Long story short: a Food Wars fic I adore called Classique (stupendous story, one of the best fics on this site, fully recommend) finally updated today, got me thinking of a Food Wars! Yu-Gi-Oh! AU I'd come up with, and got me thinking of this story and how I really needed to blow off some steam. So, here we are! :)

Beta-ed by xenosaiyan

Jaune Arc: 2200 Life Points

Cardin Winchester: 4000 Life Points

"With my level four Noble Knight Artorigus and my level four Noble Knight Gawayn, I build the Overlay Network!" Jaune yelled. "I Xyz Summon, Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights!"

Before him, his armored warriors turned to yellow lights and flowed into a swirling spiral galaxy, only for a new knight to emerge with resplendent glowing armor, a massive blade in hand as his overlayed comrades orbited him (ATK 2000 / DEF 2000).

"YEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Nora screamed from the lecture hall seats, Blake nonchalantly plugging her ears as she kept reading her book. "That's right, Jaune! Kick his butt!"

"Haha! Your spirit is intoxicating, Ms. Valkyrie!" Professor Port chortled at the base of the giant mechanical practice arena. "Nonetheless, I must ask you to contain yourself. After all, the purpose of this exercise is to help your classmates sharpen their focus. Thus, we must be courteous to their fierce battle!"

"Aye, aye, sir!" Nora shouted, falling back into her seat. "Kick his butt, fearless leader!"

"Nora, that's literally the opposite of what he just said to do," Ruby reminded her from the next chair. Of course, she then immediately turned towards the arena and cupped her hands around her mouth. "You've got this, Jaune! You've got him right where you want him!"

"Ms. Rose."

"Sorry, professor."

Jaune managed a smile at his friends' encouragement, but it was fleeting as his attention was drawn across the massive mechanical dueling field.

Atop his red station, the bulky Cardin Winchester sniggered at him, puffing out his golden Ra Yellow jacket like a lion daring a mouse to challenge him. "Ha! 'Right where you want me?' Sure, I guess you must want to lose. Only reason someone as pathetic as you would bother getting up in the morning."

"Hey! No fair!" Nora shouted. "Why does he get to talk?"

"Trash talk between opponents is a time-honored facet of dueling, Ms. Valkyrie. We must learn to acclimate to it," Professor Port explained. "The mental game can be as crucial as the dueling game."

"Boo!"

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at his teammate's undying support, a warmth of confidence swelling within him.

Professor Port's Slifer Red and Ra Yellow Duel Theorem class covered a wide range of topics, from which strategies worked best against which Grimm to practicing how to sculpt proper extra deck monster bodies with aura. But undoubtedly everyone's favorite class activity (mostly because there was no long-winded lecture involved) was the Tactical Application Session.

While Professor Goodwitch's class consisted of duels with full aura effects where you could only use what you could provide a body for, in Professor Port's Tactical Application Sessions, the students were taken to an old clunky practice arena and allowed to duel with only training holograms. They could play any card in their deck, no matter if they knew how to make an aura body for it or not. The point of these sessions was to sharpen their dueling tactics without the stress of live combat.

Jaune enjoyed that because without aura bodies, the spirits of his monsters weren't being drawn out. He didn't have to weather his Noble Knights' disdainful glares and the guilt and self-loathing they roused in him. Now, all he had to deal with was Cardin's two Marauding Captains (ATK 1200 / DEF 400), something his Noble Knight King was easily powerful enough to do.

And it was about to get even stronger.

"When I summon Artorigus, he can equip himself with up to three Noble Arms Equip Spells from my graveyard!" Jaune announced. "And I choose Noble Arms – Gallatin, Noble Arms – Caliburn, and Noble Arms – Clarent!"

The spectral forms of the three swords flooded over Artorigus's blade, glowing brighter with each infusion (ATK 2000 + 1000 + 500 = ATK 3500).

"Now, Artorigus! Attack the Marauding Captain on the left!" Jaune called, a giant smile on his face.

Only for nothing to happen, his Noble Knight King not making a move.

"Uh, Artorigus? Attack? Artorigus?" Jaune said, growing more worried by the second. "Aw man, I thought these were training holograms—"

"Hahahahahaha!" Cardin interrupted, his laughter somehow both shrill and booming across the wide arena. "You've gotta be kidding me! I knew you were pathetic, but you don't even know what Marauding Captain does? It's one of the most common cards there is!"

"Wha—of course I do!" Jaune protested, conscious of the confused, judgmental stares the rest of the class of red and yellow jackets were throwing his way. "You used it earlier! It lets you summon another level four or lower monster from your hand when you normal summon it."

He could tell he'd said something wrong as soon as Cardin's team started sniggering in the stands. Ruby cringed in her seat, Nora's face falling into her hands.

"Ha! Man, even for a Slifer Slacker, you are a whole new league of dumb!" Cardin mocked. "When Marauding Captain is on the field, you can't attack any other Warrior-type monsters. And since I've got two, you can't attack at all!"

'An attack lock is a powerful defense, but it is not foolproof. By using Noble Arms – Clarent's effect and paying five hundred life points, our monster can bypass both captains and attack directly—'

"Well, I can't do that when I'm already in my battle phase," Jaune growled under his breath, before sighing. He didn't even have the stupid key on, he'd wanted to give himself a few weeks to try to get up to the level he needed to be on, but he was imagining that dumb spirit's advice too late anyway. "I end my turn!"

"And the end of this farce. Draw!" Cardin said. "I activate Monster Reborn and—"

RING! RING! RING!

"Balderdash," Professor Port swore, snapping in frustration at the school bell. "Well, that's the downside of a great duel, class. You lose track of time. Make sure to study the recording of this match for homework. We'll be going over it next class."

"What's to go over?" Cardin snorted, both him and Jaune's sections of the stadium gliding back to the ground. "A dueling monkey could have done better."

Professor Port frowned, his bushy eyebrows furrowing. "Trash talk during a match is one thing, Mr. Winchester, but after the duel ends, it's over. Sportsmanship is not optional in this class."

