Jaden, Zane, Aster, and Jesse stood before the door that led to the Spirit Gate. Chancellor Sheppard had obviously made some improvements to the card's security since the last time they were awakened.

"I don't see any signs of forced entry, hopefully that means the Sacred Beasts are right where they belong."

"We better make sure. Jaden, the only way inside is with the proper seven digit access code. There are ten million possible combinations and it changes daily, but I know what it is."

"Okay Sheppard, what is it?"

"Today's code is 0000001."

"0000001?"

"Yes."

"That's amazing, I've got the exact same combination on my garage door!" said Hassleberry.

"Why on God's green earth did it have to be the Sacred Beast cards?!"

During his freshman year at Duel Academy Jaden defeated the Sacred Beasts using a special card left for him by Professor Banner, but the card disappeared after the duel was over. Years later he fought the Sacred Beasts again, but was only able emerge victorious with the help of his friend Jesse. After Jaden and Yubel had fused he saw to it that the Sacred Beasts were returned to their proper resting place.

"I can't let Billy get his hands on those cards!"

Jaden and the other kept running down the tunnel, but they soon found that someone was in their path.

"Jaden Yuki… We meet at last."

"Elizabeth Beaufort. Get out of the way!"

"I'm sorry but I can't do that… My Billy needs the cards in order to obtain a new body."

"Look lady, Jobs is only using you!" said Aster.

"Using me? How dare you say that! He funded my research, he believed in my work when no one else did. He's the first person to believe in me as much as my dear late mother."

"Oh we know all about you… But you should know there is no way for humans to cheat death! It's only a fantasy!" said Zane.

"You're just as ignorant and blind as the rest… You think there are things we just can't change… Until I try I'll never know... I don't accept limits just because someone says they're so."

"Don't you know what happens when you push limits?" asked Jesse "Eventually you push them too far."

"I don't believe in going too far, no one believes in going too far. The atom bomb, grave robbers, biological warfare, stem cell research, abortion, etcetera. Billy didn't believe in going too far either, that's why he was all too willing to end your precious daughter's life before it even began last year."

"That's horrible! How could you support something like that?!"

"Simple Jaden… It's not my baby, and at the end of the day I just don't care. And for your information it was partially thanks to my experiments with the fragments of unborn fetuses, my observations of decomposing mature human bodies, research in childbirth and more, that I alone was able to discover the secret of restoring life. Now I just need something to stabilize my Billy's new body, and the power of Sacred Beast cards will fit the bill just fine."

"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH! STAND ASIDE!!!"

"I already told you I'm not moving… But I'll have a change of heart if you defeat me in a duel."

"Fine! I'll enjoy thrashing a sick person like you."

Jaden and Elizabeth both activated their duel disks.

"Let's duel!"

"As you know the rules say ladies first. I'll summon a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"It's my turn then, and I play Polymerization, and I'll use it to fuse Elemental Heroes Avian and Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

(ATK: 2100 DEF: 1200)

"I'll also summon Elemental Hero Sparkman!"

(ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400)

"Flame Wingman, attack her face down monster!"

Jaden's Wingman had no trouble destroying Elizabeth's monster, but much to Jaden's surprise her life points didn't drop.

"Shouldn't you have just lost life points equal to your destroyed monster's attack points?"

"Sorry Jaden, but my Flu Virus monster doesn't have any attack or defense points. However it does have a special effect, first you need to randomly discard two cards from your hand, next I get to special summon another virus monster from my hand in face down defense position."

"Then I'll take that one out as well. Sparkman attack!"

Sparkman destroyed Elizabeth's monster , but then a yellow and pink blob attached itself to him.

"What the heck is that?"

"That's an E-Virus counter. When my Escherichia Coli is destroyed in battle, it attaches an E-Virus counter to the monster that destroyed it."

"So what does it do?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Let me get this straight, she's a doctor who wants to find a way for human beings to cheat death?" asked Syrus.

"Pretty much."

"Leave it to Billy Jobs to fall in love with someone even crazier than himself." said Alexis.

