Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.
A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. I've been having trouble getting motivated recently. Because of that, this chapter is also quite a bit shorter then my norm. Starting next chapter, however, we start getting to chapters I actually find interesting, so I should update more frequently, with better chapters. That being said, on with the fic!
Yu-Gi-Oh GX - A New Duelist Legend
Chapter 12 - Tactical Espionage Expert
"No, no, no, absolutely not!" Crowler yelled, slamming his fist into Chancellor Sheppard's desk. "I will not allow that anyone other then one of my own Obelisks to be our representative at the School Duel!"
"Now Crowler..." Chancellor Sheppard replied, trying to reason with the nearly hysterical teacher. "I think you're being unreasonable. Why shouldn't Jaden be our representative? We both know that he's a very skilled duelist."
"It's the principle of it!" Crowler said, "A Slifer, the lowest of our school's dorms, representing our school... on the year we're hosting it, no less! We'd be a laughingstock!"
"I don't think it'll be quite that bad." Sheppard said.
Crowler sighed. "Why on earth aren't we choosing Zane? He's far more skilled then any other student at this school."
"Because," Sheppard replied, "Each of the other schools has announced that they're sending first-year students. We'd look even worse if we sent a third-year student against three first-years."
"I suppose..." Crowler said. He thought for a second before snapping his fingers. "Of course!"
"'Of course' what?" Sheppard asked.
"Well," Crowler said, "If you're so dead-set on Jaden as our representative, then how about a compromise? Jaden will duel a student of my choosing, and the winner will be our representative!"
"Who did you have in mind?" Sheppard asked.
"Hmmm..." Crowler thought for a moment. "How about... Bastion Misawa?"
Sheppard grinned. "That sounds perfect! I'll have it set up immediately!"
Later that day, Professor Banner's class was mere minutes away from ending, along with the school day.
"Now students," Professor Banner said, "Before you leave, I have an announcement to make."
"Huh." Jaden said from his seat. "I wonder what's up."
"I dunno." Syrus replied.
"As I'm sure you all know," Banner continued, "The School Duel, a four-way competition between North, South, East and West Academies, is next week. This year, we're hosting it here, at East Academy. All of the other schools have selected their representatives, however, we haven't.
"Yeah, yeah, get to the point..." Tsukanna muttered from her desk.
"Since there has been a little... difficulty in choosing who will represent us," Banner said, "A contest has proposed. Two students, chosen by the Chancellor, will duel. The winner will represent us at the school duel."
Jaden smirked. "Alright, I just know it's gonna be me!"
"The two students," Banner finished, "Are Jaden Yuki and Bastion Misawa!"
"Yes!" Jaden yelled, leaping out of his seat and dancing. "I'm gonna be in the School Duel, I'm gonna me in the School Duel..."
The whole class sweatdropped. "Uhh... Jaden," Syrus said, "You have to beat Bastion first."
Jaden grinned. "Yeah, I know." He turned and gave Bastion a thumbs-up. "I'll see you in the duel arena!"
Bastion smirked. "I'll be looking forward to it."
Banner coughed. "Well, the duel is just after school tomorrow, so you still have a while to wait."
Jaden's face fell. "What? Aw man..."
Before Jaden could complain further, the bell rang. "Alright students," Banner said, "I'll see you all tomorrow."
A few minutes later, Jaden, Bastion, and Syrus were all walking back to the dorms together. Jaden, as usual, had only one thing on his mind.
"I can't wait until tomorrow!" Jaden exclaimed, "It's gonna be awesome!"
"Indeed." Bastion replied.
"By the way, Bastion," Jaden asked, "What kind of deck do you use? I've never really seen you duel."
Bastion chuckled. "That, Jaden, is a secret. You'll just have to wait until our duel to find out."
"Which one of them do you think will win?" Rita, who was walking about ten feet behind Jaden and company, asked Tsukanna.
"I dunno." Tsukanna said musingly. "I've never seen Bastion duel before, and I only saw Jaden duel once, so I don't have a much of a grasp on their skills."
"Well, Bastion is in Ra Yellow..." Rita said.
Tsukanna smirked. "That doesn't count for much. After all, I'm in Slifer, and you know how good I am."
"T-that's true..."
Up in his third floor office, Crowler watched the departing backs of Jaden and his companions, his usual sour look replaced with an arrogant smirk.
"This should prove to be a perfect test of both their abilities." Crowler said to himself, "Both Bastion and Jaden are exceptionally skilled duelists, and this duel should give fairly definitive proof as to which of them is stronger." Crowler's smirk widened as he thought over his plans. "I will focus all of my efforts on the winner. A new age is coming to the world of dueling, and I will make sure that those who lead it come from East Duel Academy!"
