Code of the Duel Chapter 2, a Yu-Gi-Oh + Code Lyoko Crossover fanfic

A/N: Here we are with a new, long chapter! There's a twist at the end, and the plot begins to rear its non-ugly head!

Anywho, here we are!

Chapter 2 – First Time's the Charm

After a minute or two of explaining the simple mechanics of Duel Monsters, Aelita had assembled a Dueling Deck of forty cards from my stash – or trunk as some of us Duelists call it – and I had set up a duel field on my new portable collapsible card table, which consisted of two deck mats placed directly apart from each other. She gave her cards one more quick look over before she sat down on my bed, facing me.

"Here's a neat little trick I developed with a simple calculator," I said, and placed one of my calculators on the table. I turned it on, and filled in the whole space with 40004000.

"What's that for?" she asked.

"The first 4000 will represent your Life Points," I said, "and the last 4000 will be my Life Points. I subtract from your Life Points by adding four zeroes to the Life Points you lost, and I just subtract the ordinary numeral values for mine."

"That's pretty neat," she grinned. We both shuffled each other's decks, and placed them in front of each other.

"I've wondered something," she asked. "How come we shuffle our opponent's deck?"

"It's so there leaves little room for cheating," I replied, "plus it's also supposed to be a show of respect towards Duelists."

"I see," she said, rubbing her chin.

We then each placed our decks in the appropriate spots on the mat, and I held my hand out to Aelita. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she smiled, shaking my hand.

In case you weren't aware, this is how Duelists normally start a Duel. Following this, we each played rock-paper-scissors to decide who went first. As I held a fist out, Aelita thrust her open hand to meet it.

"Paper beats rock," I shrugged. "You go first."

Once Aelita drew five cards from the top of her Deck, I drew five cards from the top of my Deck. I looked at her, and we nodded, smiling.

"Let's Duel!" we each shouted together.

Jeremy Belpois – LP 4000
Aelita Schaeffer – LP 4000

Aelita then drew a sixth card from the top of her deck, and looked over her hand for a while, deciding on what move to make. After a few seconds, she pulled out one of her cards from her hand.

"I'm going to set this monster in facedown Defense Position," she began, placing the card facedown in one of the Monster Card Zones on her side of the field, "and then I'll end my turn."

"Good move," I said, drawing a card from my Deck. "That was a smart move, and great work for a beginner Duelist." I then took one of my cards out of my hand. "But don't think I'll go too easy on you, even though you're a beginner. I summon Marauding Captain!" I played the monster face-up on my side of the field. "Marauding Captain lets me Special Summon another Level 4 or lower monster from my hand to my side of the field, so I Special Summon Field-Commander Rahz!" I took another card from my hand and played it on the field. "With that, Rahz's special ability activates! I can take a Level 4 or lower Warrior-Type monster from my Deck, and place it on the top of my Deck." Looking through my Deck, I picked one card and put the rest of my Deck back after shuffling it. "I choose to move my Mystic Swordsman LV4 to the top of my Deck. Now, I attack your facedown monster with my Field-Commander Rahz!"

"Sorry, Jeremy," she grinned, flipping her facedown card face-up, "but you attacked my Spirit of the Harp! Your monster's 400 Attack Points weaker, so your attack is negated and you lose 400 Life Points."

Jeremy Belpois – LP 4000 - 3600

"Heh," I chuckled, deducting my loss from the display, "that's not too bad for a beginner. Alright then, I play one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my move," Aelita said, drawing a new card. "I'll play the Spell Card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two new cards." She drew her cards, and took one of them out of her hand. "Now I summon Dunames Dark Witch! She now attacks your Field-Commander Rahz!"

"Not so fast," I said. "My Marauding Captain prevents you from attacking any Warrior-Type monsters on my side of the field, except for him."

"No problem," she grinned. "I'll just attack him and deal you 600 points of damage."

I hissed, but placed my Marauding Captain into my Graveyard, and reduced my Life Points by 600 points.

Jeremy Belpois – LP 3600 - 3000

"I play one card facedown and end my turn," she said, grinning. "I'm getting good at this, aren't I?"

"It's important for a Duelist not to get cocky," I chided, "but I'll admit my skills are more than a bit rusty as of now. With XANA and school to worry about, I didn't exactly find the right time for Dueling."

"I suppose not," Aelita shrugged. "Anyways, it's your turn."

"Right," I said, and then drew a card. "I'll activate the Spell Card, The Warrior Returning Alive! With this card, I can take my Marauding Captain from my Graveyard and add it back to my hand. I'll summon him again, and use his special ability to Special Summon the Mystic Swordsman LV4 I just drew!"

"That's a good move," Aelita commented. "Since Mystic Swordsman LV4 can't be Normal Summoned, but can only be Set, you managed to bypass this restriction!"

