A New Duelist Legend

by AngelOfBlades

The Assault on Duel Academy: As East Duel Academy is under siege from the forces of the dark, unexpected heroes my rise... and fall. The games are over. The war has begun.

14. Two Man Cell Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

A/N: Sorry this took so much longer then I thought it would. I ended up stopping and rewriting almost the entire thing when I was about two-thirds of the way through. I think it came out much better for it, though. What're you waiting for? Go read! On with the fic!

Yu-Gi-Oh GX - A New Duelist Legend

Chapter 14 - Two-Man Cell Battle

It was finally here. The School Duel was slated to begin in mere hours. Despite the fact that it was a Tuesday, classes had been canceled school-wide. Nearly every student from all four Academies would be in attendance, cheering on the four students who had been chosen to represent them. None of which was a comfort to Jaden, who was standing in the currently-empty arena.

Jaden grinned. "This is gonna be sweet!"

It's hard to get any more comfortable when you're on cloud nine, after all.

Jaden slowly sorted through his deck, pausing briefly at each of his monsters. "I'm going to be counting on all of you." He said to his cards, "If you don't let me down, then I promise I won't let you down either."

Jaden grinned again. "I just know today's gonna go great." He blinked. "Ahhh!" He yelled, running off towards the Slifer dorm, "I forgot to eat breakfast!"

A few minutes later, Jaden opened the door of the Slifer cafeteria, panting and out of breath. He looked around, and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that there was still food left. He picked up a tray and walked to the table where Syrus and Chumley were sitting, the latter of which was currently demolishing his third helping.

"Glad you could make it, Jaden." Chumley said between mouthfuls. "I thought I was going to have to eat your breakfast for you!"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Jaden replied, "But I need to get as much energy as possible for today's dueling."

"That's true." Syrus said, "Wouldn't want you collapsing from hunger in the middle of a Duel!"

The three friends enjoyed a shared laugh before turning to the infinitely more serious matter of 'who can fit the most food in their mouth?'.

In the temporary quarters for the North Academy students, Chazz was in a bad mood, which was only made worse by the presence of two of the people he disliked the most. "So," He said, "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, brother," Slade Princeton said, stroking his goatee, "We're simply here to remind you of your... obligations."

Chazz frowned. "I remember just fine."

"In that case," Jagger Princeton responded, "We'll just stay here to observe. Oh, as well as give you these." He set a metal briefcase down on the bed the three of them were standing around, and opened it, revealing row after row of rare cards.

"What are these?" Chazz asked.

"These," Slade replied, "Are 67 extremely rare cards. In total, they cost well over $5000."

"We would have only bought 40," Jagger continued, "But, you duelists like to customize, I believe, so we gave you a few more options."

Slade smirked and turned away. "I trust that you won't fail us, Chazz." Both he and Jagger left the room, leaving Chazz to stew.

Chazz stared at the briefcase for several seconds. "Those two..." He said to himself. "Just don't understand!" He finished with a yell, getting up and hurling the briefcase at the wall, sending the cards flying everywhere.

Behind him, the semi-translucent form of Ojama Yellow appeared. "Boss..." It said to him.

"What do you want?" Chazz snapped back.

"Well..." The spirit said, "You looked like you could use some..."

"I don't need any help!" Chazz yelled. "Now leave me ALONE!"

Reluctantly, Ojama Yellow faded. "I was gonna say 'cheering up', you know..."

Chazz sneered and looked through his deck, stopping when he came to one particular card. He looked at it for a moment, then began to laugh. "Not even the $5000 worth of cards my brothers bought can stand up to the power of this one."

"Rrragghhh!" On the beach near the Slifer dorm, where South Academy's students where housed, Byron was sparring with Jamil. "Now remember, Jamil," the massive man said in between blows, "In dueling and in everything else, the best defense is always a good offense!"

"You keep sayin' that, mon," Jamil said, dodging the older man's strikes, "An' I still disagree."

"Well, let's se what you think after this!" Byron lunged, putting his entire body weight behind one punch...

...which Jamil easily dodged, right before kneeing Byron in the stomach and knocking him to the ground.

"Good job, Jamil." Byron said, getting up off the ground. "If you duel anything like you fight, then your victory is assured."

"It's like I always say, mon." Jamil replied, smirking, "Why have a perfect offense or a perfect defense when you can have both?"

Byron stood up and cracked his neck. "A good attitude. Now you just have to pull it off." He looked at his watch, then walked in the direction of Duel Academy's main building. "Come on, the School Duel starts in half an hour, and I don't want to be late."

"Right behind ya, mon!" Jamil yelled, running to catch up.

In the Ra Yellow dorm, the representative from West Academy was currently preforming a last-minute deck overhaul. Headmistress Thatcher walked up behind him and observed for a minute before asking, "Not confident in your deck, Vincent?"

Vincent simply flicked his limp black hair and grunted, seeming to indicate a 'no'.

"Then why the modifications?" The headmistress asked.

