It was the middle of the night at Duel Academy and Aster was on the deck of his ship down at the harbor, wondering how long Sartorius had been leading him on, but he was pulled from his thoughts when another boat pulled up. When it reached the dock, a man that Aster recognized disembarked.
He followed the man to a cave and soon after, Professor Drake, Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry showed up as well. Drake told them they shouldn't have come with him, as it could be dangerous, but Jaden said that's why they came with him. "Just stick close. Since Chazz sent that note, there's no telling what we'll find," Drake warned.
Syrus asked if they were even in the right place, and Hassleberry said that according to the map Chazz left, they were in the right spot. They went inside and lights came on, revealing the man Aster saw at the harbor. Drake asked if he had seen someone in a white outfit, and the man said the person he was looking for left everything to him, introducing himself as X before challenging Drake to a duel.
X told him he wished to test his skills against the former pro duelist nicknamed "Jackpot". Syrus asked his teacher when he was a pro, and Drake said he had been in the pro league when he was younger before accepting the duel. "I should approach this carefully, but something is telling me to press my luck. Oh well, old habits die hard I suppose," Drake considered as he switched his Phantom Beast deck for his other deck.
X: 4000 LP
Drake: 4000 LP
"I'll go first, and I play the spell Card Destruction, so we both discard our entire hands and draw the same number of cards we discarded. There's more. Since one of the cards I discarded was the trap Elegant Light LV 4, I can special summon a level four or lower monster from my deck, so I summon Trap Sluzer in attack mode," X informed.
Level 4/Dark/Machine
ATK 800/DEF 1300
X then placed two cards down and ended his turn, and when Drake started his, X activated one of his face-downs, a continuous trap called Monster register, explaining he had to give up 1000 life points to use it.
X: 3000 LP
Drake wondered what the trap was for, but he didn't dwell on it and summoned his Jirai Gumo in attack mode.
Level 4/Earth/Insect
ATK 2200/DEF 100
"The effect of Monster Register activates. Whenever one of us summons a monster, we have the send the same number of cards from the top of our deck to the graveyard as our monster's level," X explained, and Drake pulled five cards off the top of his deck before placing them in the graveyard.
Drake's deck: 25
Hassleberry pointed out that his trap would burn through both their decks, but Aster walked up to them, saying only Drake would send cards. Jaden asked Aster what he was doing there, and Syrus asked why X wouldn't be sending cards. "I followed X when I saw him arrive at the harbor. And the reason X won't have to send cards to his grave is because of his Trap Sluzer. As long as it's in attack mode, he won't be affected by his Monster Register," Aster informed.
Drake realized he couldn't let the duel drag out, but before he could declare an attack, X activated his Threatening Roar trap card, preventing him from attacking that turn. Drake ended his turn, and Syrus realized the more he tried to fight back, the closer he'd get to losing. "Yeah. Your teacher might have stood a chance if he had known beforehand, but now X has his win condition set up. It's hopeless," Aster declared, but Drake said it wasn't hopeless as long as he had cards left.
"My turn. I play the spell Excavation Work, so I send a card from my hand to the graveyard to draw a new one. Then, since the card I sent was Card of Compensation, I draw two more cards. Next, I set a monster face-down and three cards face-down and end my turn," X declared, and Drake started his turn, bringing him down to 24 cards.
"I pay 1000 life points to activate the Summon Dice spell card. Now I roll a six-sided die and apply an effect depending on what I rolled," Drake explained as a die came out of the card and rolled on the ground, stopping on the number three. "Since the result was three, I can summon a monster from my graveyard, so I'll bring out my Slot Machine in attack mode," he informed.
Level 7/Earth/Machine
ATK 2000/DEF 2300
Drake's Deck: 17
Drake ordered his Slot Machine to attack, but X activated his Attack Guidance Armor trap, changing the attack target to his set monster. "The monster you just attacked was Level Pod, so now we return all our monsters to our decks and shuffle. Then we draw cards equal to the total levels of the monsters we returned," X informed.
They both shuffled their remaining monsters into their decks, X drawing four cards while Drake drew eleven, leaving him with only eight cards left in his deck. "If you didn't draw any of the monsters you returned to your deck, you have to discard all the cards you drew," X informed, but Drake revealed he drew his Jirai Gumo.
