AN: Changed up a card's effect slightly for the duel in this chapter. Makes more sense for its purpose that way. Also, another card will be played, and I use the effect from the anime rather than the real-life card.

The True Slifer Red 4

Chapter 4

-Jaden-

Suppressing a sigh and trying not to shift about too much in his seat, Jaden glanced about the large auditorium. It had been a week since the attempted ante Duel with Chazz, and he'd started falling into a rhythm at Duel Academy since then. He'd mainly hang out with Bastion and Syrus, but they'd often be joined by Alexis for lunch. The only problem that he'd run into, one he planned ask Principal Sheppard and Kaiba about after the ceremony, was her reaction to what dorm he was in. When it had come up the day before she'd freaked out and left the cafeteria immediately. She hadn't explained why she'd reacted that way afterwards and it had him on edge.

At his side, Yugi Moto was sitting calmly, nodding to the awed crowd as they waited for Kaiba to begin the ceremony. Since the test day, Kaiba had apparently been spreading footage about the students and their duels, making it available to various pros to allow them to choose if they wished to sponsor someone and today those results would be shown.

"Greetings students," the always cheerful chancellor said as the auditorium, which before had been filled with whispers as his classmates talked to each other, fell silent "I'm sure that by now you've all figured out what is going on here today. Along with Mr. Moto and his Sponsored Student Jaden Yuki," the Chancellor paused as a healthy amount of applause was called out for his name, mainly among the Slifer red students "we have six other professional duelists here with us today who are sponsoring students. I'll now turn this ceremony over to our school's founder, Seto Kaiba."

"Thank you, Chancellor Sheppard." Kaiba said with a nod as the man walked over to the podium "Now as I'm sure that the six new Sponsored students would like to be able to get their possessions moved into the new dorm as quickly as possible let's begin. First up we have Mai Valentine who will be selecting her chosen student."

"Thanks Kaiba," a breathtakingly beautiful woman said as she walked out from behind a curtain and waved at the crowd, smirking as she went when she saw several of the male students begin cheering and wolf whistling at her "and sorry boys but I'm taken.", he had to resist the urge to laugh when he saw several suddenly depressed students in the crowd, Syrus included. "Anyway, I've decided to Sponsor Alexis Rhodes here at Duel Academy," Mai said with a smirk as the blonde Obelisk looked shocked as the girl's two friends, Jasmine and Mindy, pushed her up out of her seat and over towards the Podium, "what do you say kid?" Mai asked Alexis when the girl got to the Podium "You want me to be your sponsor?"

"YES!" Alexis exclaimed before blushing brightly and nodding "I mean…yes, I would. Thank you."

Applause filled the room once again as the two beauties shook hands before walking over to the chairs where he sat next to his smirking Sponsor, Alexis sitting next to him as he gave her a small wave, "Nice job keeping your cool out there Lex," he said with a grin "I'll have to take notes for the next time I have to do public speaking."

"Oh, shut up Jaden." Alexis said, flushing brightly while their sponsors chuckled.

"Next up," Kaiba called out "we have the psychic master, Espa Roba."

"Thank you, Mr. Kaiba." a rather short man with a pink shirt and exceedingly green hair said with a small bow to the school's founder after walking up to the podium "I have selected Bastian Misawa, as my Sponsored student.".

Moving quickly his British friend walked over to the Podium, "I thank you for this honor and I shall endeavor to do you justice as your chosen student here at Duel Academy." While the students cheered once again.

When he turned to Alexis to try and get another dig in, he saw her glaring at him, "One word Jaden," she growled "one word about my reaction and I'll neuter you."

Yelping he covered himself and crossed his legs, staunchly refusing to look at his only female friend on the island as he heard Mai laughing, "Kid," the beautiful woman said to Alexis "the two of us are going to get along just fine."

"This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them." Jaden grumbled as Alexis rolled her eyes exaggeratedly.

"And next," here he was surprised to see Kaiba grimace as if being forced to swallow something disgusting "we have Joey Wheeler."

At that name every single Slifer Red was on their feet cheering at the world's best underdog duelist, a few Ra Yellows and Obelisk Blues joining them as the legendary Red Eyes user strutted out onto the stage. The man was playing the crowd as he made his way over to the Podium. "Thanks there Kaiba," the Brooklyn native said with a grin as Kaiba scowled "and as for my chosen student…Syrus Truesdale!"

"M-me?" Syrus asked in shock as every Slifer turned towards the vertically challenged student and began carrying the little guy up when Syrus' legs seemed frozen.

"Yes you." Joey laughed "You've got potential kid, you just need a confidence booster. I'm going to help you get that."

"Thank you, sir!" Syrus said snapping to attention and even giving an attempted salute "I won't let you down!"

"I know you won't half pint," Joey said with a grin, ruffling Syrus hair as the little guy squawked and flailed, the Reds continuing to cheer "now come on, I don't think Kaiba wants me standing up here anymore."

Quickly the duo made their way over to the seats as Syrus sat next to a grinning Bastian and Joey sat down next to Mai, "Nice pick there Joey," Mai said with a grin as she kissed Joey's cheek and several of the guys in the audience became depressed once again "you gonna turn him into an underdog wonder like you?"