Cardin sneered, but reluctantly reached out a hand to Jaune, the blonde clasping it with a wince. He kept his aura up as the bigger boy's grip squeezed with all the overwhelming force expected.

"Those Noble Knights of yours are as impressive as the stories say, loser," the brute whispered. "Maybe if you could Xyz Summon for real, they wouldn't be so embarrassed to be in your deck."

Jaune gulped, his eyes nervously shifting downward to the deck box on his right hip when his ancestral deck resided. Weeks into his Beacon curriculum, weeks of training and getting his butt kicked around the bottom of the Slifer Red barrel, and The Noble Knights had shown no more acceptance to him than at initiation. He tried his best, but it didn't feel like he was getting any better at dueling, just being Cardin's whipping boy.

The other boy tossed the blond's hand aside and went off to join his teammates, the mid-ranking Ra Yellows cheerily clapping their leader on the back. Nora snorted at them as she, Ruby, and Blake came up to join Jaune.

"Pff, he's acting like he won, but he couldn't beat you before the time ran out," the friendly Ra Yellow said, her and Blake's jackets contrasting against Jaune and Ruby's red coats.

"He did have more life points left," Jaune pointed out.

"Ah, come on, fearless leader. Everyone knows that that doesn't matter," Nora cheerily replied, clapping Jaune on the back and sending the blond sputtering for breath. "As long as you got one life point left, you ain't lost yet! Ren and I learned that much when we were growing up. Bandits can't take your food if you don't lose."

Blake glanced up from her book. "Bandits stole your food?"

"They tried to steal our food." Nora chuckled, nostalgically shaking her head. "Stupid Spiders. At least Branwen thugs knew their way around a duel disk."

"Spiders? You mean Malachite thugs? Yeah, we got some of those here too. Though, they might be laying low after Yang trashed their club…" Ruby trailed off when she noticed Jaune's still dour expression. The silver-eyed girl approached her friend and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't listen to Cardin, Jaune. He's a jerk. Not like he can summon from the extra deck either."

"Yeah, we're here to learn how to do that. I can't do that," Nora admitted. "Heck, Blake's played X-Sabers since she got here, and she hasn't synchro summoned once. Have you, Blake?"

The stoic girl blinked at her classmates before lowering her gaze back into her book and pointedly turning the page. "… I cannot Synchro Summon."

"See? And she's probably the closest to being an Obelisk Blue out of all four of us," Nora said, giving Jaune a friendly punch to the chest, not noticing that only Ruby's quick action kept him from doubling over. "You'll get it."

"I think… I think I have to be able to beat Cardin first," Jaune coughed. "Or, you know, anybody."

Ruby winced. "Not knowing what Marauding Captain does is weird given how common it is. But, hey, now you know for next time."

"I guess," Jaune shrugged, not feeling any real reassurance. He didn't think knowing what Marauding Captain did was going to get his Noble Knights to agree to let him use them in a real duel. Why would they when he couldn't come close to winning a training duel.

"Can you guys do a favor?" he asked his three friends. "Don't tell the others about this? Especially Pyrrha."

Nora frowned. "She's just worried about you. She's your partner."

His perfect, incredible partner. Jaune had known Pyrrha was amazing after her turbo duel with Yang and their time in the Emerald Forest. His time getting to know the caring, chipper girl she was behind all the dueling skill over the last few weeks of Beacon had only left him more in awe of her. She wasn't supposed to be saddled with a partner as worthless as him, weighed down by a loser who couldn't win a single duel. It wasn't her responsibility to whip him into shape, it was his.

Even if it was looking more and more like the only way to do that was to put on his old jewelry.

"Just don't tell her?" Jaune asked. "Please?"

Blake sharply turned another page without looking up from her book. "My lips are sealed."

Jaune looked pleadingly at Ruby and Nora, the two girls sharing a look before mutually deflating.

"Fine, fearless leader," Nora relented. "I won't tell anyone but Ren."

Jaune nodded, knowing that was as good as he was gonna get. At least his only male friend knew how to keep a secret.

He turned to Ruby.

"She just wants to help you, Jaune," Ruby reminded him. "We all do."

"I know. And it means the world to me. It really does," he assured her. "But, I just need a bit more time. One way or the other."

Ruby didn't look convinced, but she gave him a firm nod. "They won't hear a peep from me."

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"So Jaune," Yang piped up, tossing some popcorn in her open maw as the two teams assembled in front of Team RWBY's TV. "Heard Cardin kicked your butt in Port's class today."

Jaune immediately glared over at a sheepish Ruby and Nora. Blake didn't even look up from her Ninjas of Love book from where she laid back on her bed, away and separate from the rest of the group.

"Oh, don't get all pouty at them," Yang playfully chastised. "He was bragging loud enough for half the school to hear when he got to the cafeteria."

"It was quite obnoxious," Ren dryly noted. "At the very least, you won in the realm of sportsmanship."

"Hooray," Jaune falsely cheered. "I have the moral high ground."

"Yes, yes, Arc lost yet another duel. In other news, water is wet," Weiss snarked, smoothing out her Obelisk Blue skirt as she took a dignified seat on her bed and opened a box of some of Vale's finest chocolates. "Now, Ruby would you please load the next disc already?"

Ever since the initial Onomatopoeia Gang marathon the night of initiation, the two teams had made a habit of gathering into Team RWBY's room at the end of every week and picking up where they'd left off. They may not have shared too many classes due to half of them belonging to the advanced Obelisk Blue track, but the plentiful snacks and good tv made sure the eight of them could regularly keep abreast of how their friends were doing.

Ruby grinned at her partner with impish mirth. "Why Weiss, if I didn't know any better, I'd think the dignified heiress of the SDC was deeply invested in last week's cliffhanger."

"Wha…what?! Don't be absurd!" Weiss squeaked, whipping her blushing face away in a way Jaune could barely stop himself from swooning over. "I merely find it vexing that we stopped right before the arc's finale."

Ruby smirked and hit the play button on her scroll. The tv flared to life and the real-life Mr. Heartland appeared in his cartoonish suit, addressing the audience directly while standing amidst the animated Duel Monsters.