"My opponents might have researched my deck beforehand." Vincent replied, "By changing it completely, I can surprise them."

"Do whatever you have to in order to win." Thatcher replied. "We may have come in fourth during last year's Junior World Championship, but I wasn't here then. I'm here now, and I will not abide failure."

Vincent smiled humorlessly. "I'm not going to fail." He stood up and adjusted his grey uniform. "The Duels begin soon, and I don't want to be late." He walked out of the room, picking up a disc as he left.

"Students and Faculty of the Cardinal Academies," Crowler yelled into his microphone, "I'm sure you're all tired of waiting for us to begin. So, without further ado, the School Duel will commence!"

The crowd, which filled the arena's stands to almost four times it's normal occupancy, cheered as the four representatives walked out.

Jaden an Jamil were both eating up all the attention, yelling and waving to the crowd. Jamil was also blowing kisses to the female members of the audience. Chazz sneered at the two of them. "Glory-hogs. I'll show them real power."

Vincent, on the other hand, seemed entirely uninterested in the proceedings. He simply walked over to the chairs that had been set up for the representative who weren't dueling and sat down.

"The first duel of the day," Crowler announced, "Will be North Academy versus East Academy! So, Jaden Yuki and Chazz Princeton, take your places!"

Up at the top of the bleachers, Tsukanna leaned against the railing and grinned. "This'll be good."

A few rows below Tsukanna, Foster chuckled to Sheppard. "With the cards I gave Chazz, there's no way he can possibly lose."

Sheppard just chuckled back. "I'm more then confident in Jaden's abilities."

"Our standard bet?" Foster asked.

"You know it." Sheppard replied, as all around the stadium, the North Academy students stood up and started cheering.

"One!"

"Ten!"

"Hundred!"

"Thousand!"

"Thunder! Chazz Thunder!"

"That's right!" Chazz yelled, pumping his fist into the air, "I'm Thunder!" He turned to Jaden and slammed his deck into his disc. "And there's no way you can stand against me!"

"You may be thunder," Jaden replied, activating his disc, "But there's no way I'll back down from a duel! Let's go!"

CLP: 8000

JLP: 8000

"I'll go first!" Chazz declared, pulling a card off of his deck. He looked at his hand and smirked. "Not bad at all..." He selected two cards, and slid them onto his disc. "I'll just set a monster, as well as one other card. That'll do for now."

"Alright, then it's my draw!" Jaden yelled. He looked at the card he had drawn, smiled to himself and slid it into his hand. "Good to see you, buddy."

"I'll start this turn off by summoning Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode!" Jaden slammed the card onto his disc and the loincloth-clad barbarian appeared on his field, yelling and brandishing his sword. (1500/1600)

Vincent looked over at Jaden's monster. "It appears my research was correct. He does use the E-Heroes." Vincent smiled slightly. "This will work to my advantage."

"Wildheart's special ability protects him from traps!" Jaden continued, "So, whatever plans you had for that facedown, you can consider them canceled! Wildheart, attack with Wild Slash!" Wildheart roared a battlecry, then jumped into the air and slammed his sword onto Chazz's set monster. It was briefly revealed as what appeared to be a three-eyed Kuriboh before it shattered.

"Sorry, loser." Chazz sneered, "But that was my Sangan. When he's destroyed, I can select one monster in my deck that has 1500 or fewer attack and add it to my hand." He took his deck out it's slot and shuffled through if for a moment. Finding what he was looking for, he replaced his deck and placed the card he had searched for into his hand. "So," He asked, "Are you done?"

"Not quite." Jaden said, "First, I'm going to set a card facedown." He placed another card from his hand onto his disc, then passed the turn to Chazz.

"Fine by me." Chazz said as he drew. He began to laugh. "You're doomed now, Slacker."

"Really?" Jaden said skeptically. "Well, I happen to disagree."

"You won't once you see this!" Chazz yelled, "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 in arrack mode!" Chazz slammed the card down onto his disc, and a fairly small, metallic dragon appeared on his field, giving a small roar. (1600/1000)

"Now do you see your defeat?" Chazz yelled, "The power of Horus will eradicate you!"

"I see a giant metal chicken..." Jaden replied, sweatdropping.

"A CHICKEN?" Chazz clenched his fists. "You think my dragon is a CHICKEN? I'll show you! Horus, attack Wildheart with Black Flame Shot!" The metallic dragon reared up and blasted a ball of black fire at Wildheart, disintegrating him instantly.

CLP: 8000

JLP: 7900

"That will end my turn." Chazz said with a smirk. "And, when I do, Horus' true power will be revealed!" The small dragon roared again, and was surrounded with a nimbus of black fire. When it emerged, it had grown in size, and now resembled a true dragon, rather then a metallic chicken. (2300/1600)

"Meet Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!" Chazz yelled, "The ultimate power of Horus is evolution! He grows stronger by defeating his enemies, and with just one more he'll evolve into a form that you can't hope to defeat!"

