale blue armor was easily sliced into ribbons before shattering.
"Well, that battle may have helped you, but it helped me more." Darren boasted. "You see, when Tourken is destroyed in battle, I get to draw two cards."
Zane raised an eyebrow as the Scottish National Champion snapped the next two cards of his deck. Smirking at Zane's small confusion, Darren added "Inazu's effect is next, which states that if there are two 'Monarchs' or 'Princes' in my Graveyard, and any of the cards I drew were 'Monarchs', I can special summon them immediately and activate their effect. Welcome Zaborg the Thunder Monarch (2400/1000)!"
Materializing onto the field was a new figure in thick white armor. He wasn't very tall, but each section of his body was rather large. Extending from his back was a rack of spines that crackled with electricity. As he landed on the field, the spines on his back began to vibrate with an unusual amount of power. He let lose a roar, and fired a blast of electricity in the machine dragon's direction. The bolts of electricity struck the dragon, making it howl in pain before exploding.
"You see," Darren chuckled, "when Zaborg is summoned, I can destroy a monster on the field. But as I said, when he's special summoned by Tourken's effect, I can destroy your monster anyway with his effect!"
Grumbling lightly at this, Zane grabbed a card from his hand and placed it into his Spell/Trap Slot, saying "I activate the spell Different Dimension Capsule. With this, I can take a card from my deck and remove it from play. In two of my Standby Phases, I'm allowed to add the card to my hand."
Pulling his deck out, he fanned it out and finally selected a card and placed it within his removed from play slot. Instantly, a strange capsule like tomb slowly rose up from the ground in front of Zane. A card image facing Zane slowly lowered into the capsule, which then sank into the ground. Placing his deck back, he calmly said "In two turns, that card is mine. In the meantime, I set one card and end my turn." (Darren 6850, Zane 8000)
Sneering, Darren drew his card and smirked at it. "You may regret accepting this duel soon enough Zane. I play the spell Premature Burial, allowing me to give up 800 life points, but this is for a good cause. Now I can resurrect my Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800/1200)!"
A dark red aura instantly surrounded Darren for a moment, seemingly taking a bit of his energy. Once his life points had dropped a bit, the slender man in pale blue armor reappeared onto the field.
"Next, I sacrifice him in order to summon his father, the mighty Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000)!"
With the slender man vanishing from the field in a flash of light, a new warrior in full body armor that was light blue, with a flowing blue cape and cold wisps of smoke coming off his body materialized onto the field.
"Thanks to Mobius being tribute summoned, I can destroy two spell/trap cards on the field." Darren calmly stated. With a smirk, he cockily called out "Wouldn't you know it, you have exactly two, so they're gone!"
Pointing at the two cards on Zane's field, the warrior in light blue armor shot a beam of ice straight at the capsule card first, shattering it. Retargeting the other card, the warrior shot another beam of ice, blowing away the face down card.
Lowly growling, Zane muttered "Call of the Haunted…"
Sneering at his handiwork, Darren teasingly asked "Sad due that I took out your cards? Don't be Zane, for you won't suffer long in this duel, and it's all thanks to this card!"
Grabbing the card out of his hand, he turned his Duel Disk vertical and tapped the end of it. Placing the card within the slot that shot out, Darren called out "I play the field spell Monarch's Throne Room!"
Immediately the field began changing into an ancient castle's throne room, with a throne sitting behind Darren, making him smirk. The two warriors each began to glow with a white aura, making each clench their fists a bit.
"As long as Monarch's Throne Room is in play, all of my 'Monarchs' and 'Princes' gain 500 additional attack points (2400 + 500 2900/1000) (2400 + 500 2900/1000). Also, once per a turn, instead of entering my Draw Phase, I can add a card from my deck to my hand with the word 'Monarch' or 'Prince' in it's name."
Noting the death glare and growl coming from Zane, Darren smirked and called out "Hey Zane, I got something for you to chew on right here! It's Zaborg's fist, so go attack Mechanical Chaser with Primary Lightning!"
