"Billy, what's taking you so long?"

"Patience Elizabeth, Sheppard seems to have added a few things to make it more difficult. It will take me a minute to find the proper access code. We don't want to sound an alarm, otherwise knowing Jaden he'll ruin everything."

"Well whatever you do just be quick about it."

"I will."

Being mostly machine did have its advantages, such as having an entire electronic store on your wrist.

"Ten million possible security codes and it changes daily… Let's try them all."

It did only took the device on Billy's arm a minute to locate the right one, but it surprised him.

"That's it? That's the security code? That's the kind of thing an idiot would have on his garage door opener!"

Jaden had made it back to the Obelisk Blue dorm, he found that some people where busy sweeping up the confetti from Billy's "bombs".

"Well now that we know his threat was a bluff, shouldn't we just wait for the police to get here?" asked Mindy.

"I'm not sure we can wait that long." said Aster "Billy is up to something, he wouldn't just hold the whole island hostage over a simple revenge scheme."

"And what's more, why would he have Jaden face a gauntlet of opponents?"

"Zane's right, the last two times Billy just challenged Jaden himself."

"Maybe he's trying to distract us."

"Yeah, but from what?"

"Wait a minute, I think I know, it sounds crazy, but hear me out." said Blair "Billy is no longer after Alexis; apparently he's had a thing for Elizabeth since she brought him back to life… If you can call being a brain in a jar on a robot body living."

"So he's putting the moves on someone else, so what?" asked Chazz.

"So… how's he going to put the moves on anyone without a body?"

"… That's ridiculous." said Crowler "There's nothing on this island that can give a brain a body."

"Nothing except…"

"The Sacred Beast cards!" exclaimed Jaden finishing the Chancellor's sentence.

Jaden and the others remembered how the Sacred Beast cards had restored Kagemaru to his youth; it was possible that Billy aimed to use them to obtain a new body.

"We need to get to the Spirit Gate!"

Jaden, Zane, Aster, and Jesse raced for the Spirit Gate while the others stayed behind.

"If Jobs gets his hands on those cards, we might as well be sucking cyanide." thought Zane.

Jaden and the others had made it to the tunnel entrance, but someone was waiting for them there.

"Tom? Get out of the way!"

"No… Not until you duel me…"

"What? I've already beaten you twice! And if you don't move Billy will awaken the Sacred Beast cards!"

"I don't care… I have only one function… The whole purpose of my existence is to duel… until I fought you I was undefeated… Now I will not rest until I have triumphed over you!"

"You should just call it quits Tom, there's no one inside you whose deck I haven't already beaten yet!"

Much to everyone's surprise, the dueling robot copy cat started laughing.

"I don't think so Jaden… I have one module in my system that no one else knows about… something I've been for an opponent like you… it's a deck you've never faced before… only used…"

"Oh no, don't tell me…" said Aster.

Tom started to transform, when the light faded their fears were confirmed, Tom had become the Supreme King.

"You know the old saying; one man's trash… is another man's treasure."

"This is bad, very bad."

"Err… Fine! If it's a duel you want, it's a duel you'll get!"

The both activated their duel disks.

"Let's duel!"

Like the other duels, this one was being broadcasted across the island, and the world.

"Jaden going up against an evil version of himself? This should be good." said Chazz.

"Since you're at a disadvantage in so many ways, I'll let you make the first move."

"Fine with me! I'll place a card face down, and summon a monster in defense mode."

"A feeble start! I'll show you how a real duelist fights! I play Dark Fusion! With this I can fuse Elemental Heroes Avain and Burstinatrix to summon Evil Hero Inferno Wing!"

(ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200)

"Inferno Wing, attack his face down monster!"

Jaden's Clayman was melted.

(Jaden: 3900)

"As I'm sure you know, thanks to Inferno Wing's effect you lose life points equal to the difference between her attack points and your monster's defense points. Now thanks to her other special effect you lose 2000 more life points!"

(Jaden: 1900)

"Since you destroyed a monster on my side of the field, I can activate Hero Signal! Now I can special summon a level four or lower monster with Elemental Hero in its name from my deck, and I choose Sparkman!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400)

"HA-AH! You must be desperate. That puny hero is no match for my Inferno Wing!"

"Maybe not by himself, which is why I activate The Warrior Returning Alive! Now I can bring my Clayman back to my hand. Next I activate my Polymerization, so I can fuse Sparkman and Clayman to summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!"

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1500)

"Now by discarding a card from my hand, I can destroy one monster on the field whose attack points are less than my Thunder Giant's, namely your Inferno Wing!"