"We'll see!" Jaden yelled back, drawing a card. He smirked, and the field slot on his disc opened. "I'll just beat that dragon before it ever becomes a problem, and Skyscraper is just what I need!" When his field slot closed, massive buildings sprang up around them and the arena turned into an inner-city football stadium, with the spectators in the bleachers. Jaden blinked. "Well, this is new."

Turning his attention back to the duel, Jaden took another card from his hand and placed it onto his disc. "Now, I'll summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode!" A bolt of lightning shot out of the sky, and Sparkman appeared from it, posing heroically. (1600/1400)

Chazz grinned. "So Skyscraper will give him enough attack points to beat my dragon. So what? I'll still crush you!"

"Well," Jaden yelled, "You won't do it this turn! Sparkman, attack Horus with Shining Surge Flash!" Sparkman posed again, and he glowed with yellow light as Skyscraper put his attack points a head and shoulders above Horus's. (1600/1400)–(2600/1400)

"Bring it on!" Chazz yelled, as Sparkman launched a lightning blast from his hands, which streaked across the field towards Horus LV6. The electricity caused Horus to spasm for several moments before he shattered into pixels. Having defeated his opponent, Sparkman's power returned to normal. (2600/1400)–(1600/1400)

CLP: 7700

JLP: 7900

"That'll be all for this turn." Jaden said, grinning.

"Fine by me." Chazz smirked. He drew, put the card he had just drawn into his hand, then placed a different one onto his disc. "I'll activate a spell card!" Chazz declared, "It's called Level Modulation. First, this card is so powerful, I have to let you draw two cards to activate it."

"Alright..." Jaden replied, taking his two free draws.

"Next," Chazz continued, "It lets me special summon a Level monster from my graveyard, so welcome back Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV6!" Chazz's graveyard spat the card out, and he placed it back on his disc. As he did so, the metallic dragon reappeared on his field with a roar. (2300/1600)

Jaden frowned. "It's still not strong enough to beat Sparkman!"

"I'm not done yet!" Chazz replied, "I said earlier that Horus had to defeat his enemies to grow stronger, but that's not entirely true..." He selected another card from his hand, and slammed it onto his disc. "I'll activate another spell: Level Up!" When he played the card, Horus was surrounded by another nimbus of black fire. "This card allows me to evolve one of my level monsters regardless of it's normal requirements! So, by it's effect, Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8 is summoned!" Instead of dissipating, this time the nimbus exploded, covering the entire field in black smoke. The smoke was quickly blown away, however, as Horus' massive new form flapped it's wings, roaring. (3000/1800)

"That thing is massive!" Jaden yelled in amazement.

"And that's not all." Chazz said with a smirk. "Although it didn't ever matter, Horus LV6 was immune to the effects of all spell cards. Horus LV8 has an upgraded form of that ability... he cancels the activation of any spell cards I chose! Therefore..." Chazz began to laugh. "I can use spells, and you can't!"

"What?" Jaden yelled.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Chazz laughed, "Like I said, the power of Horus will crush you!"

Chazz smirked. "To make matters worse for you, I haven't even normal summoned this turn." He slammed a monster onto his disc. "I'll summon Armed Dragon LV3 in attack mode!" A small, orange dragon with grey armor appeared on his field next to the considerably more massive Horus. It growled at Jaden. (1200/900)

"Horus," Chazz yelled, "Attack Sparkman! Black Inferno!" Horus opened his mouth and launched a massive pillar of black flame at Sparkman. Skyscraper raised the hero's power, but it wasn't enough to keep the black flame from destroying him.

CLP: 7700

JLP: 7300

"Now it's Armed Dragon's turn!" Chazz called, "Attack Jaden directly with Micro Missile!" Armed Dragon opened it's mouth and began to spit a small missile at the unprotected Jaden.

"Not so fast, Chazz!" Jaden called, "I activate my trap, A Hero Emerges!" Jaden smirked. "Now, you pick a card at random from my hand. If it's a monster, I get to summon it to the field."

Chazz frowned. "The center card."

Jaden flipped the card around, revealing a yellow-bordered normal monster. "Sorry Chazz, but you lose that pick. Elemental Hero Clayman is summoned to my field in defense mode!" The bulky hero appeared on Jaden's field, crouching defensively. (800/2000)

"Fine then, I cancel my attack." Chazz said, "But I'm not even close to done!" His facedown card flipped up. "I activate the quick-play spell Power Leveling! This card is even more powerful then Level Modulation, so you get to draw three cards!"

Jaden blinked as he drew again, giving him an eight card hand. "Ookaayy..."