"It's my turn again, and I play the spell card Incubation Period! This let's me look at the top five cards of my deck, and if any of them are virus monsters I can special summon them to the field in defense mode. And it looks like I get to summon three monsters. That ends my turn, but soon my monsters will end you."

"We'll see about that, it's my turn!"

Suddenly Jaden's Sparkman started shaking and coughing.

(Jaden: 3500)

"What the?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about the E-Virus counter on your monster. During your standby phase if one of your monsters has one attached to it, you take 500 points of damage."

"Cheap trick, I play the spell card Emergency Card Stash, since there are no other cards in my hand, I can use this spell card to draw six cards from my deck. Next I summon Elemental Hero Woodsman in attack mode!"

(ATK: 1000 DEF: 2000)

"And next I'll have Wingman attack one of your face down monsters!"

Jaden's Wingman destroyed Elizabeth's monster, but her life points didn't change.

"Let me guess, another monster with no attack points?"

"Yes, but it does have a special effect."

Suddenly all three of Jaden's monsters started to look green in the face, then they all crumbled to the ground.

"What?!"

"When my Malburg is destroyed it places an M-Virus counter on all the monsters you have out, and the best part is the monsters equipped with these counters can't attack."

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Okay, this duel is making me msyophobic." said Aster.

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Jesse.

(Mysophobia: an irrational fear of dirt, contamination, or in most cases germs)

"It's my turn again, and I think I'll just summon this monster in defense mode. So I guess it's your turn. But don't forget, during your standby phase the E-Virus counter attached to your Sparkman causes you to lose 500 life points!"

(Jaden: 3000)

"That's not the only thing that happens during my standby phase, since I have Woodsman on the field, I can bring a Polymerization from either my deck or grave to my hand, and I'll use it to fuse Flame Wingman and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!"

(ATK: 2500 DEF: 2100)

"Nice move, Jaden traded in two of his infected monsters for one that's clean!"

"Now Flare Wingman gains 300 attack points for every Elemental Hero in my graveyard."

(ATK: 3700)

"Flare Wingman, attack the monster in the middle!"

Jaden knew that since his monster's effect wouldn't work, he'd just have to plow through Elizabeth's monsters to reach her life points.

"Since you just destroyed my Yersinia Pestis you've activated it's effect, now we both look at the top three cards of our decks."

"Okay… so what happens now?"

"Now we send any monster cards we picked up to the graveyard, and to add insult to injury, we lose 500 life points for every monster we discard. Fortunately I didn't pick up any monsters. But it looks like you're not so lucky."

Elizabeth was right, Jaden had picked up three monsters.

(Jaden: 1500)

"But since there are now three more Elemental Heroes in my graveyard my Wingman gains 900 more attack points!"

(ATK: 4600)

"So your monster is a little bit stronger, as long as I've got monsters protecting my life points I don't care. I play the spell card Graceful Charity, this let's me draw three cards as long as I discard two. Next I'll summon a monster in defense mode and call it a turn."

"Then it's my turn again, and since Woodsman is on the field I can bring Polymerization back from my grave to my hand. Next I play Mystic Wok, now by tributing Woodsman I gain life points equal to his defense points!"

(Jaden: 3500)

"Next I play the spell card Foolish Burial, with this I can send Elemental Hero Necroshade from my deck to my graveyard, and since there are two more Elemental Heroes in my graveyard, my Shining Flare Wingman gains another 600 attack points!"

(ATK: 5200)

"But that's not all, since Necroshade is in the graveyard, I can now summon an Elemental Hero without a sacrifice, and the monster I summon is Elemental Hero Bladedge!"

(ATK: 2600 DEF: 1800)

"Bladedge, attack her face down monster on the left!"

Jaden's Bladedge sliced right through Elizabeth's monster.

(Elizabeth: 1400)

"What the?! How did I lose life points just now?!"

"Simple, when Bladedge destroys a defending monster in battle, you take damage equal to the difference in his attack points and your monster's defense points, since your viruses have no defense points, you lost 2600 life points."

"Err… But since you destroyed my Pox, you need to look at the top cards of your deck equal to your monster's level, and any spell or trap cards you pick up are immediately sent to the graveyard."