Thunder Giant blew Inferno Wing away.

"And I still haven't attacked yet. Thunder Giant, attack him directly!"

(Tom: 1600)

"Now I'll place a card face down and play Mirage of Nightmare, and that's it for now."

"You call that Thunder Giant a monster? I'll show you a real monster!"

"Sure, but first my Mirage activates, allowing me to draw until I have four cards in my hand, next I activate my face down Emergency Provisions to destroy Mirage and gain 1000 life points."

(Jaden: 2900)

"No matter, your life points will be zero soon enough. First I play Hand Destruction, this forces us both to discard two cards from our hands, and draw two more cards from our decks. Next I activate the spell card Dark Calling, which I can use to fuse the Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman I just discarded to summon Evil Hero Lightning Golem!"

(ATK: 2400 DEF: 1500)

"Like looking in a mirror isn't it… only I'm bigger, and better."

"You know, I could probably sue you for copyright infringement and win."

"Safe it till after you've defeated me fool! And that's not going to happen! Lightning Golem, destroy his Thunder Giant!"

Lightning Golem blasted Thunder Giant with a burst of dark energy.

"And that's not all, I still haven't attacked yet. Lightening Golem, attack him directly!"

(Jaden: 500)

"I've got to get something started… I summon Elemental Hero Stratos!"

(ATK: 1800 DEF: 300)

"When Stratos is successfully summoned I can select one Elemental Hero from my deck and add it to my hand. Next I'll place a card face down and activate the field spell Skyscraper, and since Stratos has fewer attack points than your Golem he gains 1000 points!"

(ATK: 2800)

"Stratos, attack!"

Startos flew up into the sky and dive-bombed into Lightning Golem and destroyed it.

(Tom: 1200)

"Now I'll just throw down a face down and call it a turn."

"I call it a waste of time! There's nothing you can do to stop me! I play the spell card Pot of Greed and draw two cards, next I play Dark Fusion, which I'll use to fuse Evil Hero Malicious Edge and Armor Exe to summon Evil Hero Dark Gaia!"

(ATK: ? DEF: 0)

"And as I'm sure you know, Dark Gaia's attack points are equal to the combined attack points of Armor Exe and Malicious Edge, which is more than enough to wipe you out!"

(ATK: 5000)

"Evil Hero Dark Gaia, attack his Stratos!"

Dark Gaia created a huge meteor and threw it at Stratos, but when the smoke cleared Jaden's life points were untouched.

"Sorry, but by destroying Stratos you activated my Hero Spirit, which I can use to reduce all the damage inflicted by one of your monsters to zero."

"You've just delayed the inevitable Jaden… All the data I've accumulated tells me that you can't win."

"I've heard that delaying the inevitable line like a million times already, what makes you any different?"

"Because I have an ace in the hole… But first I'll play two cards face down."

It was Jaden's turn.

"Okay, since you sent my Elemental Hero Necroshade to the graveyard when you played Hand Destruction, I can now summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice, and I choose Elemental Hero Neos!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000)

"Next I play Double Summon, so now I can summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!"

(ATK: 900 DEF: 300)

"And now I'll initiate a contact fusion!"

"I don't think so you fool! I activate my face down trap card, Non-Fusion Area! As long as this card is on the field neither of us can fusion summon."

"This is not good."

Alexis remembered how on their wedding night, she used a Non-Fusion Area card in a duel with Jaden and actually won, she made Jaden swear that he didn't let her win. And then almost a year ago Billy had used the same card to cripple Jaden's deck in their duel, luckily Jaden was still able to summon his Level 10 Winged Kuriboh and used it to win the duel, she just hoped Jaden could find a way out of it this time.

"Okay, it's a loss but not a critical one. Neo-Spacian Grand Mole, attack!"

Jaden's Grand Mole hurled itself at Dark Gaia.

"When Grand Mole attacks, both monsters are immediately returned to our hands without damage calaculation! Now I'll attack you directly with Neos!"

"I think not, I activate Negate Attack!"

Neos was stopped in his tracks.

"You've played right into my trap Jaden Yuki, I play Emergency Card Stash which lets me draw six cards from my deck. Next I activate Heavy Storm, which destroys all spell and trap cards on the field!"

Both Jaden's Skyscraper and Tom's Non-Fusion Area were destroyed.

"Next I activate the spell card D.D. Designator, which I can use to remove the Neo-Spacian Grand Mole in your hand from play! Next I'll summon Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy!"