"Last time on 'The Onomatopeia Gang'!" the flamboyant man announced. "Gagaga Magician, Gagaga Girl, and Zubaba Knight were taken hostage by bandits led by the vile Battleguard General! Gogogo Golem can no longer play defence if he wants to save his friends, but can he find a way to work with the mysterious Dododo Buster to form the Overlay Network and summon Gagaga Cowboy to save the day? Find out this week on another amazing episode of 'The Onomatopeia Gang'! Guest starring Leonardo Lionheart!"

"Yes! Yes, they can!" Weiss immediately cheered. "Dododo Buster can lower its level with its special ability, and they can—"

The heiress paled and shakily turned towards the cheeky grins of Ruby, Yang, and Nora. Even Blake and Ren were looking at her with a twinkling gleam in their eyes, which for them was basically the same as rolling on the floor laughing.

Weiss coughed. "I mean… it's just a children's show."

"Don't worry, Weiss," Jaune piped up. "Headmaster Lionheart is able to help them learn to work together to count down from six to four—"

Weiss's box of chocolates went flying (Nora happily catching them all… in her mouth) as the heiress dashed over to Jaune on a trail of glyphs and smacked a furious finger over his lips to silence him. "Don't you dare spoil it."

Jaune quickly nodded, really hoping the confident beauty assumed his rapid movement was just from fear and not notice the substantial awe driving his stare. He knew Weiss wasn't his biggest fan, and if he couldn't even pick himself up out of the Slifer Red gutter… well, he couldn't exactly blame her.

Dang, he'd made himself sad again.

"Oh, lay off him, Ice Queen," Yang teased. "He didn't mean any harm."

"Yeah," Ruby concurred, pausing the tv. "Besides, you guys still haven't told me how your first Forge Class was."

"There isn't really much to tell," Pyrrha replied. "Dr. Oobleck took us to the Forge Room, showed us the different parts of the machine, went over safety protocols—"

"Yadayadayada," Ruby interjected, a bright smile on her face. "What cards did you guys make?!"

"Well, none," Pyrrha confessed. "Not yet."

Ruby's face deflated like a kid who'd just been told candy was bad for her.

"Sorry, sis. No dad here, so we've got to do things by the book," Yang said, patting her sibling on the shoulder. "According to Professor Oobleck, we've got another week until we get to start actually using the forge."

"But… but you guys are the Obelisk Blues!" Ruby protested. "If you're not actually forging yet, how long until I get to forge?"

Nora raised an eyebrow. "You mean 'until we get to forge', right?"

"No, she means her," Blake clarified, completing her book and picking up another with nary a change of expression.

Weiss sighed. "Ruby, a Paladin Arc-VI Forge is an extremely advanced and potentially dangerous machine. It's not a common factory device like you had at Signal, it's the same model the Atlas Military uses in its highest research. I'm amazed they're letting us first-years use it at all. Making us go learn all the proper safety procedures before we can use it to forge our own cards is perfectly fair, even if Silfer Reds admittedly have to wait a bit longer for their requisite classes."

"Stupid written test. I'm only a Slifer Red because I didn't know half the stuff on it," Ruby pouted. "I thought being a prodigy who could skip ahead two years was supposed to be fun!"

Yang cheerfully ruffled her hair. "Aw, don't worry, sis. First promotion exam's soon enough. You and Blake'll be jumping up and making Team RWBY an all-blue team before the Vytal Festival."

Jaune tried not to pay any mind to no one even suggesting that Team JNPR might also be entirely made of Obelisk Blue members that soon.

That proved easier than anticipated as he was soon given something entirely different to panic over.

"Observation number fourteen: human education systems seem adverse to placing the least proficient students in the classes that could provide them opportunities to most readily improve themselves."

Jaune's face suddenly became paler than Weiss's, his head turning to spot a familiar glowing figure protruding from the torso up through the wall.

Pyrrha's head perked up, Ren sitting up a fraction straighter beside her. "Wha—"

"Hey! Nora ate all the chocolates!" Jaune shouted, panickily shooting to his feet. "I'll just pop over to our dorm, grab some more, no big!"

"Oh. Okay," Ruby said. "Do you want us to hold the episode for you?"

"Noooooo!" Weiss dramatically exclaimed.

"No, it's alright. I've seen it before," Jaune waved off, already at the door. "Make sure to crank the volume up really loud. You don't want to miss a single line."

"Wait!" Pyrrha exclaimed, rising up and holding out her hand. "Jaune—"

The blond boy slammed the door behind him before she could say another word.

Dashing across the hall to his own team's dorm, Jaune threw his suitcase onto his bed and tore through the clothes within until he ripped out his key.

"That is unnecessary. I am right here."

Jaune whipped around and found himself face-to-face with the floating being that had been leaning through Team RWBY's wall.

He was a lithe and ethereal figure, his head and limbs a pale, ghostly blue, his hair short but slicked up into a single central spike. He wore armor of a less translucent substance over his chest, waist, and thighs, the dark, navy-blue metal inlaid with three shining red jewels over his pectoral muscles. His eyes, one serene cerulean and one tempestuous crimson, both stared down at Jaune with stony impatience.

"What the heck was that?!" Jaune demanded.

"I do not understand. You were already aware that I am able to move in a short radius from the key," the figure replied, genuinely perplexed before a shade of anger crossed his face. "Did you think keeping it concealed would prevent me from seeking you out?"

"It seemed to work for the last few weeks," Jaune shot back.

"I assumed you were performing reconnaissance to locate the means to deal with our card conundrum," the ghost answered, its dual-chromatic eyes narrowing. "I assumed that you would not be working to back out of our agreement. After all, I completed my end of the bargain when I defeated your father."

Jaune flinched at that reminder, glancing away in shame. "Look, I'm not trying to back out of our deal. I promised to help you figure out what's up with that card of yours and how to get your memories back, and I'm going to. I just gotta get my feet under me here first. I'm Team JNPR's leader. I can't make them a laughingstock by being the worst student in Beacon. Do you understand?"