Later that night, Bastion was busily at work on his computer, trying to compose a foolproof strategy for defeating Jaden.
"Hmmm..." He said to himself, "Jaden's main strategy revolves around summoning his powerful fusion monsters." He hit a few keys on his keyboard. "One strategy would be to preemptively prevent Jaden from summoning his fusions, but I don't believe that to be the best way around the problem..."
Bastion continued typing for several more minutes, and gradually, a solution dawned on him. "Of course..." Bastion said to himself, "Why didn't I think of that before?" He walked over to has cabinet and opened it, revealing many neatly organized and categorized boxes of Duel Monsters cards.
Ruffling through the cards for several minutes, Bastion finally found what he wanted. "Yes, perfect. I have just the cards I need to accomplish it." He chuckled to himself. "Watch out, Jaden. I've cracked your deck's formula, an there's no way I can lose."
Over in the Slifer Boy's dorm, Jaden lay awake in bed, his recurring nightmare of the duel with Nightshroud keeping him awake. He sighed to himself. "When will these dreams stop coming?"
Jaden rolled over onto his back and stared at the bottom of Syrus' bunk. "Nightshroud... compared to him, Bastion's going to be a piece of cake."
Jaden eyes narrowed. "Nightshroud... Bastion is just a stepping stone. I'll prove to myself that I can defeat you." He sighed again. "Maybe then, these nightmares will stop."
"Welcome, Students," Chancellor Sheppard yelled into his microphone, "To the duel which will determine our representative to the School Duel!" The student-packed arena bleachers echoed with cheers and clapping at Sheppard's announcement.
"Today," The Chancellor continued, "Is a duel between to of the rising stars of our school, Jaden Yuki and Bastion Misawa!" Once again, the arena erupted into cheers, although noticeably damped, as the Obelisk students didn't join in.
In the center of the arena, Bastion and Jaden approached each other and shook hands. Jaden grinned. "This is gonna be a great duel."
As he walked back to his starting place, Bastion smirked. "I agree. It will be a great duel, if short."
Jaden blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I've factored in every possibility." Bastion replied, "And according to my calculations, at most it will take me five turns to defeat you!"
Jaden just smirked. "We'll see, Bastion. Duel Disc, ON!"
"Indeed we will." Bastion responded, "Duel Disc, on!"
Both players life points shot up to 8000, and the duel began as they drew their starting hands.
BLP: 8000
JLP: 8000
"I'll go first!" Bastion declared, drawing his sixth card. He smirked at his hand. "I already have everything I need." He selected two cards from his hand and placed them on his disc. "For the moment, however, I will simply place these two cards facedown." The two set cards shimmered onto Bastion's field, and he passed the turn to Jaden.
"That's all?" Jaden asked as he drew. "After that declaration, I was expecting something a little more impressive."
Bastion just kept smirking. "The full power of my strategy will reveal itself soon enough, Jaden."
"Well, let's see what your strategy can do against this!" Jaden called, slamming on of his cards onto his disc. "I summon Elemental Hero Avian in attack mode!" The green-suited superhero appeared on Jaden's field and struck a pose. (1000/1000)
"I see..." Bastion said, "So that's your choice of monster?"
"You bet!" Jaden replied, "And I'll show you just what he can do! Avian, attack Bastion's facedown monster with Featherbreak!" Avian flapped his wings and shot a flurry of feathers at Bastion's facedown monster, shattering it instantly.
Bastion chuckled. "Am impressive move, Jaden. Is that all?"
"Not just yet." Jaden said, sliding another card into his disc. "Two facedowns will do it for me, though." The two cards appeared on Jaden's field as Bastion drew his card.
"Now, Jaden," Bastion called, "Witness the force of my deck, which has the power to defeat you in one turn!"
"Bring it on!" Jaden called back.
"Very well!" Bastion said, "First, I active Mystical Space Typhoon from my hand to destroy your leftmost facedown card!"
Jaden grimaced. "There goes Hero Spirits."
"Next, I activate my facedown trap, Royal Decree!" The trap flipped up, and the image of a king passing judgement appeared. "As long as this card is on the field, no traps may be activated, and any other traps already active are negated!"
"Now, the next part of my combo!" Bastion yelled. "By paying 500 life points, I activate Battery Charger!" Bastion slid his card onto his disc, and a ball of lightning appeared on his field, scorching him in the process.
BLP: 7500
JLP: 8000
"Battery Charger?" Jaden asked, "What's that do?"