"Now," Chazz continued, "The effect of Power Leveling functions exactly like Level Up, allowing me to evolve Armed Dragon LV3 in to Armed Dragon LV5!" The small dragon shone for a moment, and it grew in size, changing into a much larger red and black dragon with spikes all over it's body. (2400/1700)

"And," Chazz said, "Since it was summoned during the battle phase, I can attack with it! Armed Dragon, attack with Multimissile Barrage!" Armed Dragon roared and launched a volley of missiles from all over it's body. The missiles slammed into Clayman, blowing him apart.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Chazz laughed manically, "You can't possibly beat me! I end my turn, and when I do, Armed Dragon LV5 evolves into Armed Dragon LV7!" Another glow infused Armed Dragon and it grew in size yet again, becoming as large as Horus, as well as significantly more dangerous-looking. (2800/1000)

Jaden drew, bringing his hand up to nine cards. He studied it for a moment, and an idea dawned on him. "Hmmm... if I play my cards right for the next couple of turns, then this just might work!"

"Alright Chazz," Jaden called, "I'll summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" He placed the card on his disc, and the small, winged fluffball appeared on his field, cooing softly. (300/200)

"That's your answer to my ultimate dragons?" Chazz yelled, "That's all you can come up with? I'm insulted!" Both his dragons roared, appearing to echo his feelings.

"We'll see." Jaden said, smirking slightly. "I'll set this one other card facedown, and end my turn." He placed the card on his disc, which beeped at him, flashing 'discard'.

"What kind of idiot forgets about the limit on hand size?" Chazz yelled, "Now you have to get rid of one of your cards!"

"Yeah, I guess I do." Jaden replied, sliding one of his cards into his graveyard. "I hope this works..."

Chazz drew, and immediately frowned at his card. "Oh, it's you." The small form of Ojama Yellow popped out of the card and floated over Chazz's shoulder. "Hi, boss!"

One of the veins on Chazz's forehead started bulging. "What are you doing here? I thought I put you on the bottom of my deck!"

"Well," The Ojama said, "I wound up here when you shuffled after using Sangan to search for-" He got cut off as Chazz grabbed him and shoved him back into his card. "Shut up! Don't give away my secret weapon!"

"You don't have to be so mean about it." Ojama Yellow replied sulkily, "It's not like he can hear me..."

"Actually, yeah, I can hear you." Jaden interrupted.

Chazz's eyes bulged and his face turned bright red. "You could hear that...?"

"Yep!" Jaden replied, "I didn't know you had a Duel Spirit, Chazz! I wouldn't have guessed it."

Chazz clenched his teeth. "I DO NOT HAVE A DUEL SPIRIT!" He screamed.

"Woah..." Jaden exclaimed, rubbing his head. "No need to be so touchy about it. Let's just try to have fun."

"Have fun? Have fun?" Chazz replied incredulously, "Do you have the slightest idea how important this duel is?"

"Uhhhh... no?"

"Idiot!" Chazz yelled. "I would have expected Crowler to tell you, so how don't you know?"

"I probably wasn't paying attention when he was talking about it." Jaden replied.

Chazz sighed. "Well, it doesn't really matter." He snapped up his hand and pointed it at Jaden. "All that matters is that I'm going to crush you here and now!" He slid a card from his hand into the graveyard. "By discarding this Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV4, I can use Armed Dragon LV7's ability to destroy all monsters on your field with fewer then 1700 attack points, which your little fluffball is way below!"

Jaden smirked. "I don't sleep through every class. I remembered the special abilities of the Armed Dragons, so I set this! I activate Hammer of Justice!"

"NO!" Chazz yelled.

Jaden smirked. "I guess you know what it does. All I've gotta do is discard two cards from my hand and pay 1500 life points, and I can negate any spell, trap or monster effect and destroy the card it came from!" As Jaden made the payments, a massive hammer with the word 'Justice' on it's side appeared over Armed Dragon. The dragon looked up for a moment, then the hammer fell and squashed it flat.

CLP: 7700

JLP: 5800

Chazz ground his teeth. "Horus can still crush you! Burn that little fluffball to cinder with Black Inferno!" Horus launched another blast, and Winged Kuriboh was consumed in a wave of dark fire.

"Sorry, buddy..." Jaden thought.

"I'll give you your turn." Chazz said, "And you'd better make it count, because I'll make sure that you don't get another one!"

Jaden smirked as he drew. "I'll make it count plenty. Remember that card I discarded at the end of my last turn?"

"Yeah, so what?" Chazz asked.

"Well, do you remember Elemental Hero Necroshade?" Jaden replied.

Chazz's eyes widened. "Not him again!"

"Yep!" Jaden said, "Remember, once while he's in the graveyard, he allows me to summon a high-level Elemental Hero from my hand without needing to tribute anything!" Jaden grinned. "I'll bet you remember this guy too: Elemental Hero Bladedge!" A spectral version of Necroshade appeared on Jaden's field, glowed, and burst, revealing the golden-clad Bladedge. (2600/1800)

"Well," Chazz sneered, "Just like last time, he'll fall before my ultimate monster!"

Jaden blinked. "Uhhhh, Chazz, couldn't you only have one 'ultimate monster'? Last time, it was Chthonian Warlord."