"From what I have observed from your 'team's interactions, only you and this 'Weiss' feel that your current school ranking reflects on them," the spirit argued with a shrug. "But if you feel it necessary to have your grades increase, I am willing to take over your body and win you some—"

"No!" Jaune shouted. "No, I… I have to win them on my own. No one else has a poltergeist helper giving them 'observations' when they're messing up."

The spirit cocked an eyebrow. "I do not recall why you would care about a sense of fairness in regard to your classmates. Did you not cheat your way into the school to begin with?"

"You did what?"

Jaune and the spirit's eyes both widened, the pair whipping around towards the room's door.

There stood Pyrrha, the champion's jaw hanging open as she blinked in shock. At both of them.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune squeaked. "What are you doing here?"

"You ran out so suddenly. I wanted to make sure you were alright, but… What am I talking about?" Pyrrha stammered. She shook her head and pointed straight at the ghostly spirit. "What is that?!"

"You can hear me? You can see me?" the spirit inquired, amazed. The normally detached ghost raised his arm to give his best attempt at a wave. "Greetings."

"Um… greetings? Nice to meet you?" Pyrrha replied, returning her own awkward wave. "I'm Pyrrha."

"I am aware," the spirit replied. "I have been watching you all from inside Jaune's key. And sometimes outside it. Through the walls."

"Uh…" Pyrrha said, her mouth hanging open as she struggled to find words. Eventually, she turned to Jaune and settled on… "I have… questions."

Jaune sighed and lifted the key up from his suitcase. "Alright, been thinking about how to convince people I'm not crazy about this for months now so here we go. Long story short, my archaeologist sister dug up this key from some tomb she excavated in Mistral and sent it to me as a present. But, surprise! Turns out there's some kind of ancient dueling ghost in it!"

"Again, greetings," said spirit waved.

"Good news, he's not some kind of crazy horror movie poltergeist who's gonna possess me in my sleep and go on a killing spree."

"I questioned what the point of such a course of action would be."

"Bad news, he's got no memories," Jaune revealed. "Good news that I am now feeling highly conflicted about, I let him possess my body to beat my dad in a duel so he'd let me come to Beacon."

Pyrrha blinked numbly for a few seconds before rubbing her fingers into her forehead. "Ah, alright, that's… um… a net good?"

Jaune stared at her for a second before he actually let out a small chuckle. "That's one way to describe it. He can certainly be a pain in the butt sometimes, but he's a good guy… I think."

"My purposes are served by facilitating a cordial dialogue," the spirit clarified. "When I first manifested from the key upon meeting Jaune, I did so with two cards, one which had a blank picture and special ability box. I believe completing that card might be the first step to restoring my memories and Jaune told me that Beacon was a center of knowledge on Duel Monsters material—"

"Okay, she gets it. No need to dump everything on her." Jaune shot Pyrrha an apologetic look. "Sorry. I wasn't sure if you hearing him before was a fluke or not. No one else ever has before. Didn't know how to broach the subject."

"It's alright," Pyrrha assured him, though the champion still looked unsure. "I can understand the confusion. But…" she tepidly stepped forward and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "… Jaune… you know I'm here for you, right? We're partners. You don't need to keep secrets like this from me."

"Human partners do not keep secrets from each other?" the spirit asked. "Even if you would be morally obligated to dissolve the partnership upon learning of the secret?"

"You mean the 'cheating' to get in?" Pyrrha said, only to shrug. "I'll admit, having someone else pass your dad's test for you isn't exactly noble, but you got into Beacon same as the rest of us. You have nothing to be ashamed of, Jaune."

"Actually, I was referring to how he falsified his—"

Jaune stuffed his arm over the spirit's mouth, but he misjudged the movement and accidentally stuck his hand through the ghost's cheek. The specter's speech stopped less from any obstruction to his mouth and more because he had to pause to shoot the blond boy the most exasperated stare practically screaming 'Really?'.

Unfortunately for the skittish hunting duelist-in-training, his partner was not nearly stupid enough to miss the blazing neon sign of that signal. Pyrrha's eyes narrowed into displeased emerald slits, Jaune shivering under her reproachful stare.

"Pyrrha, I… I…"

After he failed to string together more than those scattered words for several seconds, Pyrrha held up a hand to let him rest. The champion letting out a tired sigh, her face warm, but undeniably disappointed. "I meant what I said. Whatever you think you need to keep to yourself, you can tell me when you're ready. I am here for you."

She started to turn around, only to pause and take one final look back at the floating spirit. She shot him an unsure, yet somehow still friendly, wave before she clattered out of the dorm.

Jaune's head fell in shame. "But you shouldn't have to be."

He turned towards the spirit with a tight glare. "You happy, you jerk?"

"I am unsure why you would conclude that I would be," the ghostly figure replied. "I do not desire your discomfort, Jaune. Only that you provide me the help you promised."

Jaune opened his mouth to shoot something back but found he could only manage a sigh. He wanted to hold onto his anger, but his spectral visitor made a good point. Whether the ghost had lacked the social skills to keep from airing it or not, everything he'd said had been Jaune's mistakes. He'd already waited weeks in the key for the young hunting duelist to hold up his end of the bargain. Considering he was depending on Jaune to find out who he even was, he had been more than patient.

The blond boy collapsed down to a seat on his bed, the spirit floating down next to him. "I'm sorry. My best guess would be the forge Ruby mentioned could fix the blank card, but I have no idea how to use it. Heck, I'm a Slifer Red. I'm not even allowed in there until my first class on it."

"Yang mentioned that a promotion exam is coming up soon. Could you not simply pass it and transfer up to the Ra Yellow track?"

"Promotion exam duels use live aura bodies. The Noble Knights still won't use any I sculpt for them," Jaune snorted. "Makes sense. Dad gave me the deck when you beat him. They probably know I didn't earn them or my spot here."

The spirit cocked an eyebrow."Those cards have been in your family since your grandfather's time, correct? Somehow, I doubt they would have let you perish in the Emerald Forest over just that. But, if their uncooperativeness is the issue, why not just use your Onomatopeia Gang deck?"