"Battery Charger," Bastion replied, "Allows me to special summon one monster with 'Batteryman' in it's name from my graveyard, such as my Batteryman AA!" The ball of lightning faded, and in it's place was, well, a giant AA battery with arms and legs. (0/0)
Jaden sweatdropped. "Ookaayy..."
"In response to his summoning," Bastion continued, "I can activate the quick-play spell Inferno Reckless Summon!"
"I know that card!" Jaden yelled.
"I knew that you knew." Bastion replied, "And, I also know that you only have one copy of each of your monsters, so it doesn't benefit you at all."
"However," Bastion continued, "It helps me greatly, allowing me to summon the other two Batteryman AAs in my deck!" Two identical giant batteries appeared next to the first one, crackling with electricity. (0/0)x2
"I still don't get where you're going with this..." Jaden said.
"Allow me to explain, then." Bastion replied. "When all my Batteryman AAs are in attack mode, they each gain 1000 attack points for each Batteryman AA in attack mode. In case you're math skills are a little rusty, that's 3000 attack points per Batteryman!"
"3000?" Jaden exclaimed as the Batterymen were surrounded by an electric field and got a supercharge, sending their attack points soaring. (0/0)x3–(3000/0)x3
"Also," Bastion continued. "If you take the 9000 combined attack points of my monsters, subtract the 1000 attack points of Avian, and factor in Royal Decree's trap-negating effect, it all adds up to one total: you lose! Batterymen, attack! Triple Volt Shockwave!" The three Batterymen each charged up a massive blast of electricity and launched them at Jaden, combining into a massive explosion which appeared to consume Jaden... although when the smoke cleared, he was revealed, still standing, with a good number of life points intact.
BLP: 7500
JLP: 6000
"What?" Bastion yelled, gaping at Jaden's life points. "How...?"
Jaden grinned. "I can use quickplay spells, to you know. I activated Flute of Summoning Kuriboh to summon Winged Kuriboh to my field from my deck. Although I still took damage when you attacked Avian, Winged Kuriboh's effect negated the rest of it."
Bastion's lips quirked slightly. "I didn't expect you to go down that easily. But, you still have no chance of defeating my triad of supercharged Batterymen! I set one card, then end my turn."
"Alright, let's see what I've got." Jaden said, pulling the top card off of his deck. He immediately slid it into his disc. "I activate Pot of Greed!" The evil green jar appeared, and Jaden drew twice more. Upon seeing his cards, he grinned. "Perfect! I'll activate the Warrior Returning Alive to bring Avian back to my hand!" The spell activated, and the named monster slid out of his graveyard.
"Next," he continued, "I'll activate Polymerization, fusing Avian with Burstinatrix to create my favorite monster, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" A vortex appeared, and the two heroes jumped into it. After a few moments, the one-winged form of Flame Wingman appeared from the vortex. (2100/1200)
"Now, I activate the last card in my hand, the field spell Skyscraper!" Jaden opened his field slot and slid the card in. The arena was replaced with a massive city, and Flame Wingman flew up and perched on one of the buildings.
"Since Skyscraper powers up Elemental Heroes by 1000 points when they battle a stronger monster," Jaden continued, "Flame Wingman is just powerful enough to beat one of your Batterymen! Flame Wingman, attack with Skydive Scorcher!" Flame Wingman jumped off of his perch and flew down to one of the Batterymen, who he blasted with a massive gout of flame. (2100/1400)–(3100/1400)
BLP: 7400
JLP: 6000
"And" Jaden continued, smirking, "Don't forget about Flame Wingman's special effect! It now deals you damage equal to the attack points of the monster he destroyed, in this case 3000!" Flame Wingman landed in front of Bastion, blasting him with a massive fireball before flying back up to his perch and losing the power bonus from Skyscraper. (3100/1400)–(2100/1400)
BLP: 4400
JLP: 6000
"A good shot, Jaden," Bastion said, smoking slightly. "But I anticipated this situation and have provisions in place for it! I activate another quick-play spell, this one entitled Mind Over Matter!" Bastion's set card flipped up and Bastion began to glow. "I can activate this card when I take damage of any kind. For every 1000 points of damage I took, I draw one card. I took 3000 damage, so that's three cards!" Bastion slid the top three cards off of his deck, increasing his hand size to five.
"Of course," Bastion said, "I can't forget about my Batterymen. Since one of them is gone, the others loose 1000 attack points." With their third member vanquished, the static field around the Batterymen had indeed decreased in intensity. (3000/0)x2–(2000/0)x2
"Well, I'm done with my turn." Jaden said.