Chazz frowned. "Well, that was my old ultimate monster! This is my new one!"

Jaden rubbed his chin. "Well, alright." He smirked. "By the way, did you happen to notice where we are?"

"Yeah, we're in the football stadium that..." Chazz paused. "Your Field Card!"

"Bingo!" Jaden yelled, "Bladedge, attack Horus with Edge Cutter!" Bladedge was infused with a golden glow from Skyscraper, boosting his power to well over Horus'. (2600/1800)–(3600/1800)

Bladedge charged forward, extending his arm-blades and slashing Horus in an X pattern. The massive dragon groaned and fell, shattering into a million pieces. Bladedge, no longer in combat, also lost the boost from Skyscraper. (3600/1800)–(2600/1800)

CLP: 7100

JLP: 5800

Jaden grinned. "Go ahead, I'll set one card and end my turn here." The set card shimmered onto Jaden's field and Jaden confidently passed the turn to Chazz.

Chazz ripped a card off of his deck, looked at it and slammed it onto his disc. "I activate Card of Sanctity! Now, we both draw until we have six cards in our hands." A rain of golden coins fell from the sky, and Chazz drew three times while Jaden drew twice.

"Alright!" Chazz yelled, "I'll activate another Level Modulation, giving you two more draws and letting me summon Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV4 from my graveyard to the field!" Jaden drew twice more, and small, blue Chinese-style dragon appeared on Chazz's field with a roar. (1700/900)

"Never seen that thing before..." Jaden remarked.

"Well then allow me to educate you!" Chazz yelled. "Like most of the first-stage level monsters, Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV4 has no effect beyond his leveling ability." Chazz grinned. "However, if I introduce another Level Up, then the formula changes dramatically!" He slid the spell card into his disc, and Aqua Kaiser Dragon was surrounded by a sphere of water. After a moment, it burst, revealing a much larger blue dragon with golden fins. (2700/1900)

"This is Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV7!" Chazz yelled triumphantly, "When he's summoned by the effect of his LV4 version, he destroys all spell and trap cards on the field. Unfortunately for you, using Level Up to summon him counts as him being summoned this way! So, say goodbye to your Field card!" Aqua Kaiser Dragon breathed out a massive stream of water which covered the field, and Skyscraper shattered, along with Jaden's facedown card.

Chazz smirked. "Now that those are out of the way, I'll have him attack! Raging Torrent!" The dragon opened it's mouth and shot a giant stream of water at Bladedge, knocking him over and slamming him into the wall, where he shattered.

CLP: 7100

JLP: 5800

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Chazz said, grinning

"Alright, then it's my draw!" Jaden declared, sliding a card off of his deck. He smirked and held out his second nine-card hand of the duel. "You know, if you keep giving me so many cards, you're gonna lose."

"Whatever, slacker." Chazz said. "No matter how many cards you have, you still can't beat my dragons."

"I wouldn't speak so soon if I were you!" Jaden replied, sliding a card onto his disc. "I'll start by activating The Warrior Returning alive, and I'll use it to bring Sparkman back from my graveyard to my hand!" The card slid out of his graveyard, and he placed it in his hand, then selected another card. He smirked. "Horus made it impossible for me to use this, but now I have everything I need! I activate Polymerization!" A vortex appeared on his field, and it drew in Sparkman, as well as Avian and Bubbleman. The vortex churned for a moment, before a figure similar to Sparkman, with metal wings and a blaster on one hand appeared. Jaden grinned. "Meet Elemental Hero Tempest!" (2800/2800)

Chazz growled. "Even if it does have more attack points then my dragon, you won't beat me!"

Jaden grinned. "Well, I'm still not backing down! Tempest, attack Aqua Kaiser Dragon with Tempest Blaster!" Tempest held up his blaster and fired a blast of focused energy at the aquatic dragon. It slammed into the dragon, shattering it.

CLP: 7000

JLP: 5800

Jaden smirked. "That's not all, though. I'll activate De-Fusion from my hand! This quick-play spell returns Tempest to the fusion deck, and then summons his components from my graveyard! So, let's welcome back Avian, Sparkman and Bubbleman!" Another vortex, this one spinning the opposite way from the last one, emerged from Tempest. Tempest vanished, and was replaced by the three weaker heroes. (1000/1000), (1600/800), (800/1200)

"Because it's still the battle phase," Jaden continued, "I can attack with them! Avian, Sparkman, Bubbleman, triple direct attack!" The three heroes launched bursts of lightning, water and wind at Chazz, knocking him off his feet and depleting almost half of his life points.

CLP: 3600

JLP: 5800

Chazz shakily stood up and growled, "Are you finished yet?"

"Not quite," Jaden replied, "I'll just set two cards facedown, then end my turn." He grinned, and the set cards appeared on his field. "Go for it."

"Not just yet." Chazz replied, "During your end phase, I'll activate Time Glitch!"

"Time Glitch?" Jaden asked.