Jaune shoved a thumb towards the wall to the hall. And Team RWBY's room.

The spirit quickly caught his meaning and floated out through the wall. Shortly after, he returned.

"Currently, Mr. Heartland and Leonardo Lionheart are making overtures to children in the audience to help them sing a song to teach Gogogo Golem and Dododo Buster how to count down the latter's level from six to four," the spirit relayed. "Lionheart is offkey and Mr. Heartland has made many remarks towards him about a 'cat having his tongue' that I suspect are quite racially insensitive."

"And there's your reason."

"Using the Onomatopeia deck would be racially insensitive?"

"No! It's a deck based on a kids' show! A kids' show made to teach six-year-olds how to count backwards and tell colors apart!" Jaune whined. "Do you know how much the kids back home made fun of me for playing it? Can you imagine how much the people here would make fun of me for playing it? Weiss won't even admit she likes it."

"She was only singing along under her breath," the spirit noted. "Ruby and Nora were much louder, but also much less in tune."

"I'm the leader of Team JNPR. They voted for me, trusted me to lead them, over Pyrrha of all people," Jaune explained. "I don't have the right to just give up and accept being the same kiddie loser I was back home. I have to be the kind of duelist they deserve, like the Arc heroes who were worthy of the Noble Knights. Even if… even if I'm not."

And he wasn't. He knew it, Pyrrha knew it, Weiss knew it, Cardin and everyone else in Beacon knew it. He was just the dorky kid who got laughed off the Ansel duel field for trying to show off his shiny foil Gagaga Cowboy promo when he couldn't even summon it. His mom had gotten it for his birthday, and he'd been so happy when he'd unwrapped the box…

But the time for kid stuff was over. They'd faced live Grimm in the Emerald Forest and they'd be expected to do so again. He owed it to his team, the people they'd protect, and whoever's spot at the academy he'd taken with his fake transcripts to make sure Jaune Arc was the mature, badass hunting duelist he needed to be. No matter if he was really 'Jaune Arc'.

"Two weeks. There's a class trip to Forever Fall in two weeks. There'll be Grimm there," he glumly said, looking up at the spirit. "If I can't get a real deck working by then, can you possess me like you did against dad? Make sure my team is safe?"

"I contend that you're only making things harder for yourself by disregarding the deck you are most proficient with," the spirit replied. The pale blue figure closed his eyes and gave a slight nod. "But if you are willing, I have no objections."

"Thanks." Jaune reached into his suitcase and pulled out his pendant, the gold and blue key turning on the lanyard as its red jewels glittered in the room's light. "And I am sorry. I know you didn't come to bail me out again. I promise, I will help you get your memories back."

"You have already made such a promise. For what it's worth, I believe you will try," the spirit said.

Jaune managed a small smile and threw the lanyard around his neck, shoving the key under his shirt so it didn't break school dress code (he hadn't actually read the whole thing, so he wasn't taking any chances). He then set about collecting chocolates from the room's minifridge to solidify his excuse to the others. Pyrrha had brought the candies, so they should have been up to Weiss's standards.

Maybe if he hadn't been daydreaming about living up to his crush's expectations in that small way, in any small way, he would have heard the specter finish his sentence.

"… but perhaps you will require assistance in that as well."

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Before Beacon, Pyrrha never would have described herself as a 'light sleeper'. But back home in Argus, there also hadn't been anything to keep her awake once she learned to ignore the fresh fish smell drifting in from the harbor.

Well, there was her intense, existential dread that she would only ever be defined by the admiration others held for her dueling talent and that she'd never have any real friends, but she'd learned to push that down. Deep, deep down.

But even after an Onomatopoeia Gang marathon and the teams returning to their own rooms for lights out, The Invincible Girl found her thoughts distracted by the revelations of her conversation with Jaune and the spirit of his key. Her partner, the second true friend she'd made after Yang, had been lying to her. The ghost of the key was one thing, she could completely understand his fears of being considered crazy, she still wasn't completely sure she hadn't somehow gone insane herself. But what he might have done to cheat his way into Beacon…

No, no, he was her partner. And he was her friend. They'd saved each other in the Emerald Forest and she owed him the benefit of the doubt. She said she'd let him tell her when he was ready, and she'd meant it.

That said, the internal turmoil it caused in her mind (and admittedly a bit of Nora's snoring) kept her lying awake in bed for hours, staring up at the dark ceiling wondering if she was making the right decision. And because she was awake, she noticed a small flash of red and blue light emanating from Jaune's bed.

The Invincible Girl turned her head on her pillow, stealthily spotting her partner rise up from his bed in his adorable Rainbow Kuriboh onesie. But there was something different about his movements than usual. They were precise, efficient, like some of the duel instructors from Atlas that Pyrrha had trained with. Hardly a usual look for Jaune, especially so late at night.

The blond boy gathered up his rundown duel disk and snapped a belt with his extra deck box on it around his waist. Then, with nary a glance toward Pyrrha or his other slumbering teammates, the leader of Team JNPR headed out into the night.

Pyrrha sat up immediately, fear for her friend running through her. Aside from Atlas, Beacon was the strictest of the Hunting Duelist Academies. Unless they cleared it with the appropriate faculty beforehand, students were expected to be in the dorm wing when the already generous curfew came around. Jaune knew this, so why was he risking breaking it?

And more importantly, why was she so quickly getting dressed to follow him (in her navy Obelisk Blue uniform instead of her shining golden armor, of course. Much easier to sneak around in)?

She shadowed Jaune as he marched through Beacon's halls, tucking behind coves and watching the onesie-wearing boy from the shadows as he studied the directory map on the wall. When he finally set off, Pyrrha was surprised to see him walking down a route that she'd walked to class that very day, but that she didn't think her partner had ever traveled.

Soon enough though, she spied him making his way to the Forge Room's door. Which, for some reason Pyrrha couldn't fathom, was already open a crack, the whir of the heavy machinery humming through the halls.