"Excellent!" Bastion replied, drawing and bringing his hand up to six cards. "Now," He said, "Although this deck's early turns may revolve around the Batteryman AA one-turn kill, it has far more power then that!" He took a card from his hand and placed it on his disc.
"To begin with, I activate the Spell card Battery Changer." Bastion continued, "This card allows me to special summon 1 Batteryman from my hand by returning one Batteryman already on the field to my hand." One of the Batteryman AAs vanished, and was replaced by a much larger and bulkier Batteryman, which dropped the power of the last Batteryman AA even further. (0/1900), (2000/0)–(1000/0)
"Meet Batteryman D." Bastion said. "As long as he's on the field, you cannot select any other Thunder-type monster on my field as an attack target. However, he isn't going to be around for long."
Bastion smirked. "I now activate the Spell card Hunger for Power! For this turn only, the level of all monsters in my hand increases by two. In return, it confers a 500 point attack and defense bonus to any monster I normal summon."
Jaden blinked. "So?"
"So," Bastion replied, "Now I tribute both of my Batterymen to summon Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon!"
"Super what?" Jaden asked.
"I'll just show you!" Bastion yelled back as he slammed a card onto his duel disc. The two Batterymen shimmered and vanished, and a massive form appeared on Bastion's field. It looked like a robotic cross between a dragon and a t-rex, and it crackled with electrical power. It glowed red as Hunger for Power booted it's stats. (2400/1000)–(2900/1500)
"What was the point of that?" Jaden asked, "With Skyscraper on the field, Flame Wingman is still stronger then he is."
"Observe!" Bastion replied, pointing. Jaden looked up and saw Batteryman AA and Batteryman D attaching themselves to the dragon's back. Even more electricity crackled around Voltech Dragon, and it's power skyrocketed. (2900/1500)–(3900/1500)
"What the heck?" Jaden yelled. "How'd that happen?"
"Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon is a very special monster." Bastion replied. "If you tribute Batterymen to summon it, it gains different abilities depending on what Batteryman was used to summon it. Batteryman AA grants it an extra 1000 attack points, and Batteryman D makes it immune to spell and trap effects, making it a nearly invincible monster."
Jaden growled.
"Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon," Bastion yelled, attack Elemental Hero Flame Wingman! Electric Flame!" The massive mechanical dragon launched a stream of electricity from it's mouth which slammed into Flame Wingman. Although the power boost from Skyscraper allowed it to struggle for a few seconds, it was quickly consumed. (2100/1200)–(3100/1200)
BLP: 4400
JLP: 5100
"I end my turn." Bastion said.
"Alright, then I draw!" Jaden yelled, pulling a card off of his deck. He smirked. "The perfect topdeck! Since he's the only card in my hand, I special summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode!" Jaden placed the card on his disc, and the blue armored hero appeared and crouched defensively. (800/1200)
"Since he's the only card on my field, I now get to draw two extra cards!" Jaden continued, sliding two more cards off of his deck. He frowned. "I still need two more cards..." He sighed. "I'll have to end my turn with that."
"Very well, then I draw." Bastion replied. He glanced at the card he drew and added it to his hand. "That could be useful later."
"I'll keep this turn simple," Bastion continued, "Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon, attack Bubbleman with Electric Flame!" The lightning dragon blasted another gout of electricity at Jaden, which wiped out Bubbleman almost instantly.
"That will be all for my turn." Bastion finished.
"Alright Jaden," Jaden thought to himself, "This is it. The entire duel comes down to this one draw, so I'd better make it count!" For a brief second, Jaden could hear his own heartbeat. He felt a rush of confidence, of power flowing up from deep within himself. He placed his hand on his deck and slowly slid off the top card. When he saw it, he smirked.
"Gaahh!" Up in the stands, Tsukanna's body tensed and she clutched her head.
"Tsukanna?" Rita asked, "What's wrong?"
Tsukanna grinned weakly. "Nothing. Just a bit of a headache. It's been bothering me all day."
"Are you sure you're ok?" Rita said worriedly.
"I'm fine." Tsukanna answered, getting up out of her seat. "I'm just going to go get some Aspirin. I'll be right back." She walked off.
"I hope she's ok..." Rita said to herself.
Up in the deserted hallways near the stadium, Tsukanna leaned against a wall and clutched her head, yelling "Son of a bitch!" through clenched teeth. She breathed heavily for several moments before the pain began to subside.
She sighed. "Note to self: Never probe someone of unknown potential, especially when they're in the middle of a duel." She tapped her chin for several moments, before sighing again. "I'm going to have to report this. I've never felt even remotely that much power from someone without any kind of training or enhancement."
