Howdy everyone. Sorry for the long wait. RL, what can you do about it? Anyways, Sartorius sends his latest lackey to get someone close to Jaden but not for the Light. They're to heal Aster.

Sartorius looked at his Tarot deck once more and frowned. Jaden had defied his fate twice now. Both times, he had divined the future and said that Jaden would be beaten. Yet, this had not happened. Jaden had twice defied it. Frowning, he turned away. Pulling out a cell phone, he dialed a number. He needed to focus on something else. That Something else was getting Aster help. His mental state was still not improving. Thankfully, he had discovered someone who could help Aster. He just needed his legal team to deal with the messier details. A few rings and the other end picked up.

"Howard, its me...I need you to go to Duel Academy..."

EODGX

A man with stringy black hair, glasses walked the halls of Duel academy Central. He wore a black business suit, black pants, white undershirt, brown loafers and red tie. In his left hand was a large black briefcase which he seemed to guard. His destination was the infirmary. After getting directions from some passing students, he arrived. The doors hissed open and he walked in.

Inside, Fonda looked up from her paperwork and saw the man.

"Excuse me? Can I help you?"

"Why, I do believe you can, Miss...?" The man said, his voice reminding Fonda of The Hood from an old cartoon.

"Fonda. Fonda Fontaine."

Nodding at the name, the man set his briefcase down.

"I'm Howard Miller, a representative of J&J Firms. The parents of a student here were concerned about some of the medical practices from some months ago."

Fonda thought back and remembered Harrington had broken his leg when he stalked Alexis when she was at the beach. She scowled, which made Howard quickly put his hands up.

"Easy, easy! I'm actually defending you here! I just need your signature here." He said, pulling out a stack of papers.

Knowing better then to just sign without reading, Fonda perused the wording of the 'statement'. It was normal at least from what she could see; it was just a statement that Fonda had treated the injury the correct way and was no way liable for anything that the student had done. Howard watched on, a genuine smile on his face. Fonda picked up the nearby pen and signed her name on it. Howard's smile became creepy when she looked away.

"Thank you for your time, Madam. I'll be back later on to let you know how it goes."

Fonda just nodded and went back to her work, Howard leaving the infirmary. Smirking, he looked at the papers, showing different words appearing on it as the old ones vanished, but Fonda's signature remained. As he walked away, he was stopped by a smaller, balding man. The two recognized one another from school and got to talking. When Howard mentioned why he was here, Edgar smirked. He offered something to Howard who looked excited.

As the two parted, Edger snickered.

"Now...to make Mister Jaden Yuki pay."

EODGX

Jaden was scowling. He had gotten a note from Fonda earlier asking him to meet her at the beach. When he arrived, he didn't see her at all. Instead, he saw a cave nearby. Already getting bad vibes, he sent in his Spirit Allies. Less then five minutes later, Talon was rushing out.

"King! There's a man in there as is Emi!"

Fearing the worse, Jaden rushed in. Memories came back of last year and it did not set well with his stomach. He entered the caves, the spirits directing him to where the two were at. As he got nearer, he heard Fonda's pissed off voice.

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS AROUND THAT NECK OF YOURS, YOU ARE GOING TO REGRET DOING THIS TO ME!"

"Temper, temper. You did sign after all."

"A cheap trick is what it was, you bastard!"

Jaden walked in and stood. He saw Fonda standing in front of a man dressed like a lawyer. He knew the man was there, but he was distracted by Fonda's attire...

The woman was in a skimpy cheerleader outfit, the miniskirt barely covering her ass. The top barely could hold her chest, reveling her flat and smooth stomach, her legs wearing a pair of white high heeled boots like a cowgirls. A pair of pom poms sat on the ground. Clearing his throat made the two look up.

"Jaden!"

Fonda stepped back, Jaden seeing why she was so pissed. On the front of her top was a pin of Aster Phoenix. Glaring at the man, Jaden made a single demand.

"Who the fuck are you?"

The man chuckled, pushing up his glasses.

"Howard X Miller. Just call me X." X said, smugly smirking.

X explained what was going on. Fonda had signed a contract that had two clauses to it. The first clause was she would wear the cheerleader outfit provided and become the personal nurse slash cheerleader to Aster. Jaden grit his teeth at that.

"What's the second clause?"

"Why, the Red Dorm destroyed." X said happily.

That made the two scowl. This had Edgar's stink all over it. Jaden glared at X who was still smiling smugly.