"Why does everyone call me that?" Joey complained "I'm not an underdog!"

"Yes, you are Wheeler." Kaiba said with a snort "But at least you've learned when to leave me alone…it only took fifteen years. Anyway, next up we have Weevil Underwood." If Joey Wheeler had caused a pained grimace from Kaiba, Underwood caused a disgusted scowl. As the midget bug duelist walked out, he saw Kaiba looking like he wanted to throttle the little ant and he couldn't blame the man. Weevil Underwood was notorious for playing dirty. Whether it be barely legal dirty tricks and loopholes, or just flat-out theft and cheating. The man had been on trial several times over the years but always got away clean due to having good lawyers that were just as talented at finding loopholes. It meant that Underwood, while by no means respected, was still an accredited Pro Duelist.

"Thank you, Kaiba," the bug user's irritating voice called out as he felt like grabbing the nearest can of Raid "and as for my student I've chosen the only other student here who was wise enough to specialize in Insect cards. Missy Kochou." At that declaration, Jaden saw a cute Obelisk Blue girl walk up, looking both pleased to be sponsored by an insect duelist but also somewhat irritated that it was from a known Cheat.

"Thank you, sir," the girl said stiffly "I shall try to…make my name respected amongst the pro duelists." As neutral a statement as you could get in this situation.

"Next we have Bandit Keith," Kaiba continued, the man still looking irritated as he could practically feel Joey Wheeler growling through his chair "who will select his student."

"Thanks Kaiba," the bandanna wearing duelist said with a lazy nod "I'm not one for big fancy speeches so I'm just gonna come out and say it. I've selected Chazz Princeton as my student to Sponsor."

"I'll accept." Chazz said with a barely restrained scowl as the Obelisk blue tried not to glance at the other pros up on stage that were more respected than Keith. He knew that Chazz was hoping to have someone like Yugi or Kaiba sponsor 'the amazing Chazz Princeton'."

"And finally, I'll be sponsoring a student as well," Kaiba began before pointing to a figure in the blue crowd "and I've chosen Duel Academy's top student, Zane Truesdale." At those words every student in the hall shot to their feet and applauded as the 'King of the Academy' stepped up and silently shook hands with Kaiba. "Before we dismiss everyone though," Kaiba spoke up as Zane sat down in one of the last remaining seats "we have one more event planned for this ceremony…a duel between two of our new sponsored students! The names will be randomly selected from the seven up here."

As the man spoke a monitor dropped down from the ceiling and began flashing through the seven names before ending on 'Jaden Yuki VS. Missy Kochou'. Glancing over at the cute girl with dark red hair, Jaden gave her a grin and a nod, getting one in return.

"Hey, let's give these people one hell of a show, yeah?" Jaden grinned as he readied his disk, "I've got some monsters I've been wanting to use and need a good opponent to test 'em out on."

"Just don't come crying to me when you lose, Hun." Missy grinned back at him sending a wink at a deadpanning Zane as she made her way over, "Now, ladies first I think." As she spoke, she drew six cards, not missing a beat with the action, "And start by setting one monster face down in defense mode. One more face down and that's it for me. Your move Hun."

"Don't mind if I do." Jaden grinned, "And to start I-" he drew his card and was cut off.

"Sorry, don't want to be rude but since it's your standby phase I can activate my Trap Card 'Threatening Roar'. Now, you don't get a battle phase this turn." Missy grinned at him, the Obelisks in the arena cheering.

"Fair enough." Jaden nodded, getting into the duel and eager now that he saw some of the cards in his hand "I'll start off with the spell card Polymerization. I send two copies of Hunter Dragon from my hand to the graveyard and bring forth First of the Dragons!" (Attack: 2700, Defense: 2000)

"Not bad Hun, not bad." Missy nodded as he threw a face down and ended his turn, "But not good enough. My move, and I'll start by flipping up my face down, Parasite Paracide!" the writhing red and green insect appeared before vanishing, the card shooting over to his deck "When this card is flip summoned, it's shuffled face up into my opponent's deck. But it won't be there for long as I play the spell card Jade Insect Whistle! With this you have to select one insect monster from your deck and place it at the top." The parasite appeared there, writhing before it summoned itself to his field as a spell card, tentacles lashing out and striking him.

"Jaden!" Syrus panicked as his life points dipped by a thousand points.

"That parasite has a nasty punch." Missy smirked, "If it's special summoned to your field like that not only do you take a thousand points of damage, but all your monsters are going to be turned into insects. You can't destroy it either."

"Sorry to tell you, but that's not the case." Jaden panted as he straightened "You see, First of the Dragons is immune to monster effects."

"A useful trick." Missy admitted, "But that's just one monster and I have tricks of my own. I use pot of Greed to get two new cards." Missy drew before grinning "Perfect, I play two spell cards. Shrink and insect barrier!" the two cards flipped up "With Insect barrier, insects you control can't attack anymore. While with Shrink I cut your dragon's attack in half." (First of the Dragons new stats: Attack: 1350, Defense: 2000)

"Oh no, his dragon's in danger!" Syrus was panicking again. He really needed to help the little guy with that.