"Hey, boss, do you hear that?"

"Yeah, Russel. That don't sound like no vending machine."

Pyrrha ducked back into her alcove as four sets of footsteps rapidly approached. "Jaune? We have to go. Jaune?"

Her whispers were too soft to be heard over the forge's noise. And far too late as her partner went inside.

And, for some reason, stopped in shock as he peered inside.

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"… Heeeeyyy, Jaune."

Ruby nervously chuckled as she turned from where she'd been working the Beacon forge to unexpectedly spy her first friend (who was for some reason wearing his Rainbow Kuriboh onesie) in the open entryway.

"Hello… Ruby," her friend awkwardly answered, his cadence strangely more robotic than usual. "I see you also desired to use the academy forge ahead of our scheduled time."

Ah, yes. The Paladin Arc-VI Forge, pinnacle of Atlesian card forging science. The enormous device occupied the center of Beacon's Forge Room, a web of tubes and wires slinking out of it to ferry dust and electricity to dozens of workstations. Each workstation consisted of a mounted industrial blowtorch angled down at an interchangeable card mold, several tubes to insert dust into the mold, and a computer station to control the machine's settings throughout the process, including an attached specially made blacksmith glove for the user to safely add their aura to the process.

"Well… yeah," Ruby guiltily admitted, the young girl hugging the shiny machine's smooth surface and practically salivating as it hummed in its work. "I just couldn't wait! The dust selection here is so much bigger than Signal's! And this thing runs the SDC's newest VRAINS operating system, so the aura transference rate is so awesomely precise! I had to try it out!"

"But if it is a more elaborate model than you are used to, how do you know you are using it safely?" Jaune asked. "You… we… have not had the class to teach us its operating functions yet."

"Pfft! Please," Ruby waved off, turning back to the expansive machine with a cocky smirk. One of her hands danced over a keyboard to deftly maneuver the mechanical tubes inserting dust into the card mold at constantly changing angles. Her other arm reached through the forge's attached blacksmith gauntlet, her aura radiating through the specialized machine into the bright sapphire flame above the quickly filling mold. "I just wanna try it out, I'm not gonna go crazy or anything. Just a normal synchro monster, no big special abilities or anything, easy-peasy. It's perfectly safe."

"Hmm…" Jaune hummed. "Observation number fifteen: For some, crafting extra deck monsters in a device they've never used before is 'easy-peasy'."

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds like I'm making a horrible mistake—ooo! It's done! It's done!"

Ruby's eyes sparkled as her aura finished shaping the dust to fill the mold, the forge's enhanced flame solidifying the crystals of nature's wrath into a small rectangular shape. She pulled her gloved arm away from her project and grabbed the machine's tongs, using them to pick up the newly-made card and place it in a high-powered wind dust instant-cooler.

A burst of steam later and the two hunting duelists were staring down at the brand-new Duel Monsters card, the basic parameters and attack and defense points filled out while the picture and effect box remained blank.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ruby fawned, lovely stroking her new creation.

"Twenty-eight hundred is an impressive attack power," Jaune recognized, though his eyes were locked on the blank white areas of the card. "Though, why are the picture and special ability blank?"

"Eh, that happens sometimes with the awesomest ones. The maker's aura helps shape a card's unique inner structure, so for some of the more powerful ones, they need a spark of aura in a high-stress situation to make everything click, you know?" Ruby explained, a fond smile on her face. "Black Rose Dragon didn't fully come together until Uncle Qrow finally dueled me without pulling his punches."

Jaune's brow furrowed in through, a slow, uncharacteristically cerebral nod running through him. "I suppose if it is true for a powerful Synchro monster, it's not so unusual that it is also true for powerful Xyz and Fusion monsters."

"Yeah, I don't see why that wouldn't be the case. Do you have an Xyz monster you haven't awakened yet…" Ruby trailed off, the silver-eyed girl cocking a confused eyebrow when she registered all of what her friend had said. "Fusion? What the heck's that?"

Jaune opened up the deck box on the left of his belt and removed a black-bordered blank card from it, holding it up next to Ruby's new card, which the silver-eyed girl was just noticing had a purple border itself.

"A Fusion monster is another form of Extra Deck monster, though one usually called forth by a spell card rather than monsters alone," he revealed. "This Xyz monster, however, is different from the others I've encountered. I'd thought I would have to use the forge to get it operational, but if it only requires a high stress situation to provide a 'spark' then—"

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Ruby whipped towards the entrance to the Forge Room (Jaune turned far more sedately), her eyes widening in panic when she spotted the source of the brutish voice. Because assembled in the open doorway was all four members of Team CRDL.

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Cardin couldn't believe his luck!

He and the boys had gone out looking for a vending machine to restock their late-night snacks, only to hear some other footsteps stumbling through the halls. They'd hidden, afraid it was a teacher patrolling the halls for some reason, but imagine their surprise when they'd spotted big baby Jaune Arc walking around in his kiddy onesie. And then when they'd followed the weakling out of curiosity, discovered the ever-annoying prodigy Ruby Rose working the forge.

If Cardin's father had taught him anything, it was a Winchester had to be a man, had to be strong. And being strong meant never letting an opportunity go to waste.

Ruby glared at his smug grin. "What are you doing here, Cardin… and… others?"

"Russel."

"Dove."

"Sky."

Ruby's glare didn't alleviate at all… but she also didn't show any signs of recognition.

"Do you seriously not remember our names?!" Russel demanded.

"… honestly, no."

"What?!" Russel shrieked. "But I have this awesome mohawk!"

Ruby legitimately winced at the other boy but could only offer an indifferent shrug. "Sorry. You're just not that memorable."

Russel flinched back, tears beginning to well in his eyes.

Cardin reached over to his teammate and clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly. "Don't listen to her, man. Your mohawk is badass and super memorable!"

Russel sniffled. "Thanks, boss. It's just… it's really nice to get positive reinforcement—"

"Okay, don't sappy on me, man. Real hunting duelists don't cry," Cardin scolded him. His dad would have smacked him if he'd seen him crying like Russel, but the bulkier boy had other things to handle, turning back to Ruby and Jaune. "As for what I'm doing here, I'm debating how to let the teachers know you two snuck out after curfew."