"Hm...how about I sweeten your deal, X?"

X raised an eyebrow. How could the deal be sweetened? Jaden smirked. He offered that if X won the duel, not only would the Dorm be torn down and Fonda be Aster's cheerleader slash nurse, he would step away from the pro circuit.

For life.

"But should I win, you release Fonda from this contract."

X's eyes went wide, gleaming with giddy greed. Fonda exclaimed in shock, but Jaden just gave her a reassuring smile. The young king stepped up, his duel disk deploying as was X's. Jaden looked at the man again, frowning. He was familiar...

"Order in the Duel! The People versus Jaden Yuki." X said, excitement in his eyes.

"Now I remember you. You're Howard X Miller, a former pro turned Lawyer for Aster."

"That's right, so glad you remembered me, Jaden." X said, drawing his opening hand.

"I never dueled you...you changed careers before I took the scene. Still, you were good, very good to get into the Duelist Hall of Fame."

X nodded. He had changed careers before Jaden took the Duel Circuit by storm. Still, both of them had done research on one another. Jaden had many decks, each one more surprising then the last one. His truly powerful decks were his HERO decks, given their fusions. But that did not discount his Yubel or Sacred Beasts. The boy chose a deck and slotted it in, his disk coming to life.

X: 8000/Jaden: 8000

X: 34

J: ?

"If we're done, I'd like to start our opening statements." X said, drawing his card. "Let's get these proceedings underway. My opening statement is Card Destruction."

(Card Destruction – Type/Spell/Normal.

Both players must discard their entire hands and draw the same number of cards that they discarded from their respective Decks.)

"Time to clear the courtroom."

X and Jaden both discarded their cards, X frowning at seeing the cards. They were all strange monsters, but nothing he really recognized. He drew his new hand, Jaden doing the same.

X: 34 → 29

J: ?

"Since I discarded Elegant Light Level Four, its effect activates."

(Elegant Light LV 4 – Type/Trap/Normal.

When this card is sent to the Graveyard by a card effect, you can Special Summon 1 Level 4 or lower monster from your Deck.)

A lantern appeared, glowing brightly. The trap allowed X to Special Summon a level four or lower monster from his deck. A tri-legged monster with a single eye underneath the and a single blaster aimed at Jaden.

"Meet Trap Sluzer."

(Trap Sluzer – LV/****, Attribute/DARK, ATK/800, DEF/1300, Type/Machine/Effect.

While this card is in face-up Attack Position, you are unaffected by the effects of Continuous Trap Cards.)

X: 29 → 28

"I play him in attack mode and end my turn with two cards facedown."

Jaden drew his card, looking at his hand. Nodding, he made a plan of attack. He played a single card facedown, then chose another card.

"I play my Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode."

(Gene-Warped Warwolf – LV/****, Attribute/DARK, ATK/2000, DEF/100, Type/Beast-Warrior.)

A massive four-armed white wolf-man appeared with a howl. X smirked.

"Card overruled, you're out of order. I give up a thousand of my life points to play my trap. Monster Register!"

(Monster Register – Type/Trap/Continuous.

Pay 1000 Life Points to activate this card. Each time a monster(s) is Summoned, the controller of the Summoned monster must send cards from the top of their Deck to the Graveyard equal to the Level(s) of the Summoned monster(s).)

X: 7000

A register with a face appeared, reminding Jaden of a Toon monster from Pegasus's deck. The register opened up, shot out its tongue and took four cards from Jaden's deck, sliding them into the grave. Fonda gasped.

"Its a mill deck!"

"Exactly. Now, do you end?"

"No. I had a feeling I would duel you so I made this deck especially for you. I had fifty cards in this deck."

J: 50 → 45 (Opening) → 40 (Card Destruction) → 39 (Draw) → 35 (Monster)

"Oh, you're one of those duelists...using more then the preferred forty." X muttered, Jaden nodding. He played Double Summon, playing another level four.

"Meet Pitch-Black Warwolf."

(Pitch-Black Warwolf – LV/****, Attribute/DARK, ATK/1600, DEF/600, Type/Beast-Warrior/Effect.

Your opponent cannot activate Trap Cards during the Battle Phase.)

A warwolf, smaller then the white one and pitch black, howled as it appeared. Here, X frowned. That was not good. Thanks to that monster, if Jaden entered his battle phase, his traps couldn't be played. Register took another four cards, but Jaden just looked on.