Turning it's palm towards the weaker machine monster, the white armored warrior shot a blast of yellow lightning straight for it. The bolt made the machine creature beep loudly before exploding, sending debris everywhere.
"So much for that junk heaper." Darren smugly remarked. "Mobius, direct attack with Ice Shard Storm!"
Pointing it's palm at Zane, the light blue armored warrior shot a blast of frigid, ice filled air at him. Zane lightly cringed at the blast, but remained standing.
Smirking at his handiwork, Darren coolly said "I end my turn with a face down." (Darren 6050, Zane 4050)
"Poor Zane." a young woman with sandy blonde hair that reached her mid-back said. She had light brown eyes, but wore a concerned face. Her uniform was a mostly white with blue blouse and a blue skirt.
Nodding in agreement, Jaden added "I know Alexis. He's just got to get his game on and quit worrying about Syrus. Then again, with Sy still missing, I'm sure he can't focus on anything at all."
"General Truesdale needs to buck up and win this one." a young man with tanned skin, six black dread locks of hair sticking out from underneath a yellow bandana that turned brown towards the very front, which had a set of red eyes and a pair of nostrils, and finally some dinosaur like teeth hanging from the rim. He was muscular, having well formed biceps, which were well displayed by the fact that the sleeves of his yellow jacket were cut off. He wore a large tooth necklace around his neck, brown pants, and a green undershirt.
A young man next to the youth in yellow that had black hair, which flared up in the front a bit, and had gray eyes frowned. He wore a black trench coat with a violet colored undershirt and black pants. In an irritable voice, he said "Hasselberry is right, for once. If Zane hopes to win this duel, he needs to quit worrying about that dork for once and fight hard."
"Chazz is right, Zane needs to put Syrus out of his mind just for this duel." a young girl said. She had emerald eyes and long straight black hair that came down to her mid-back and wore a yellow girl's uniform.
Heavily sighing, Alexis mumbled "If only he could Mariah. I'd give anything to see him smile again."
"I think we all would Lex." Jaden warmly replied while taking her hand into his.
On the field, Zane drew his card and smirked when an image of the tomb like capsule reappeared onto his field. From it, a card came out before the remainder of the capsule shattered.
"Wait one minute! I destroyed Different Dimension Capsule last turn with Mobius's effect, so no way that thing could activate now! Even if it had survived, it shouldn't activate for two of your Standby Phases!" Darren protested.
Chuckling, Zane calmly said "You're a fool to think I wouldn't play a bit of strategy. I removed from play my last turn the spell card known as Card from a Different Dimension. One turn after being removed from play, it returns to my hand and allows us both to draw two cards."
Picking up two cards each, both added the cards to their hands, with Darren exhibiting a sour look on his face. Smirking at it, Zane calmly placed a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and said "I play the spell Future Fusion, allowing me to send some monsters from my deck to my Graveyard that create a Fusion Type monster. I send my two remaining Cyber Dragons (2100/1600) and one The Light – Hex – Sealed Fusion (1000/1600) to the Graveyard, allowing me to fuse Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)! In two of my Standby Phases, this powerful dragon will take the field by storm!"
Softly growling with irritation, Darren snapped back with "That's two turns away, which you won't have!"
"We'll see." Zane smugly remarked. "In the meantime, I activate the spell Power Bond, allowing me to fuse together my two Proto-Cyber Dragons (1100/600) in my hand to create Cyber Twin Dragon (2800/2100)!"
Appearing onto the field was a pair of unfinished mechanical snake like dragon with dull grey metal and wires hanging out of their bodies. Each let out a soft mechanical roar before swirling together into a blinding light. As the light died, a new dragon with twin heads and necks connected to a large midsection with a large tail appeared in their place. The twin heads each let out a loud machine roar, seemingly trying to instill fear to other monsters.
"Those scrap heaps can't beat my two Monarchs." Darren boasted.
"True, normally Cyber Twin Dragon couldn't now, but with Power Bond's effect, Cyber Twin Dragon's attack points are doubled (2800 2 5600/2100)!"