Tsukanna grimaced. "Probably exactly what we're looking for..."
Back in the arena, Jaden slid the card he had drawn into his disc. "I activate The Warrior Returning Alive to bring Bubbleman back to my hand!" The card slid out of Jaden's graveyard, and he immediately slammed it onto his disc. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in defense mode!" The blue-armored hero again appeared, crouching on Jaden's field. "As with last time, I draw two cards from his effect!"
Jaden slid two more cards off of his deck. He grinned. "Perfect!"
Jaden slid the first of the cards into his disc. "I activate Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman with Elemental Hero Clayman to create Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" A vortex appeared and pulled Sparkman and Clayman into itself. After several seconds, the massive, yellow-clad form of Thunder Giant emerged, bellowing. (2400/1500)
"Now, his effect activates!" Jaden called.
Bastion cut him off. "It won't work. Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon has an original attack that's equal to that of Thunder Giant, so his effect won't work."
"Oh yes it will!" Jaden said, "Because I'm chaining a quick-play spell to the activation of Thunder Giant's ability!" He slammed the card onto his disc. "Warrior's Final Charge doubles the attack of one warrior-type monster on the field, as well as making him immune to targeted effects. The only downside is that he'll be destroyed during the end phase of this turn, as well as dealing me damage equal to his boosted attack." Thunder Giant glowed and roared, and his power skyrocketed. (2400/1500)–(4800/1500)
"No!" Bastion yelled.
"Sorry Bastion," Jaden yelled back, "But I'm playing to win! Thunder Giant's effect activates, destroying Super-Electromagnetic Voltech Dragon!" Thunder Giant shot a bolt of lightning from his finger, blasting the massive dragon into tiny pieces.
"Now," Jaden yelled, "Thunder Giant, attack Bastion directly with Final Voltic Thunder!" Thunder Giant gathered a massive ball of lightning between his hands, which he hurled at Bastion. It exploded, knocking Bastion off of his feet and depleting his life points.
BLP: 0
JLP: 5100
Jaden walked over to Bastion, smiled and held his hand out. "Thanks for a great duel, Bastion."
Bastion smiled back and accepted Jaden's hand, and Jaden helped pull him to his feet. "You as well, Jaden."
"Well, it's official, Jaden Yuki will be our representative at the School Duel!" Sheppard called over the microphone. The whole school stood up and began to cheer.
Up in the bleachers, Crowler frowned. "Well, it seems I have my work cut out for me. I will teach that child the discipline required to be a truly great duelist if I have to shove it down his throat!"
Later that night, Professor Banner had declared a party in honor of Jaden, the first Slifer to ever be Duel Academy's representative at the School Duel... however, the guest of honor was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey Jaden, you out here?" Syrus called from the door to the cafeteria. After looking around for a moment, he saw Jaden, who was sitting against a tree gazing at the stars.
"Jaden, what're you doing out here? You're missing the party!"
Jaden blinked, seeming to have been deep in thought. "Huh? Oh, I'll be in in a minute."
"Okay..." Syrus said.
When Syrus left, Jaden once again retreated into his mind, in which one thought continually bounced around.
"I don't remember putting a second copy of The Warrior Returning Alive in my deck..."
New Cards:
Mind Over Matter
Quickplay Spell
You may activate this card whenever you take damage (battle or effect). For every 1000 points of damage you took, you may draw 1 card from your deck.
Image: A meditating monk with arrows bouncing off of him.
Battery Changer
Normal Spell
Return 1 Monster with "Batteryman" in its name from your field to your hand, then special summon a different monster with "Batteryman" in it's name from your hand.
Image: Batteryman AA flying to the left, being passed by Batteryman C flying to the right.
Hunger for Power
Normal Spell
Until the end phase of the current turn, increase the level of all monsters in your hand by 2. Any monster you normal summon this turn has it's ATK increased by 500 points.
Image: A fat devil at a table loaded with food.
Warrior's Final Charge
Quickplay Spell
Until the end phase of the current turn, double the ATK of 1 face-up Warrior monster in your field. The selected monster cannot be the target of Spell, Trap or Monster effects this turn. Destroy the selected monster during the end phase of the current turn, and inflict damage to your life points equal to the ATK of the selected monster.
Changes:
Next Time: The representatives from the other Academies arrive, and one is familiar, the second seems a little off, and the third is downright creepy. Although, not all is as it seems... Someone in West Academy's party seems to have some inside information on Tsukanna! We must ask ourselves two questions: What does he know, and will he survive long enough to tell anyone? Don't miss... well, you'll just have to wait and find out, wont you?