Jaden: 35 → 31

"Before you attack, I use my trap, Threatening Roar. Now, you can't attack this turn."

"Fine. I end."

"Wait, why didn't register take away cards from him?" Fonda called out.

Here, X chuckled. Trap Sluzer was the main reason. As long as it was in attack mode, he was immune to the effects of traps.

X drew, looking at it. Seeing it was a monster, he set it right away.

X: 28 → 27

He ended his turn with two cards facedown. Drawing again, Jaden looked at his hand.

J: 31 → 30

Let's see...I could summon out another monster...but given how that register takes away my cards...Jaden thought, looking over his hand.

He needed to get rid of that Sluzer as it was what was making it hard to beat X. Given his Pitch-Black, those facedowns weren't too big of an issue.

"Gene-warped! Attack Trap Sluzer!"

"Uh oh!" X exclaimed, having forgotten of Gene-Warped.

The four armed monster charged, blasting it apart. X scowled, placing the card in his grave.

X: 5800

"Now, I use Pitch-Black to attack your facedown!"

Pitch-Black charged, his sword raised high. It easily slashed through the facedown, a small rock figure with two eyes gazing docilely out. Jaden swore; Level Pod! That was not good at all!

(Level Pod – LV/**, Attribute/EARTH, ATK/500, DEF/500, Type/Rock/Effect.

FLIP: Return all monsters on the field to the Decks. Then, each player must draw cards equal to the combined Levels of their returned monsters, and reveal those cards. If a player doesn't draw 1 of their returned monsters, they must discard all cards they drew.)

"Time to clear the stands. Thanks to my level pod, your two wolves go back to the deck, the deck is shuffled, and you draw eight cards." X explained.

Jaden shuffled his cards and drew eight. Seeing one of them was Gene-Warped, he got to keep the cards. Sadly for him, X had another trap.

J: 30 → 22

"I activate my other facedown, Purse with a Hole!"

(Purse with a Hole – Type/Trap/Normal.

Activate only while your opponent has 6 or more cards in their hand. Send random cards from their hand to the Graveyard until they have 5 cards in their hand. For the rest of this turn, your opponent cannot play cards from their hand.)

A tongue shot out of the trap, hovering over Jaden's hand. Several smaller tongues shot out and took several random cards until Jaden was left with five. X cackled, knowing that Jaden couldn't summon or play anything else from his hand. All Jaden did was end his turn, X activating another trap, Soul Connection.

(Soul Connection – Type/Trap/Normal.

Add 1 Monster Card from your Deck to your hand.)

"His trap sluzer again..." Fonda muttered, watching the duel.

X nodded, revealing the monster. Jaden ended his turn. X drew.

X: 27 → 26

Playing pot of greed, he drew another two.

X: 26 → 24

"I play my key witness again, Trap sluzer."

The monster reappeared, but Register took four cards from X's deck.

X: 24 → 20

"You may have the lead for now, but I'll gain it back. I'll play two cards facedown." X said, the cards appearing. "Then I play my Spell card, Super Guard."

(Super Guard – Type/Spell/Continuous.

During each of your Standby Phases, pay 500 Life Points. While this card is face-up on the field, monsters you control cannot be destroyed by battle, and you must skip your Battle Phase.)

Jaden grimaced. That made X's monsters immortal in battle now. The man ended his turn, Jaden drawing.

J: 22 → 21

"Right, I play another Gene-Warped Warwolf."

"You lose four cards for that."

J: 21 → 17

"I'm not stopping there. I play Polymerization, fusing my second Gene-Warped with my third! Now, witness the flight of a new dragon, X! Meet First of the Dragons!"

(First of the Dragons – LV/*********, Attribute/DARK, ATK/2700, DEF/2000, Type/Dragon/Fusion/Effect.

2 Normal Monsters
Must be Fusion Summoned and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. You can only control 1 "First of the Dragons". This card cannot be destroyed by battle, except by battle with a Normal Monster, and is unaffected by other monsters' effects.)

A massive dragon with large wings descended, roaring. X smirked, seeing the high level.

J: 17 → 8

"Not a good move on your part, Mister Yuki." X taunted, Jaden just smriking.

"I play Pot of Greed, drawing two cards."

J: 8 → 6

"Now, I play Different Dimension Break!"

(Different Dimension Break – Type/Spell/Normal.

Send 1 monster on the field to the Graveyard. Banish cards from your opponent's Graveyard equal to the Monster's Star Level.)