"Oh please," Ruby snorted. "You guys are out after curfew too. You tell on us, we tell on you, we all get in trouble."

Cardin smirked. "Maybe. But I have a feeling that we'll only get a slap on the wrist when we explain we were woken up by you guys. After all, it's a hunting duelist's job to investigate potential danger, and an untrained and unauthorized first-year using the forge after dark? That's more than 'potential' danger."

Ruby's scowling façade cracked just a bit, actual worry shining through. After all, she knew he was right. Even if they all got punished for being out of the dorm wing after curfew, they were the ones who'd been using the forge, a much more serious offense. Heck, if Professor Goodwitch was feeling particularly crabby, they could even get suspended.

"What do you want?" the silver-eyed Slifer Red demanded.

Cardin smiled, puffing up his Ra Yellow uniform's chest to look as intimidating as possible. "Well, I suppose I could be persuaded to keep quiet about this little after-hours excursion of yours. Think of it as a favor for a friend."

"It's blackmail."

Cardin's face fell into a frown for a second. Could she just… play along? No one talked back to dad when he did this stuff! Why couldn't this Slifer Red pipsqueak just know her place!

He took a deep breath through his nostrils and plastered his confident smile back on his face. "And friends let each other borrow each other's cards. As a return favor. I'll visit to check out your collections for the rest in the morning, but for now, I think those two hot-off-the-forge beauties you guys are holding will be a great start. I can always use more extra deck monsters."

"No way!" Ruby shouted, clutching her new card to her chest. "I made this guy, you're not—"

"You will not, under any circumstances, be taking this card," Jaune declared, stepping in front of the shorter Slifer slacker and advancing on Cardin. "I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you and your team will keep your silence about this matter."

"Hahahaha—what?" Cardin laughed. Of all the responses he'd expected, that had not been one of them.

Ruby's face went pale, nervously coming up around her dweeb friend's side. "Uh, Jaune, I love the spirit, but maybe it'd be better if I did the dueling in this case."

"No, no, no, he made the challenge. All six 'kiddy pajama-wearing' feet of him," Cardin chuckled, his team echoing his amusement behind him. "Of course, I've got no reason to actually agree to it. Unless…"

He glanced back at his boys and smiled. A good leader, a man, provided for his team.

"… if I win, you guys'll give us each five of your best cards and do all of our homework for the rest of the semester," he said. As he'd hoped, Russel, Dove, and Sky let out a chorus of agreement. His boys knew he cared about them.

However, Jaune tilted his head in confusion. "You want the student at the bottom of the rankings, with the lowest grades, to be responsible for your team's homework?"

Cardin's eyes widened. "Well… uh…"

"A strange request, but if those are your terms, then so be it," Jaune continued. "I agree."

"Now, hold on—"

"What's wrong?" the blond innocently inquired. "Do you not think you can defeat me?"

"What?!"

Arc's demeanor was… different. He wasn't acting like the trembling weakling who'd been trying to act tough for the last few weeks. The leader of Team JNPR was weirdly… matter of fact, blunt. It didn't feel like he'd mocked Cardin even once, but for some reason the bigger boy found himself taking an involuntary step back.

"Boss?" Russel spoke up. "Is everything alright—"

"It's fine!" Cardin growled, clenching his fist. His boys were counting on him to show his strength. He would not be intimidated by Slifer trash in a Rainbow Kuriboh onesie!

He stomped towards the blond boy and leaned forward to tower over the scrub. "You're on, Jauney boy!"

"Excellent," Jaune replied, completely oblivious to Cardin's intimidation efforts. "May we have a fair and honorable duel."

Ergh!

Cardin snarled and whirled away from Jaune, his team following him as he stomped out of the room. Who did that dueling monkey think he was?! Had he forgotten how many times he'd schooled him in all their other matches?

Well then, he'd just have to make him remember.

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When he'd possessed Jaune's body while the boy was sleeping in an effort to both discover how to fix his second Xyz monster and make the hunting duelist some cards he was both able and willing to use to their full capacity, he had not anticipated it turning out this way.

"You've got this, Jaune!" Ruby yelled out encouragingly. The silver-eyed hunting duelist stood with the non-leader trio of Team CRDL in the stands of one of Beacon's duel arenas as 'Jaune' and Cardin took their positions on either side of the stadium floor. "Sure, he beat you the last twelve times you dueled, but… uh… thirteenth time's the charm!"

One of the members of Team CRDL cocked an eyebrow. "Isn't thirteen specially an unlucky number?"

"Shut up, Dove."

"I'm Sky."

"Then shut up, Sky!" Ruby pointed at one of the other boys. "And just to be safe, Dove, you shut up in advance."

"I'm Russel!" the boy shouted back, pointing at his slicked-up hair. "Do you not see the mohawk?!"

"It's not memorable!"

As the sounds of the Team CRDL boy's sobs filled the arena, 'Jaune' looked down to Crocea Mors and removed the Noble Knights deck from the duel disk.

"I mean no offense, but I am not experienced in utilizing you to your fullest," he quietly said. "Therefore, I believe it will be best if I use the others."

He felt an acknowledgement of understanding from the cards, as well as a cheering swell of approval and support clamoring out for the other deck. The Noble Knights may have had high standards in their duelists, but their respect for their fellow cards was second to none.

He swiftly pulled the other deck out of the box on his belt and replaced it with the Noble Knights. The spirit then inserted the new stack of cards into Crocea Mors, the bulky duel disk's two halves slamming together and swinging around front.

Across the way, Carden raised his sleeker, silver duel disk, the newer device extending as it activated.

"Duel!"

Jaune Arc: 4000 Life Points

Cardin Winchester: 4000 Life Points

"I'll go first," Cardin shouted angrily. "I'll lay one card facedown. Then I'll normal summon Marauding Captain. And in case you forgot, that lets me summon another Level Four monster from my hand. I think I'll pick another Marauding Captain!"