"Yes, Time Glitch." Chazz replied, "I can activate this card during the end phase of a turn any of my monsters was destroyed. It returns one of my destroyed monsters to the field in the exact condition it was when it left - counters, attack and defense bonuses, everything." The air on Chazz's field bulged and twisted, and, after a moment, the sinuous blue and gold form of Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV7 had reappeared. (2700/1900)

"Okay..." Jaden replied, "Why, exactly does that stuff matter?"

"You'll see soon enough." Chazz replied, drawing. He glanced at the card, and then placed it in his hand.

"I'll get right to it!" Chazz yelled, "Aqua Kaiser Dragon, attack Bubbleman with Raging Torrent!" The sinuous dragon launched a stream of water at Bubbleman, who wasn't equipped to deal with quite that much water. He shattered, and a good chunk of Jaden's life points went with him.

CLP: 3600

JLP: 3900

Jaden growled, and his facedown flipped up. "I activate Sacrifice Fusion! When a fusion component monster on my field is destroyed, At a cost of 1000 life points, I can send the other components to my graveyard to summon the Fusion Monster they're components of!" Another vortex appeared on Jaden's field, sucking up Avian and Sparkman, along with Bubbleman's shards. After a moment, Tempest emerged from the vortex again. (2800/2800)

Chazz just smirked. "So he's back. I don't care."

"He beat your dragon before!" Jaden said.

"He beat the Level 7 one." Chazz replied. "Let's see how he fares against the strongest version! I end my turn." As Chazz declared the end of his turn, Aqua Kaiser Dragon was once again surrounded with a raging sphere of water. After a few moments, it burst from within the sphere, even larger then before, with golden scales scattered among the blue ones, as well as a golden mane. (3300/2500)

Chazz grinned. "This is Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV10."

"But - how?" Jaden asked, disbelieving, "He destroyed a monster on my last turn, and he didn't evolve then!"

"How? Simple." Chazz replied. "During each of my standby phases, as well as whenever he destroys a monster, Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV7 gains a Level Counter. During the end phase of my turn, if he has three level counters, then he evolves into his final from."

Jaden grimaced. "I see... so that's why you used Time Glitch. Because you needed him to keep his counters."

Chazz started laughing. "HAHAHAHA! I told you that you couldn't defeat me!"

"This duel isn't over as long as I have life points!" Jaden replied, drawing. He looked at his hand. "Nothing I can use to beat him..." Jaden thought, "So, I'll just have to stall until I find something."

"I'll shift Tempest to defense mode." Jaden said, frowning. "That'll be all for this turn."

"Giving up already?" Chazz mocked as he drew. "That's fine with me. Allow me to educate you about Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV10's special ability." He smirked and slid the card he had just drawn into his graveyard. "Once per turn, I can discard a card from my hand to destroy any Spell or Trap card on your field!" Aqua Kaiser Dragon shot a focused pulse of water at one of Jaden's facedowns, which was briefly revealed as being Mirror Force before it shattered.

"Mirror Force? To bad." Chazz said. "Oh, and, by the way, the card I discarded was a special spell called Repayment of Losses. I can't play it, but when it's sent to the graveyard from my hand, field of deck, I draw a card." He slid a card off his deck, glanced at it, and put it in his hand.

"Alright then, time to crush you!" Chazz yelled, "Aqua Kaiser Dragon, attack Tempest with Raging Flood!" Aqua Kaiser Dragon reared back and unleashed a massive surge of water at Tempest. When it subsided, however, Tempest was still there.

"What?" Chazz yelled. "How did he survive?"

"Tempest's special ability." Jaden replied, gesturing to his missing facedown. "By sending one card other then him from my field to my graveyard, I can prevent him from being destroyed in battle."

"Well," Chazz growled, "It's only a matter of time until I crush him. Take your turn already."

"With pleasure!" Jaden replied, drawing. He grinned when he saw the card, an he placed it on his disc. "I'll activate Spell Reproduction, Discarding these two spell cards to return another spell from my graveyard to my hand!" He smirked as he held up the card he had chosen. "Skyscraper, anyone?"

"NO!" Chazz yelled, "You can't!"

"I can and will!" Jaden yelled back, his field slot opening. "I play Skyscraper!" The field shimmered, and returned to the inner-city football stadium from before.

"Tempest!" Jaden yelled, "Attack Aqua Kaiser Dragon with Tempest Blaster!" The hybrid hero aimed his blaster and was suffused with a yellow glow as Skyscraper power him up. (2800/2800)–(3800/2800)

Tempest then fired a burst of yellow energy at the giant water dragon, who struggled for a moment before shattering. The need for the power gone, the yellow glow left Tempest, returning him to his original strength. (3800/2800)–(2800/2800)

CLP: 3100

JLP: 3900

Jaden grinned. "I'll end my turn with that."