X revealed he hadn't drawn his Trap Sluzer, so he had to discard the cards he drew. "You may have taken eleven cards out of my deck, but you've added eleven to my hand," Drake pointed before X said he had planned for that and activated his Purse with a Hole trap card, explaining that since Drake had six or more cards in his hand, he had to randomly discard until he only had five cards, and after he did that, he couldn't play any cards from his hand for the rest of the turn.
A hand shot from his trap, pulling cards out of Drake's hand so that he only had five cards left. "Next, I activate the Soul Connection trap. This card lets me pick a monster in my deck and add it to my hand. Obviously, the monster I choose is Trap Sluzer," X informed, and Drake just ended his turn.
"In just one turn, you've lost seventeen cards from your deck. How long do you think you'll last?" X asked, and Drake said he'd last long enough to defeat him. "We'll see. I draw. And I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards. Next, I summon Trap Sluzer in attack mode, which activates the effect of Monster Register, forcing me to send four cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard. I set three cards face-down and end my turn," X finished.
Drake started his turn, but when he did, X activated his Gachi Battle continuous trap, explaining that while it was in play, they both had to special summon a level four or lower monster from their deck during their respective standby phases. Drake lamented he would be losing even more cards, but when he looked at the cards he had left, he saw a useful monster. "I summon Snipe Hunter in attack mode!" Drake declared.
Level 4/Dark/Fiend
ATK 1500/DEF 600
Drake's deck: 2
Hassleberry said he only had two turns left, but Drake said not to worry. "Snipe Hunter has a special ability. By discarding a card, I can choose a card on the field and roll a six-sided die, and if the result of the die roll is anywhere from two to five, the card I choose is destroyed. And I can continue to use this effect as long as I can discard cards," Drake explained, but X activated his Compulsory Evacuation Device trap card, returning Snipe Hunter to Drake's hand.
"If I summon Snipe Hunter, I'll lose all the cards I have left in my deck, and I won't be able to deal him enough damage to win this turn. What should I do?" Drake wondered, but Jaden shouted that he could still win, Syrus and Hassleberry agreeing. X said it was pointless, but Drake disagreed, placing a card face-down and ending his turn.
X laughed it off as foolish and drew before placing a single card into his graveyard, ending his turn. Drake started his turn, and when X told him to summon his last card, Drake looked and saw it wasn't a monster card. "I play the trap Jar of Avarice. This card lets me take five cards in my graveyard and shuffle them into my deck. After that, I draw one card," Drake said as he took five of the cards from his graveyard and shuffled them into his deck.
"Everything is set, I just have to draw the right card," Drake thought to himself before he drew his card, smiling when he saw it. "From my hand, I activate two copies of the spell Jackpot 7, and since they were activated, they return themselves to my deck," Drake said as he returned the cards to his deck, bringing his total to seven cards.
"Way to go teach!" Jaden shouted. "Next, I activate Monster Reborn to resurrect my Slot Machine!" Drake shouted, but Syrus and Hassleberry were surprised by the move. "You fool! Now all the cards you worked so hard to return to your deck are sent straight to the graveyard!" X mocked, but Drake said that was exactly what he wanted.
"You see X, you thought your deck destruction tactic would help you win, but it's actually helped me win. You see, the Jackpot 7 cards I activated a second ago have a second effect. When they're sent to my graveyard by my opponent's card effect, they banish themselves," Drake explained, Jaden realizing that's why he summoned Slot Machine.
"That's right. And when all three copies of Jackpot 7 are banished by their own effect, I win the duel," Drake informed as the machine on the cards appeared beside Drake before the lever cranked, all the slots landing on the number 7. The machine shook and a tidal wave of coins surged out, washing over X.
Winner: Drake
Jaden congratulated him on his win, and Syrus asked him about his deck. "When I was younger, I loved to push my luck, and when I went pro, my deck reflected that. People started calling me Jackpot because I relied on my luck so much. Eventually, I left the circuit behind, but sometimes I still feel like testing my luck," Drake admitted, and Hassleberry said it was a good thing he did, or he might have lost.