Jaden had to pick up seven cards, and five of them were spells and traps.

"It was worth it, to take more than half your life points with one attack. Wingman, attack the monster on the right!"

The attack was successful and Elizabeth's monsters were destroyed, but when the smoke cleared Jaden saw that both his monsters were itching crusty sores that had appeared on their bodies.

"What the heck is this?"

"My diagnosis, your monsters have Hansen's disease."

"Whose disease?"

"It means you have leprosy."

"Leprosy?!"

"Yes, by destroying my Mycobacterium Leprae, all your monster get an L-Virus counter attached to them, and as a result they can't use their special effects. So your Wingman's attack points drop to their original value."

(ATK: 2500)

"Sam hill!" said Hassleberry "This means the sarge can't use Bladedge's effect to take out the rest of her life points."

"Tell us something we don't know."

"Wait boss, if I remember correctly the lepers were cured by some bearded dude!" said Chazz's Ojama Yellow.

"It's my turn again. First I'll summon a monster in defense mode, next I'll activate two continuous spells cards, HIV and AIDS!"

Suddenly Jaden's monsters looked a lot sicker.

"As long as HIV is on the field, the attack and defense points of all face up monsters that aren't viruses are cut in half!"

(ATK: 1250 DEF: 1050)

(ATK: 1300 DEF: 900)

"Hey, that's not fair!"

"What are you complaining to me for? I don't make the cards, I just use them. Besides, what do attack and defense points matter to you? All my virus monster's don't have any."

"Fine, well it's my turn now!"

"I know, so the effect of AIDS activates, during each of our standby phases, we take damage equal to the number of non virus monsters we have out multiplied by 500."

(Jaden: 2500)

"Err… You know I'm getting really sick of these cards."

Suddenly Jesse started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Sick, germs, viruses, that's a joke Jay, and you missed it!"

"Okay… I play the spell card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards, next I'll throw down two face downs and summon Elemental Hero Knospe!"

(ATK: 600 DEF: 1000)

"Next I activate the spell card Rose Bud! Now by tributing Knospe, I can summon Elemental Hero Poison Rose from my deck!"

(ATK: 1900 DEF: 2000)

"Don't forget, thanks to the effect of HIV, your monster loses half it's attack points and defense points!"

(ATK: 950 DEF: 1000)

"Shoot, I did forget about that, if that wasn't in play I could have destroyed both her monsters then won with a direct attack… Oh well. Flare Wingman attack!"

Jaden's Wingman's moves were sluggish, but it was able to destroy Elizabeth's monster.

"By destroying my Cholera, you've activated its special effect, now you take 100 points of damage multiplied by your monster's level!"

(Jaden: 1700)

"Err… Now Bladedge attack her other monster!"

When Bladedge attacked, all the monsters on the field were destroyed.

"What the?!"

"By destroying my Ebola monster, you set off its special effect, which wipes out every monster in play."

"Okay… now I'm really getting sick of these viruses. I guess I'll end my turn by playing Mirage of Nightmare and a face down."

"I guess Billy won't need to fight you after all, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees that I've beaten you myself."

"Don't forget, it's your turn so my Mirage of Nightmare let's me draw until I have four cards in my hand, next I'll activate my Emergency Provisions and destroy Mirage so I gain back 1000 life points."

(Jaden: 2700)

"As if it will matter, if you think my virus monsters were bad, they're nothing compared to what you're about to see."

"Come on, what could possibly be worse?"

"I'll show you, I remove my Flu Virus, Escherichia Coli, Marburg, Yersinia Pestis, Pox, Mycobacterium Leprae, Cholera, and Ebola from play, so I can special summon the card that Billy gave me, Avid Rung Ros!!!"

Suddenly tiny green particles engulfed the arena, and they seemed to merge into what appeared to be huge dragon walking on all fours.

"Holy flurking shnit!!! What is that thing?!" exclaimed Crowler.

"Whatever it is it's hideous!" said Jasmine.

"And disgusting!" said Mindy.

"Incase you're wondering, my Avid Rung Ros is a dragon made entirely of germs and viruses."