Glowing instantly, the twin dragons let out a roar while their bodies absorbed a greater amount of energy.
Pointing towards the two monsters on Darren's field, Zane called out "Thanks to Cyber Twin Dragon's effect, it can attack twice a round. Go, destroy his two monsters with Double Strident Blaze!"
Letting out a loud mechanical roar, the two heads of the dragon opened each of their jaws and shot out a beam of light blue energy. Each head struck at their targets, easily destroying both warriors on the field with their attacks, making Darren cover his face for a moment from the explosions.
Satisfied with the damage, Zane quietly placed a card into his Spell/Trap Zone and said "Since I used Power Bond, it's effect kicks in, stripping me of 2800 of my life points, which is equal to the original attack of Cyber Twin Dragon."
With that said, a red glow surrounded Zane's body, making him lightly cringe. Once the glow vanished, he said "I end." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)
Preparing to draw a card, Darren stopped and smirked. "I play Monarch's Throne Room's effect instead of drawing. Now I can transfer this, the monster known as Raiza the Storm Monarch!"
Digging through his deck, Darren found the monster card he wanted and placed it into his left hand. Finished, he shuffled his deck and put it back. "Next, I play Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back Tourken the Blizzard Prince (1800 + 500 2300/1200) once more!"
Reappearing onto the field was the slender man in light blue armor.
"He's not staying long though, for I sacrifice him to summon Raiza the Storm Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000)!"
With the light blue armored warrior vanishing, a gust of wind blue up and from it came a warrior in full body light green armor with a dark green cape.
"When I tribute summon Raiza, his effect kicks in, allowing me to send a card on your field back to the top of your deck. Say farewell to your dragon and your life points!" Darren declared.
The green armored warrior pointed both palms at the machine dragon, causing a fierce wind to begin kicking up around it. Slowly, the dragon began to rise up off of the ground, but it thrashed about, trying hard to remain on the ground.
Smirking, Zane calmly said "I figured you'd try to do something with my dragon, that's why I set this. Go De-Fusion! With this spell, I can split my Cyber Twin Dragon back into the two original Cyber Dragons (2100/1600), each in defense."
Glowing lightly, the twin headed machine dragon transformed into to beams of light. The twin beams struck the field, revealing two snake like machine dragons, each coiled up.
Growling with frustration, Darren pointed at one of the dragons and yelled out "Obliterate one of those dragons Raiza with Wind Cyclone!"
Pointing a palm at one of the two machine dragons, the green armored warrior fired a twister of wind straight at the dragon. The wind struck the dragon hard, making it roar out in pain before shattering.
Satisfied with his work, Darren grumpily said "I end my turn." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)
Picking up a card, Zane examined it before placing it into his Spell/Trap Zone. "I place this down and end." (Darren 650, Zane 1250)
"Come on Zane, you can do this." Alexis mumbled softly.
Noting her anxiety, Jaden lightly squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her that Zane could win. Looking back down, he smirked at the thought of Zane winning. "He can do this, I know it."
Not much further down from the pair, Illidan and Marie watched their friend and coworker seemingly on the verge of winning.
"He's close, I know it." Marie softly said.
Nodding, Illidan replied "Yes, he is, but he needs to keep calm. So long as Zane doesn't let Darren get into his head, he should be able to survive this turn, and then on his next turn summon Cyber End Dragon and win this duel."
"I just hope he can hold it together." Marie faintly whispered.
On the field, Darren smirked and drew his card and asked "Whatever happened to the Zane Truesdale that I once heard of? The one that everyone feared would enter the Pro Dueling League and take it by storm?"
"He's still standing here." Zane calmly remarked.
"Really?" Darren pushed. "You seem distant from where I stand. It's like your mind is elsewhere. Perhaps you're still distraught over the fact that you have to face me in this exhibition match for this tournament?"
"You know nothing of what is on my mind." Zane coldly replied.
Sneering, Darren asked "Then what's wrong? Problems with you family? Friends? Someone you love? Stop me if I guess it."