(ATK: 300 DEF: 600)

"… Here it is… THE FINAL CARD! I ACTIVATE SUPER POLYMERIZATION!!!"

"No! Not that!"

"Yes, that! This allows me to fuse my Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy with your Neos! Combining to form your doom!"

Jaden watched in horror as his Neos and Tom's Prodigy were sucked into the vortex.

"They're gone! But what's coming in their place?!"

"I SUMMON EVIL HERO NEOS!!!"

From the vortex emerged a black version of Elemental Hero Neos with what appeared to be silver pieces of metal covering certain parts of its body.

(ATK: 3000 DEF: 2500)

"If you think he's scary now, just wait until he gains 500 attack points for every monster in my graveyard!"

(ATK: 6500)

"Sixty five hundred points?!" exclaimed Jesse.

"There's nothing he can do!" said Aster "He's got no spells, no traps, no monsters!"

"Evil Neos has enough power to destroy an entire planet, imagine what it can do at close range… Now I know why you gave up this power Jaden Yuki, because you don't deserve it… You cannot win because I am mighty, and you… are nothing!!!"

The Evil Hero Neos raised its hands to the heavens and it seemed to start gathering energy from the surroundings, focusing it all into a gigantic dark ball of energy that streatched higher and higher into the night sky.

"EVIL HERO NEOS!!! WIPE HIM OUT WITH YOUR DEATH BALL!!!"

Evil Neos threw its hands down towards the ground and the huge energy ball followed suit. There was a huge explosion.

"NO!!! JADEN!!!"

"MWAH-AH-HA-AH-AH!!! I'VE DONE IT!!! VICTORY IS MINE!!!"

Just then the smoke started to clear.

"WHAT!?! NO!!! YOU HAD NO CARDS IN PLAY!!! YOUR LIFE POINTS ARE ZERO!!! I'VE WON!!!"

"You're right… I didn't have any cards in play… But since you played Hand Destruction earlier I had Necro Gardna in my graveyard, and by removing him from play I can negate one of your attacks."

"Way to go Jaden, give us all a heart attack why don't you!" said Syrus.

Crowler, Mindy, and Jasmine were all hiding behind a couch.

"It's not just me." said Crowler "That was really scary, right?"

"Err… It matters not! There are no cards in your hand, and even if you draw a monster, on my next turn I'll activate my Neo's other special effect, then I'll be able to remove my Lightning Golem from graveyard so Neos will be able to copy it's effect!"

"Well then I guess I'll have to make this turn count." said Jaden "Look familiar? I play my Emergency Card stash so I can draw six cards, next I play O – Oversoul to special summon Neos from the graveyard!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2000)

"Let's go kick my butt." said Neos to Jaden.

"Next I activate the equip spell card Neos Force, thanks to this Neos gets an extra 800 attack points."

(ATK: 3300)

"And now I'll activate another equip spell, Megamorph! Since I have fewer life points than you Neos' original attack points are doubled!"

(ATK: 5800)

"Next I'll play H – Heated Heart, so he gains another 500 attack points!"

(ATK: 6300)

"That's still not enough!"

"I know, which is why I'm activating Graceful Charity, so I may draw three cards from my deck, as long I discard two. Now I activate Magical Stone Excavation, by discarding two more cards I can bring back one spell card that I've used, and the card I choose is Skyscraper!"

"No!"

"Yes, and since Neos has less attack points than your monster, he now gains 1000 attack points!"

(ATK: 7300)

"Neos, attack!"

Neos pounded it's evil self into nothingness.

(Tom: 400)

"And since he was equipped with Neos Force, you take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points!"

(Tom: 0)

"NO!!! I HAD EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO WIN!!! MY STRATEGY WAS FLAWLESS!!!"

"Take it easy dude. You win some you lose some, that's how you play the game."

"Err… I WILL NOT BE SECOND TO YOU!!!"

Tom still in the guise of the Supreme King drew a sword and started to charge and Jaden, suddenly he stopped in midair.

"Danger… danger! Overload! OVERLOAD!!!"

Electricity surged across Tom's body, and then he reverted back to his original form and fell to the ground smoking.

"How the…"

Jaden looked up and saw Yubel above him.

"I thought I told you to stay with Sakura."

"Yes, but she told me to come here and save you."

"Well, tell her I said thank you. Right now I've got to stop Billy from reaching the Sacred Beast cards."

(To be continued)

New illustrations available on deviant art

Evil Hero Neos

Elizabeth Beaufort

And

Avid Rung Ros