(ATK: ? DEF: ?)

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but why aren't its attack and defense points determined?"

"Simple, Avid Rung Ros can only be special summoned by removing viruses from my graveyard, I'm only required to remove two, but I removed eight since his attack and defense points are equal to the number of viruses I remove times 500."

(ATK: 4000 DEF: 4000)

"I knew I wasn't going to like the answer…"

"Oh there's one thing I forgot to mention, Avid Rung Ros can also attack you as many times per turn for each of the monsters used to summon him, so he gets eight attacks, but since he has 4000 attack points and you have only 2700 life points and no monsters I only need one… Avid Rung Ros, attack!"

Elizabeth's Avid Rung Ros fired a cloud of bacteria from it's mouth in Jaden's direction.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Negate Attack!"

Avid Rung Ros' attack was stopped just before it touched Jaden.

"Now it doesn't matter if your monster can attack a million times, because the battle phase is over."

"Very well then, I'll just wipe you out on my next turn."

Jaden drew his card.

"Sorry, but there is no next turn for you, because I play Miracle Fusion, and I'll remove the Elemental Heroes Heat and Lady Heat in my graveyard from play in order to summon Elemental Hero Inferno!"

(ATK: 2300 DEF: 1600)

"And I'll equip him with the spell card Assualt Armor, next I'll send the card to my graveyard, now he can attack twice this turn."

"It doesn't matter how many times he can attack, my Avid Rung Ros had more attack points! And since I still have HIV on the field your monster is about to get even weaker!"

"I don't think so, not when I activate my face down trap, DNA Surgery, this changes all monsters on the field into whatever type I choose, and I choose Machines!"

Jaden's Inferno transformed into a metallic version of itself, and it's attack points didn't drop at all.

"What?!"

"I had my friends do a little research on your deck Elizabeth, and it turns out your viruses can't effect machine monsters since they aren't technically living creatures."

"Fine whatever… On my next turn my Avid Rung Ros will destroy you anyway!"

"Like I said, there is no next turn for you. I play the equip spell Ax of Despair, this give my Inferno an extra 1000 attack points!"

(ATK: 3300)

"That's still not enough."

"I know, which is why I'm activating the field spell Skyscraper! And since my Inferno has less attack points than your monster, he gains 1000 extra points!"

(ATK: 4300)

"Inferno, attack!"

Elizabeth's Avid Rung Ros went up in flames.

(Elizabeth: 1100)

"And since I sent Assault Armor to the graveyard earlier this turn, my monster can attack again!"

(Elizabeth: 0)

As soon as Elizabeth's life points hit zero Jaden, Jesse, Zane, and Aster rushed past her and further down the tunnel until they finally came to the place where the Sacred Beast cards would be.

"Step away from the cards you!"

"Too late hero dudes, the metal dude with bad karma already took them."

"What the… Belowski?"

"Crowler put me down here to help protect the beasts from those uncool people… I tried reasoning with him saying that he was riding some serious negative waves and I had cosmic jurisdiction to assign mantras, but before I could do that I told him he needed a major cosmic cleansing and total clearing of the shockras. But he was all no…"

"I didn't understand a word you said the whole time." said Aster.

"This is bad." said Zane "Very bad."

Jaden and the others raced back to the Obelisk Blue dorm to regroup, and when they got there the whole island started to shake.

"What's happening?! What is this?!"

"It must be Billy!"

Almost as quickly as it came the rumbling stopped. For about thirty minutes everything was quiet, then fireworks could be heard going on outside. That's when they heard Billy's voice over the P.A., only it no longer sounded deep and mechanical.

"Da-dah-da-da-da-dah! JADEN! I know it's been a long hard night, but good news! It's time for the main event and everyone is invited! Two duelists in an all out one on one fight to the death, featuring the Sacred Beast cards. You don't want to miss it, so everyone get your rear ends over to the stadium at the volcano or I'll blow up the island for real!"

"The volcano? But we don't have a stadium at the volcano." said Sheppard.

"You do now."

(To be continued)

That's right everyone

The final fight begins in

Chapter 10: A friend in need.