"JUST SHUT UP AND MAKE YOUR MOVE!" Zane snarled, anger easily seen on his normally calm and serene face.
Darkly chuckling, Darren questioned "What's wrong, do you have somewhere to be or something better to do? I'm offended by that Zane."
"Finish your move and shut your mouth already!" Zane roared while anger radiated off of him in waves.
Shrugging, Darren finally said "Very well, I play Pot of Greed! This spell let's me pick up two more cards."
Grabbing two cards, he examined them before saying "I activate the spell Rightful Throne, which lets me resurrect my Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400 + 500 2900/1000) for this turn only. His effect is triggered, but his attack points are halved (2400 / 2 1200 + 500 1700/1000)."
Rising up onto the field once more was the light blue armored warrior with a blue cape on his back.
"Say farewell to whatever card you were planning on using to save yourself! Do it Mobius!"
Pointing a finger at the face down card on Zane's field, the light blue armored warrior fired a beam of ice at it from his finger.
With only a moment to spare before the ice beam hit it, Zane pointed at the card and called out "I play the trap Attack Reflector Unit, which has me sacrifice my Cyber Dragon in order to special summon from my deck Cyber Barrier Dragon (800/2800)!"
Vanishing from the field instantly was the lone machine dragon. Replacing it quickly was a new machine snake like dragon with a hood surrounding it's head that had four spikes sticking out in diagonal directions, several rectangular panels sticking out in four directions running up and down it's body, and a streak of pink on it's nose and hood. The dragon let out a soft screech, asserting itself promptly onto the field.
Grunting with irritation, Darren sneered and said "That thing is just plain pitiful Zane. Why bother placing it in attack mode?"
"You'll see." Zane coolly remarked.
Growling at Zane's returning calmness, Darren yelled "Don't mess with me! Destroy his pathetic dragon now Raiza!"
Turning his palm towards the weaker machine dragon, the green armored warrior shot a twister straight for it. The dragon only stayed in position, seemingly uninterested in the attack.
"You're about to find out why I summoned that monster Darren." Zane calmly said. "Cyber Barrier Dragon, I activate your special ability. Go Sonic Shield!"
The four prongs on the dragon's hood suddenly reacted and extended out and lengthened back towards the green armored warrior. With a ear shattering screech, the dragon sucked it's head back into the hood and formed a golden barrier. The wind attack heading for the dragon struck the barrier and finally fizzled out.
"Why didn't my attack go through!?" Darren roared with anger.
Smirking, Zane calmly said "Very simple. My Cyber Barrier Dragon can negate one attack per a turn. Too bad, and you nearly had me there."
Grinding his teeth roughly, Darren yelled "Destroy his pathetic dragon now Mobius!"
Turning his palm to the dragon, the light blue armored warrior shot a blast of ice filled wind at the machine dragon. This time the blast scored a hit on it, making the dragon howl in pain and explode. Zane covered his face to protect him from the debris and smoke, but lightly coughed due that he didn't stop all of it.
"I'll place this face down." Darren gruffly said while jamming a card into his Spell/Trap Slot. "I end my turn, meaning Mobius goes back to my Graveyard."
With those words said, the light blue armored warrior turned to dust and vanished from the field. (Darren 650, Zane 350)
Quietly picking up his card, Zane examined it and calmly said "It's over for you Darren. I activate Future Fusion's effect! It's been two Standby Phases since I played it, so now I may bring out my Cyber End Dragon (4000/2800)!"
Materializing onto the field instantly was a large snake like machine dragon with three heads, a set of large metallic wings, and a single tail. The dragon let out a massive roar, shaking the dueling ring to it's foundation.
"Game over Darren." Zane coolly said. Swinging his arm to point at the remaining warrior on the field, Zane called out "Cyber End Dragon, finish this with Super Strident Blaze!"
Letting out a massive roar, the dragon's heads took aim and launched a blast of blinding white energy each. The three beams combined and headed straight for the light green armored warrior, who only looked at the oncoming blast.