"Not that it's going to help you," I smiled. "I'll attack your Dunames Dark Witch with Mystic Swordsman LV4!"

"Hold on," she said, flipping over one of her cards. "I activate my Trap Card: Magic Cylinder! This negates your attack, and you take damage equal to your monster's Attack Points!"

I grumbled, and typed in my loss on my calculator.

Jeremy Belpois – LP 3000 - 1100

"I don't have a lot left," I said, "and you haven't lost any. You're incredibly lucky, Aelita. If you don't mind me saying, I've never seen anyone do this well on their first Duel since Yugi Muto himself."

"Well, thank you," she smiled.

"But I'm not done yet," I grinned. "I play the Spell Card Dark Hole, which destroys all of our monsters!"

Aelita placed her monsters in her Graveyard, and I did the same. Just then, I flipped up my facedown card. "I activate the Trap Card, Call of the Haunted! This lets me revive my Mystic Swordsman LV4!" I then took my monster from my Graveyard and placed it back on my side of the field. "Since I've used up my attack, I play one card face down and end my turn." I placed the last card in my hand on my side of the field.

Just then, a knock at the door snapped me to attention. "Come on in," I said.

The door opened, and Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd stepped into the room.

"What's going on here?" Ulrich asked, looking at the scene with confusion.

"Jeremy's teaching me how to play Duel Monsters," Aelita replied.

"You play Duel Monsters, Jeremy?" Yumi raised an eyebrow.

"I did a lot before I came here and before XANA came into the picture," I said. "Aelita and I are dueling right now."

"So far I'm winning," she grinned. "I've got all 4000 of my Life Points, and he's only got 1100."

"Allow me to repeat myself," I said. "Don't get cocky. 'A Duelist's worst enemy is himself.' That's what Yugi Muto always said."

"Since when do you know this much about Duel Monsters?" Odd asked, his face full of surprise.

"Since I was eight and I saw Yugi and Seto Kaiba's Duel at the Battle City finals on TV," I replied. "I'm a fan of them both, but I'm also a huge fan of the runner-up from Duelist Kingdom, Joey Wheeler."

"Joey Wheeler?" Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Who's that?"

"Uh, he was the runner-up at Duelist Kingdom?" I said, somewhat shocked that they did not know. "Not to mention he got in fourth place, right behind Seto Kaiba, in Battle City, and he clinched the 2004 All-Japan National Duel Monsters Championship title."

"How come I've never heard of him, then?" Odd asked. "I've been pretty good with Duel Monsters news."

"So have I," Yumi said, "and Duel Monsters was a huge hit back in my homeland, even though it was made in America."

"Duel Monsters was created in America?" Aelita asked.

"August 5, 1996," I said, "was when Maximillion J. Pegasus, chairman and CEO of Industrial Illusions, created the world famous collectible card game Duel monsters from his company's world headquarters in San Francisco, California, USA."

"Man, you sure know a lot about this game," Ulrich said.

"I make it my business to know stuff like this," I said, adjusting my glasses. "Speaking of Dueling, you're all free to sit around in here and enjoy the last few minutes of our Duel, you know."

"Yeah, and watch you get your butt kicked!" Odd laughed.

"That's what you think," I snickered to myself as the gang sat down to observe our Duel.

"Alright," Aelita said, "it's my turn now, and I play the Spell Card Polymerization! This will fuse Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts and Berformet into Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast!" She sent the three cards from her hand to the graveyard and took the sole Fusion Monster card form her Fusion Deck and played it on the field in Attack Position.

"That's a powerful monster," Odd said. "It's got 2100 Attack Points, and Jeremy's Mystic Swordsman LV4 only has 1900."

"That means it's strong enough to take it out!" Aelita said. "Chimera attacks Mystic Swordsman LV4!"

"If Aelita's attack succeeds," Yumi said, "she'll have knocked Jeremy down to only 900 Life Points!"

"I'm not beaten yet!" I said. "I activate my Trap Card, Kunai with Chain! This stops your attack and switches your monster to Defense Position! To top it all off, it also boosts my Mystic Swordsman LV4's Attack Points by 500 points!"

Mystic Swordsman LV4 ATK: 2400

"Whew," Odd sighed, "that was a close shave for Jeremy."

"I play two cards facedown and end my turn," Aelita said, sighing.

"It's my turn now," I said, "and here goes my draw!" As I looked at the card I drew, I smiled.

"I activate the Spell Card Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards!" I drew my cards, and smiled upon seeing my new cards. "Now I activate Swords of Revealing Light!" I said, playing the card on an empty spot on the Spell & Trap Card Zone. "This card stops you from attacking me for three of your turns after I activate this card! Now I attack your Chimera!"