Chazz clenched his teeth so hard you could almost hear them creak. "You... I'LL CRUSH YOU!" He tore a card off of his deck, and put it in his hand without even bothering to look at it. He selected another card from his hand and grinned insanely. "I've had this card in my hand since I searched for it with Sangan on your first turn. I wasn't going to use it... but you've REALLY pissed me off!"

Still grinning insanely, Chazz pulled Sangan and Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV4 out of his graveyard and slid them into his removed from play slot. "By removing one Fire-attribute monster and one Dark-attribute monster in my graveyard from play," He began, slamming a monster onto his disc. "I can summon Spirit of Corrupted Flame in attack mode!" Darkness gathered on his field, coalescing into a humanoid shape. As soon as it had formed itself, if wreathed itself in flame. Seeming to stare at Tempest, it let out an unholy shriek. (0/0)

Up at the top of the arena, Tsukanna had been drinking a soda she had brought with her and glancing at the duel every so often... at least until the Spirit of Corrupted Flame made it's appearance. Tsukanna's eyes bulged, and she dropped her soda can, spit out the soda and rushed over to get a better view.

"How-... what-... where-..." She stuttered, "How in the name of HELL did he get his hands on one of those?" She clutched her head in her hands. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, OH CRAP!" She ran off to the exit. "I've got to go report this... dammit, Spider's gonna have my ass for breakfast when he finds out!"

Back on the dueling field Chazz was laughing about the appearance of his newest monster. "HAHAHAHA! You're screwed now, slacker!"

"Uhhhh... Chazz, I don't know how to tell you this..." Jaden said, "But your monster's got no attack or defense points."

"Not at the moment," Chazz replied. "Observe." The humanoid form of the Spirit of Corrupted Flame shuddered for a moment, then it's flames blazed even higher. (0/0)–(2000/2000)

"The Spirit of Corrupted Flame," Chazz explained, "Has his base attack and defense set to 1000 times the number of different attributes among my removed from play monsters. I have two at the moment-Fire and Dark."

"Now," Chazz said, grinning, "I'll have him attack!"

"What?" Jaden yelled, "Why?"

"Because I can activate the quickplay spell Suicide Clash whenever a monster attacks!" Chazz yelled, "It grants my monster enough attack points to make it equal to your monster's attack!" (2000/2000)–(2800/2000)

Jaden's eyes widened as the Spirit of Corrupted Flame rammed itself into Tempest, and the two monsters exploded in a massive fireball. "You suicided your monster into mine?"

"Exactly!" Chazz yelled, "Because, when I end my turn, as I'm doing now," he said, gesturing, "I can special summon Spirit of Corrupted Flame back to play by removing one monster in my graveyard from play! And not only that..." He held up Armed Dragon LV3 and slid it into the removed from play slot, "Because there's now another attribute in my removed from play pile, he'll be even more powerful!" The dark spirit reappeared on Chazz's field, burning even more hotly. (0/0)–(3000/3000)

"It's your turn, slacker." Chazz taunted, "Now get it over with so I can crush you."

Jaden just snarled and pulled a card off of his deck. He looked at the card, then at the Spirit of Corrupted Flame. "I don't know why..." He thought, "But that thing just feels...wrong, somehow. Like a perversion of nature, something that shouldn't exist. Oh well." He smirked. "I've got exactly what I need to get rid of it!"

"Alright, Chazz-" Jaden began, before being blasted off his feet by flame from the spirit. As he got up, Chazz smirked at him. "Did I forget to mention that he deals you 500 points of damage during your standby phase for each attribute in my removed from play pile?" Chazz said with mock sincerity, "Silly me."

CLP: 3100

JLP: 2400

Jaden frowned. "As I was saying," he continued, "I'm ending this now!"

Chazz grinned. "Go ahead and try! Even if you do destroy my monster, he'll just come back more powerful!"

"Like I said," Jaden repeated, "I'm ending this now! I activate Fusion Recovery, bringing Avian and Polymerization back from my graveyard to my hand!" The two cards slid out of his graveyard, and Jaden immediately played one of them. "I activate Polymerization," Jaden continued, "Fusing Avian and Burstinatrix in my hand to create Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" The vortex appeared, and the two heroes were warped together into the familiar one-winged green fusion hero. (2100/1200)

Chazz sneered at Flame Wingman. "So? He misses the mark by 900 points."

Jaden just grinned. "You forgot where we are again, didn't you?"

Chazz's eyes bulged. "Skyscraper!"

"Exactly!" Jaden yelled, "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman, attack Spirit of Corrupted Flame with Skydive Scorcher!" Like the others, the green hero was infused with a yellow glow as it charged, boosting it's power. (2100/1200)–(3100/1200)

"NO!" Chazz screamed as Flame Wingman rammed into the Spirit, tossed it into the air, and then blasted it to nothing with a fireball.

CLP: 3000

JLP: 2400

Jaden smirked. "Now, Flame Wingman's special ability deals you damage equal to your monster's attack., in this case, 3000!" Flame Wingman pointed his dragon-arm at Chazz, and blasted him off his feet with another fireball, depleting the last of his life points.