Growling lowly, Darren pointed to his face down and said "I maybe losing this duel, but I'm taking you with me! I play the trap Monarch's Downfall! With this, we each take the Battle Damage that would result in our monsters battle. That means we each lose 1100 points!"
Without warning, the blast struck the green armored warrior, shattering him while part of the blast suddenly reversed course and struck Zane while the rest struck Darren. Each fell to one knee while their Duel Disks powered down.
In somewhat of a shock, the announcer slowly said "It's a draw… The duel is officially a draw!"
The crowd all cheered for the result, although many were shocked and surprised at the end of it. Still, all stood up and applauded both duelists for their contest.
Standing, Zane looked over to see a fuming Darren. "I underestimated him. He's far better a duelist than I thought he was."
Glaring in Zane's direction, Darren stood up and stomped off the stage, leaving Zane alone. Deciding not to stay, Zane walked off as well, with all surprised he didn't stay.
--
A day after Zane and Darren's duel, the Genex Tournament officially began. With classes cancelled, students could duel daily and constantly. The rules were simple to reach the official ranks for the tournament. They just had to win six duels against six different people. Do that and you were admitted to the tournaments rankings.
After a week, the tournament finally got down to sixty four competitors. Within two days, the field was narrowed down to sixteen. This field of duelists was in what was to be known as the Sweet Sixteen Duels.
The Sweet Sixteen Duels were intense from the beginning with Yugi Moto, who normally had it easy during the preliminary tournaments, found himself in a difficult duel. He was pitted up against Jesse Anderson, and narrowly won with Dark Paladin. With his win, he was said to be the favorite to win the Genex Tournament.
Joey Wheeler had gone up against Jaden Yuki next, making it a clash of the old style warriors against the new style Elemental Heroes. The battle was close to the very end with Joey saving himself barely by playing his Gilford the Lightning. This destroyed Jaden's strongest monsters, Elemental Hero Electrum and Elemental Hero Magma Neos, leaving him defenseless and easy pickings for Joey.
Seto Kaiba had his duel in firm hand till near the end of it with Darren Hirugashi. The Pro League Duelist had used his monarchs rather well and managed to destroy all three of Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons, and reduce his points to five hundred. Eventually, the slick CEO used Ring of Destruction on Raiza the Storm Monarch, and combined it with Barrel Behind the Door to win the close duel.
Illidan had faced off with Adrian Gecko, with the champion of the Eastern Branch of Duel Academy proving to be no pushover with his deadly Cloudian monsters. Eventually, Illidan used his field spell, Chaos Control, to summon up all three of his Chaos monsters to win the duel.
Zane Truesdale gave Chazz Princeton the thrashing of a lifetime in their duel. Zane showed no mercy, easily overwhelming Chazz's Armed Dragons and Ojamas. In the end, the duel ended with a brutal attack from Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon, combined with Limiter Removal.
Kevin Hunter, a new, but young Pro League Duelist, proved himself to be a force to be reckoned with in his duel. He used a Dragon deck and demonstrated the full power of his wyverns while dueling the champion of the Western Branch of Duel Academy, Axel Brodie. Axel was armed with a Pyro deck and came close to winning with his powerful Volcanic Devil, only to fall short to Kevin's powered-up Tyrant Dragon.
Marie's duel was a hard fought battle against Mariah's Gravekeeper's. The two held nothing back from one another, with Mariah locking down both of their Graveyards early on with her Necrovalley. In the end, Marie made a miraculous comeback with her Archlord Zerato and narrowly won.
In the final battle, Mai Valentine Wheeler faced Ryou Bakura. The duel was arguably the most intense, as the two had a history of rivalry, considering their duel in the Tournament of Power. Bakura had summoned a Gren Maju Den Eiza with over four thousand attack points, but Mai had finally defeated him by weakening it with Mirror Wall, and finishing the duel with her Cyber Harpie Lady.
With the Sweet Sixteen Duels over, the crowd and duelists celebrated the days duels while some left for solitude.