"When Chimera is destroyed," Aelita said, placing her monster in her Graveyard, "I can resurrect Gazelle or Berformet form my Graveyard to take its place. I choose to Special Summon Berformet, and I place him in Defense Position." She did so, and flipped one of her facedown cards face-up. "Furthermore, I also activate one of my face-down Trap Cards, Jar of Greed. This lets me draw one more card."

"Very well, then," I said, "I play this card facedown and end my turn."

"And I'll start mine," Aelita said, drawing. "It may seem I can't attack you, but watch this! I summon Mythical Beast Cerberus! I also activate my other face-down card: the Spell Card Mystical Space Typhoon, which destroys your Swords of Revealing Light!"

I tensed as I reluctantly placed the Spell Card in my Graveyard.

"Not only are your swords gone," Aelita said, but my Mythical beast gains one Spell Counter since I activated a Spell Card, which gives it 500 Attack Points!"

Mythical Beast Cerberus ATK: 1900

"Once I take down your swordsman," Aelita grinned, "my Berformet will be free to attack your Life Points directly, allowing me to win the Duel!"

"You'd think so, huh?" I asked.

"Watch this!" Aelita said. "I activate the Spell Card Monster Reborn! This lets me revive my Chimera!" She took her card from her Graveyard and placed it back on the field. " This also boosts the Attack Points of my Cerberus to 2400! I now switch Berformet to Attack Position, and both of my monsters will attack you!"

"If this attack succeeds," Yumi started.

"Then she'll win the Duel!" Ulrich finished.

"No she won't!" Jeremy declared. "I reveal my facedown card, the Trap Card Mirror Force!"

"Mirror Force?" Odd asked. "What does that do?"

"Since Jeremy was attacked," Ulrich replied, "Mirror Force stops the attack, and all of the monsters that Aelita has in Attack Position are destroyed!"

"Oh no!" Aelita gasped, and then put all of her Monster Cards in her Graveyard."I set two cards facedown and end my turn!"

"I thought Aelita was going to win for sure," Ulrich said, "but now it's anyone's game!"

"Here goes!" I shouted, and drew. "Mystic Swordsman LV4 attacks you directly!"

"I activate Enchanted Javelin!" Aelita said, flipping one of her cards up. "This increases my Life Points by the Attack Points of your monster! And since your attack succeeded, it's like I didn't take any damage!"

"Well, then," I said, "I guess I'll end my turn."

"Just when I thought Jeremy was going to score his first hit," Odd snickered, "Aelita makes a great counter move!"

"Here goes!" Aelita said, and drew a card. "I Set this monster in Defense Position and end my turn."

"Back to me, then," I said. "I summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland! And now my Mystic Swordsman LV4 will attack your monster!"

"Not yet!" Aelita shouted. "I play my final facedown card, Threatening Roar! You can't attack this turn!"

"Okay," I hissed, "I guess I'm done."

"Then here I go!" Aelita said, and grinned upon seeing her card. "I summon Gemini Elf! Her Attack Points are 1900, which beats your Warrior Lady's Attack Points by 800! They now attack her!"

I growled as I placed my monster in my Graveyard and subtracted my loss from my Life Points.

Jeremy Belpois – LP 1100 - 300

"Oh man!" Ulrich gasped. "Jeremy's only got 300 Life Points left! He's almost done for!"

"I wouldn't count him out yet," Yumi said. "I can see a look in his eye, and he's not about to give up yet!"

"That's right!" I declared. "Thanks to my Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower EARTH attribute Warrior monster with 1500 or fewer Attack Points! I choose my second Marauding Captain!" I took my monster out from my Deck and played it on the field.

"Okay, I end my turn." Aelita said, sighing.

"Then here I go," I said silently, breathing in as I was about to draw my card. "Just like Joey," I said to myself. "Think cool and trust in your Deck." I pulled my card and looked at it.

"I activate Card of Sanctity!" I declared. "This lets us both draw until we each have six cards in our hands!"

"And since Jeremy has no cards in his hand now," Yumi said.

"He'll have six now!" Odd finished.

"That's right," I grinned, "and look at what I got! I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight!" I took my new monster from my hand and played it on the field. "He won't be sticking around for long, though, because I'm activating the Spell Card Release Restraint! This allows me to evolve Gearfried the Iron Knight into Gearfried the Swordmaster!" I replaced the monster on the field with the one in my hand.

"That's Gearfried's true form!" Yumi said. "I've heard it's incredibly powerful!"

"Then Jeremy may have a chance after all!" Ulrich cheered.

"You're darn right I do!" I smiled, "because now I equip Gearfried with my Divine Sword Phoenix Blade Equip Spell Card! Not only does he get an extra 300 Attack Points, but his special effect automatically destroys one monster when he's equipped with an equip card!"