"No, First of the Dragons has second effect." Yugi spoke up, "It can only be destroyed in battle with a normal monster. So, it's not a guarantee yet."

"I summon Pinch Hopper." Missy summoned the little insect that chirped, those who didn't realize the danger it posed just laughing at the measly one thousand attack points that couldn't destroy his dragon even with its strength cut in half, "Now, Pinch Hopper, attack!" the insect let out a screech as it charged, slamming into his dragon before shattering as Missy took a chunk of damage, her life points dropping to 3650.

"This is bad." Joey Wheeler had a serious expression as did the others who knew just what Pinch Hopper could do.

"Now, with Pinch Hopper sent to the graveyard I can special summon any insect monster from my hand, and I choose my Insect Queen! And thanks to her ability, she gets an extra two hundred attack points for every insect on the field." (Attack: 2200, Defense: 2400. New Attack: 2400)

"What?!" Weevil was gaping at the rare insect monster while several students in the audience were shocked too. Missy must not play that card much.

"Now that the Queen has graced us with her presence, I'll set one last face down and end my turn." Missy bowed with a flourish as the towering insect chittered.

"My turn." Jaden frowned as he drew, his face down wouldn't do anything to help, not with how the field was set up now.

"Second verse, same as the first Jaden." Missy grinned as she activated her face down "My Lair Wire trap card lets me remove one insect monster in my graveyard form play to destroy one of your monsters. Your dragon is only immune to monster effects, not traps!" the large dragon roared as its card shattered, leaving his field open to attack. Jaden grit his teeth, bracing himself as her Insect queen lashed out, striking him and bringing him down to six hundred life points.

The crowd were roaring at the powerful showing from the Obelisk Blue girl and Jaden could feel Chaz sitting there smug. "Your move Hun." Missy at least wasn't being an ass, "Hey, you didn't do terribly, and I had a great opening hand. Let's have a rematch at some point."

"I'd definitely love to duel again, but this one isn't over yet." Jaden drew, feeling his blood surging with excitement "I play pot of greed!" taking a deep breath, and silently putting his faith in 'the heart of the cards' like his mentor had told him, Jaden drew.

He could feel the Arena collectively hold its breath as he looked at what he drew…and roared in excitement when he grinned.

"I play Future Fusion!" Jaden roared, playing the spell card "While my monster can't attack this turn, I can still use it for effects. I send five Cyberdark monsters from my deck to the graveyard!" as he collected the five cards, he never noticed Zane and Chancellor Sheppard freezing in shock, although Kaiba did.

"Cyberdarks?" Missy's eyes widened, apparently having heard of them or something similar before.

"That's right." Jaden grinned "And with them as material I summon the Cyberdarkness Dragon! One of its effects will let me take a dragon monster from my grave and attach it as an equip card so I'm grabbing hunter dragon." (Attack: 2000, Defense: 2000. New attack: 3700)

"But not First of the Dragons?" Missy frowned even as her Queen's attack points rose to twenty-six hundred, then her eyes widened "You're bringing out something else."

"Got it in one." Jaden played the second card he'd gotten from Pot of Greed "I play the spell card Cyberdark Impact! By shuffling the monsters Cyberdark Edge, Cyberdark Keel, and Cyberdark Horn from my Graveyard back into my deck I can special summon Cyberdark Dragon! Much like Cyberdarkness, they can grab a dragon to use as an equip card and get an extra hundred attack for each monster in my graveyard. So, he'll be getting First of the Dragons!" (Attack: 1000, Defense: 1000. New Attack: 3800)

"Holy shit those things are huge!" Syrus' roommate from Slifer, Chumley, gaped in shock as the two massive dragons roared.

"But wait, there's more!" Jaden grinned like a madman, "Since you have a monster on the field with two thousand attack points or more, I can special summon my Schwarzschild Limit Dragon from my hand to the field, and monster reborn brings back my other Hunter Dragon!" (Schwarzschild Attack: 2000, Defense: 0) (Hunter Dragon Attack: 1700, Defense: 100)

"It doesn't matter if they can't attack ya Slifer Slacker!" one of Chazz's dumb toadied shouted from the crowd as Insect Queen's attack points raised up to thirty-two hundred.

"Next, I activate my trap card, Cyberdark Invasion!" Jaden activated the card he'd set back on his first turn, "It has a few effects but the one that matters here is that I can send one equip card I control attached to a machine monster to the graveyard to destroy one card my opponent controls. So, I'm taking out your Insect Barrier!" the glowing threads shattered as his monsters were now free to strike.

"I…you got me Jaden." Missy let out a laugh, "Alright, but don't expect to win our rematch!"

"I look forward to your best then Missy." Jaden grinned at the redhead, "Cyberdark Dragon, attack her Insect Queen! And the rest of you, wipe out her life points!" his dragons roared as the duel ended, both of them still grinning. Then he felt his phone buzz. Once off the stage and out of sight, he checked it and saw it was a summons to meet with Kaiba in Chancellor Sheppard's office. A glance over at Yugi showed an identical message. He hoped this wasn't about to be bad news.