D.D.B.'s artwork showed Warrior Dai slamming the pommel of his sword into a mirror that showed Dark Warrior Dai on it. First of Dragons vanished, nine cards sliding out of X's graveyard.

X frowned. What good was that move for? Jaden then revealed another spell.

"Soul Release?"

(Soul Release – Type/Spell/Normal.

Choose 5 cards in either player's graveyard. Banish them.)

"I remove another five cards from your grave, X."

Now X was getting annoyed. What did this brat think he was doing?! Another Soul Release had him lose ANOTHER five cards. Jaden then played Spell Reclaim.

(Spell Reclaim – Type/Spell/Normal.

Pay 500 Life Points; add 1 Spell card from your graveyard to your hand.)

Jaden: 7500

A single card slid out, Jaden revealing it to be Soul Release yet again, making another five vanish from X's Graveyard. Finally fed up, the pro turned lawyer made the demand that was on his mind and the question on Fonda's mind.

"What do you think you're hoping to accomplish, ya little twerp?!"

"I'll show you...I play Double Summon to tribute my Gene-Warped. Arise, Manticore of Darkness!"

(Manticore of Darkness – LV/******, Attribute/FIRE, ATK/2300, DEF/1000, Type/Beast-Warrior/Effect.

During the End Phase, if this card is in the GY because it was sent there this turn: You can send 1 Beast, Beast-Warrior, or Winged Beast monster from your hand or face-up field to the GY; Special Summon this card from your GY.)

J: 6 → 0

X began to laugh insanely. Fonda gave out a cry of despair, but Jaden? He just looked on. Seeing that Jaden wasn't afraid, X stopped his laughing. Jaden smirked.

"I removed twenty-four of your cards from the grave, X. That makes your grave smaller then mine."

"So? What are you trying to say?"

"This. First, I use my spell card, Lightning vortex to destroy your Trap Sluzer." Jaden said, discarding a card.

The monster was blasted apart by the lightning making X frown. What was this kid doing?! He had no hand now!

"X...this is where you lose. I reveal my facedown! Exchange of the Spirit!"

"WHAT?!" X exclaimed in shock.

(Exchange of the Spirit – Type/Trap/Normal.

You can only activate this card by paying 1000 Life Points while there are 15 or more cards in your Graveyard. Both players swap the card(s) in their Graveyard with the card(s) in their Deck. Then, shuffle the card(s) in each new Deck and put it on the Deck Zone.)

Jaden: 6500

Two skeletons appeared, one red and one black. The pair reached into the graves and brought out the cards. The black skeleton brought out every single card Jaden had lost was brought out and placed into the boy's waiting hand. For X, his grave was smaller and the deck was a reflection of that. Both shuffled their hands, slotting the decks.

J: Grave: 50 → 0, Deck: 0 → 50

X: Grave: 30 → 6 (removal of 24) → 20 (deck), Deck: 20 → 6

X's eyes were frantic. He had only six cards and what was worse? Jaden had his entire deck back. That meant a lot of trouble. He dimly heard Jaden ending his turn. Like a robot, X drew, seeing the card wasn't a monster. He ended his turn, seeing Jaden drawing.

X: 6 → 5

Jaden drew, revealing the card to be Card of Sancity. That made X weep in his mind.

J: 50 → 49 → 43

X: 5 → 2

"I play Trap Booster, discarding this card to activate my Gift of Greed. Now you get to draw two cards."

X felt his spirit break. That...meant he lost. He drew the final two cards of his deck.

X: 2 → 0

"I end." Jaden said, a tad smug. "Case Closed."

Hearing that, X watched as his duel disk sounded an alarm. He fell to his knees, shocked and in denial. Fonda cheered, joining the man.

"Thank you, Jaden." She said, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"No problem, Miss Fontaine. Come on, we best get going..."

The two left the caves, leaving X to wallow in his despair.

EODGX

But like before, the duel was only a distraction. Ronald fell to his knees, panting as his life counter fell to zero. Before him stood Jerome.

"I...understand it. Understand it all. I'm sorry for doubting you before, lord Jerome."

"Its fine, Ronald. Now you have seen."

Both of the boys headed back to their dorm. As they walked, a ghostly image of Sartorius appeared in the skyline, laughing manically.

Before you ask, I used Exchange of the Spirits original effect, before the new Errata came out. With that, Many of the GX crew are part of the Light...and next chapter will have the SoL gain a powerful ally.