"Then does that mean…?" Odd started.

"It does!" I answered. "I use Gearfried's effect to destroy Aelita's Gemini Elf!"

Aelita whined as she placed her only attacking monster in the Graveyard.

"Here I come!" I cried. "First, my Mystic Swordsman LV4 attacks your facedown monster!"

"And his special ability automatically destroys facedown Defense Position monsters," Ulrich said, "so whatever it is, it's toast!"

Aelita placed her last monster in the Graveyard and gulped.

"And after that, Jeremy's other monsters will be free to attack her Life Points directly!" Yumi added.

"Let's see, Gearfried now has 2900 Attack Points, and Marauding Captain has 1200," Odd started, counting on his fingers. "All of that adds up to… 4100 points of damage!"

Aelita Schaeffer: LP 4000 - 0

"I've never seen a one-turn kill in Duel Monsters until now," Ulrich said.

"Wow," Yumi said, "That's amazing."

"Well, I may have lost," Aelita sighed, smiling at me, "but it was fun!"

"And you did really well for your first Duel," I said. "You really had me on the ropes. If I didn't draw Card of Sanctity when I did, I probably would have lost. I'm really impressed with your skill, Aelita."

"I'm impressed you were able to calculate all of that damage, Odd," Yumi said.

"So am I, now that you mention it," I said, rubbing my chin.

"Hey, give me some credit," Odd griped. "I'm at least a little bit smarter than you think I am! Despite what you may think, I do know elementary school level math."

"Yeah," Ulrich chuckled, "but nothing after that."

"Hey!" Odd whined. "That's not funny!"

Everyone else and I laughed at this, much to Odd's annoyance, and Ulrich spoke up after a while.

"You know, I was about to ask you if you had seen William around here, Jeremy. But now I have a new question for you. How'd you even think of teaching Aelita about Duel Monsters in the first place?"

"Well," I replied, "have you heard that there's a new Kaiba Land opening here in the Sceaux district of Paris?"

"Kaiba Land?" Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the Duel Monsters theme park that Kaiba Corp made all those years ago in America?"

"Well, the company started the project in Japan first," I stated. "The first Kaiba Land was built outside of the Kaiba Corporation global headquarters in Domino City. Kaiba Corp CEO Seto Kaiba spearheaded the Japan project himself. He then built the one in San Francisco and held a Duel Monsters tournament to commemorate its opening. After many other Kaiba Lands around the world, now he's making one here in France."

"Shouldn't he have been, like, super busy with all the advancements in his Solid Vision Duel Monsters playing system?" Yumi asked. "The more cards Pegasus adds to the game, the more holograms the company has to make to keep up with the game, right?"

"Well, yes," I said, "but he has a whole department for that. All he does himself these days are sign and cash checks, manage the high-end affairs of the company, and handle all of the company's media info and press conferences. Plus, I've studies him and he's extremely capable of doing many things at once."

"So when's our Kaiba Land gonna be open?" Odd asked. "This all sounds kinda fun now."

"According to the official press release," I said, looking online, "it's supposed to be in a month or so."

"Wow, that's not all that far off," Ulrich said.

"And it's just in time for summer!" Odd added, cheering.

"And to answer your earlier inquiry, Ulrich," I said, "I saw William just a minute ago before Aelita came in here. He said he was going out for a lunch run with Sissi and they'd be back soon to get his stuff."

"Well, I can say that we kinda saw this coming," Ulrich said.

"At least she's gotten off your back now, Ulrich," Aelita said.

"And thank goodness for that," Ulrich smiled.

"Anyway," Yumi sighed, "what are they doing now?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted, "but when William told me about the plans he had with Sissi, he mentioned something about a trip to Kaiba Land Norway."

"He's probably going to ask Sissi to go with him," Aelita said.

"I guess that'd be nice," Odd shrugged. "If it floats his lid, I'm cool with that."

Just then, my cell phone started ringing. I looked at it, and the display read "caller ID unknown."

"Huh?" I asked. "How can it not have caller ID?"

"What doesn't have caller ID?" Ulrich asked.

"This guy calling me," I answered.

"Well answer and you'll probably find out," Aelita said.

"If you say so," I said, and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Is this Jeremy Belpois?" came the voice of a middle-aged man.

"Yes, this is he," I replied.

"My name is Croquet," the man said. "I have a call for you from our company president, Maximillion J. Pegasus. Please hold on while you are connected."

I jumped to my feet in shock.

"What's wrong, Jeremy?" Aelita asked.

"Greetings, Jeremy-boy," a silvery voice same from the other line.

"Good day to you as well," I said, stunned, "Mr. Pegasus."

A/N: LE GASP! DE PLOT! DE PLOT! What's gonna happen next? Stay tuned in to find out!

-JeremyX signing off!