CLP: 0

JLP: 2400

"And the winner is Jaden Yuki!" Crowler yelled. The entire audience, which had been silent for several minutes, erupted into cheers.

"Dammit!" Foster swore from his seat. "I was sure he would win..."

Sheppard chuckled. "Sorry Foster, but a bet's a bet."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Foster replied, grumbling. "I'll get it for you tonight."

Back on the arena floor, Jaden approached Chazz and offered him his hand. "That was a good duel, Chazz."

Chazz slapped his hand away. "No, it wasn't. I lost."

"Calm down, Chazz." Jaden said, "Winning isn't everything, you know."

Chazz just snorted "Idiot." and walked to his seat.

"For our next duel," Crowler announced, "Jamil Harris of South Academy versus Vincent..." Crowler looked closer at the paper. "Hmmm, the last name seems to be smudged. Ah well, Vincent of West Academy!"

Byron clapped Jamil on the shoulder. "Do your best, boy."

"You know it, mon." Jamil replied, walking up to Vincent, who was already in place. He clicked on his disc. "Let's dance, Vinnie!"

The black-haired teenager frowned. "My name is Vincent. And you are of no consequence." He raised his own disc. "I'm going to break you."

New Cards:

Power Leveling

Quickplay Spell

Your opponent draws three cards and you send 1 face-up monster on your side of the field that has "LV" in its card name to the Graveyard to activate this card. Special Summon the monster that is written in the card text of that monster from your hand or Deck, ignoring the Summoning conditions.

Image: Armed Dragon LV3, with Armed Dragon LV5 and Armed Dragon LV7 superimposed over it.

Hammer of Justice

Counter Trap

Discard two cards from your hand and pay 1500 life points to activate this card. Negate the activation and effect of any Spell, Trap or Monster Effect and destroy the card of origin.

Image: A big hammer with the word 'Justice' on the side.

Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV4

Water, Effect Monster - Dragon, Level 4, 1700/900

Still young, this dragon will one day rule the seas. During your Standby Phase and whenever this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, place 1 "Level Counter" on this card. (Max 2) During your End Phase, if this card has 2 "Level Counters" on it, you may send it from your field to your graveyard. If you do, Special Summon 1 "Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV7" from your hand or deck.

Image: A small, sinuous blue dragon.

Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV7

Water, Effect Monster - Dragon, Level 7, 2700/1900

Now full-grown, this dragon is the great lord of the ocean. When this card is Special Summoned by the effect of "Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV4" Destroy all spell and trap cards on the field. During your Standby Phase and whenever this card destroys a monster as a result of battle, place 1 "Level Counter" on this card. (Max 3) During your End Phase, if this card has 3 "Level Counters" on it, you may send it from your field to your graveyard. If you do, Special Summon 1 "Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV10" from your hand or deck.

Image: A large, sinuous blue dragon with golden fins.

Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV 10

Water, Effect Monster - Dragon, Level 10, 3300/2500

This ancient dragon is capable of controlling all water on earth. This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Aqua Kaiser Dragon LV 7". Once per turn, you may discard a card from your hand to destroy 1 spell or trap card on the field.

Image: A giant, sinuous dragon with blue and gold scales, golden fins and a golden mane.

Time Glitch

Normal Trap

You may only activate this card during the end phase of a turn in which monster(s) on the side of your field were destroyed and sent to the graveyard. Return 1 of the destroyed monster(s) to play, in exactly the same condition it was in when it was destroyed.

Image: A clock with whirling hands.

Repayment of Losses

Normal Spell

Whenever this card is sent from your hand, field or deck to the graveyard, draw 1 card from your deck.

(This card was created By Seeker of the Soul for use in... well, just about every single one of his fics. As well as three or four other authors' fics.)

Sacrifice Fusion

See Chapter 9

Spirit of Corrupted Flame

Fire, Effect Monster - , Level 1, 0/0

This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by removing 1 Fire-Attribute Monster and 1 Dark-Attribute monster in your graveyard from play, or by it's own revival effect. This card's base ATK and DEF are equal to the number of Attributes among your removed from play monsters x1000. During your opponent's standby phase, inflict damage to their life points equal to the number of Attributes among your removed from play monsters x500. During the end phase of a turn this card was destroyed, you may remove 1 monster in your graveyard from play. If you do, special summon this card to your field.

Image: A dark humanoid figure, covered in flame.

Suicide Clash

Quickplay Spell

You may only activate this card when a monster declares an attack. Increase or decrease the attacking monster's ATK until it is equal to the defending monster's ATK.

Image: Two warriors who have stabbed each other with swords.

Changes: I think I fudged Level Up! some. That's just how it's gonna be.

I'm using Elemental Hero Tempest's anime effect.

Next Time: The School Duel continues in a spectacular fashion. Jamil is good, and his deck is powerful, but Vincent is downright scary... and he's using monsters that you'll find very familiar. Don't miss: "Unknown Warrior of Fiend"!