Two warriors with dusty blond hair and battle-worn armor appeared before the muscular hunting duelist, their swords drawn and ready (ATK 1200 / DEF 400).

"With that, I end my turn," Cardin smirked. "Surprise me, Jauney boy."

The spirit shrugged and drew a card to bring his hand up to six. He was well aware of Marauding Captain's ability to create an attack lock when two or more of them were on the field, so for the moment, he would have to play defense. Fortunately, that suited his purposes just fine.

With the new information he'd gained, winning wasn't his only objective in this duel.

"I set one monster in facedown defense mode and lay two more cards facedown," he said, the backs of the three cards manifesting before him. "Your move."

"Ha! Guess you did learn from our last match! You know you're better off tucking your tail between your legs like a coward!" Cardin laughed. "I draw!"

The bulky boy pulled a card from his deck, smirking at the sight of it. "Perfect. Hope you're ready for a lot of late homework nights! Because I'm ending things this turn!"

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Of all the people Ruby had ever thought she'd feel threatened by, Cardin Winchester had not topped the list. Of course, if she'd been the one dueling him, he never would have been on the list, but she wasn't! And if was so confident that he was going to win in only the second round…

No! No, she had to have faith in Jaune. Her fellow team leader must have had a reason he felt confident enough to challenge Cardin. Sure, she'd suspected that it might come to that since the big bully never would have been stupid enough to think he could beat Ruby whether she had a Slifer Red jacket under her hood or not. If she'd tried to pull the duel challenge trick, he never would have accepted.

But just because he thought he could beat Jaune and take even more of their cards didn't necessarily mean he would. After all, Ruby would be the first to say the leader of Team JNPR had acted differently than he normally did in the Forge Room. She'd thought she'd have to shield him from Cardin but he'd remained eerily calm and serene throughout. Even now, as Cardin placed down the card that had given him such confidence, Jaune didn't tremble in the slightest.

Had Jaune gained some new genuine confidence in the last few hours since he was humiliated in Professor Port's class? Or was he just putting on a new version of his cocky hotshot mask?

"I summon Battleguard Cadet! And since I did, its effect lets me add the spell card Feast of the Wild LV5 to my hand," Cardin announced, pulling the new card from his deck as a purple gremlin with a club twice its size appeared in front of the brute (ATK 50 / DEF 100). "But he won't be sticking around long. Because I can tribute him to special summon a Level Eight Warrior-Type monster from my hand. Say hello to my strongest monster, Battleguard King!"

Battleguard Cadet suddenly exploded, a mass of dark fog covering Cardin's side of the field. The Marauding Captains stood resolutely in front of it, their swords drawn, but even their battle-tested blades shook with fear as an enormous shadow appeared in the smog. The smashing sound of its footsteps, like a Goliath on the prowl, echoed through the arena.

At last, the creature emerged, a great armored red ogre that towered above Cardin's other warriors, its titanic club nearly reaching the stands as it let out a guttural, bestial roar (ATK 3000 / DEF 1100).

Ruby couldn't help but squeak as Team CRDL erupted into applause. She knew her inability to resist forging awesome cards would get her in trouble someday.

"I activate my trap card, Gift of the Mystical Elf," Jaune announced, one of his facedowns flipping up as the specter of an elf appeared behind him, a gentle blue glow sparkling over the hunting duelist. "I gain 300 life points for each monster on the field."

Jaune Arc: 5200 Life Points

"Yeah, Jaune!" Ruby cheered. "Leave him in the dust!"

"He only gained a few life points," one of the CRDL boys said confusedly.

"Heck, Cardin's still got enough firepower onboard to wipe him out," another one mentioned.

"No, he doesn't," Ruby snorted. "He has to have one monster take out the defense monster and without all three of his, he can't—"

"I activate Battleguard Rage!" Cardin yelled, his trap card flipping up. "It equips to my Battleguard King and increases its power by 1000 points!"

Battleguard King was coated in a humming crimson aura, its already huge muscles bulging with power (ATK 4000).

Ruby's lips fell into a grumpy frown. When the CRDL boys began to smirk, she raised her Crescent Rose duel disk and popped out its razor-sharp blade attachment. "One word, and the mohawk gets it."

The three boys leapt back from her, shivering as they all protectively covered Russel's poofy hair (his name was Russel, right?).

"Next, I'm gonna activate Battleguard King's special ability!" Cardin grinned. "I sacrifice as many warriors as I want, and, for each one, Battleguard King gets an extra attack this turn."

Batteguard King roared and raised his giant club. The Marauding Captains closed their eyes and their master's favorite monster smashed each of them to bits, spittle flying from the barbarian behemoth's face as he furiously kept striking where his fellows had been.

Ruby's eyes widened. Three attacks from a 4000 attack point monster? No matter which Noble Knight Jaune had in defense, it'd be crushed. His life points would be annihilated even with the boost he'd gotten. Their only hope was his last facedown.

"Battleguard King!" Cardin roared, his giant beast already charging Jaune's defense monster. "Attack!"

"Your trap card, Jaune!" Ruby yelled from the stands. "Use your trap card!"

But Jaune didn't move a muscle, his arms crossed over his chest. As if accepting his fate.

Battleguard King's club fell, the defense position card flipped up… and stopped cold against a pair of bulky blue metal arms (ATK 1800 / DEF 1500).

"What?" Cardin exclaimed.

"No way," Ruby whispered, her mouth splitting wide with excitement. "Is that…?"

Huge, blocky arms? A fortress of green stone for a body? A menacing but kickass glowing red eye peeking out from the top?

It was! It was—

"Gogogo Golem!" Cardin squealed in surprise, breaking out laughing. "Wait, wait, wait! You switched out your Noble Knights for an Onomatopoeia Gang deck? Ha! Well, at least a kiddie deck is more your speed."

"When Gogogo Golem is in defense mode, it can prevent itself from being destroyed by battle once per turn," Jaune bluntly stated.

"Just like Episode 43," Ruby squeed.

Cardin scowled. "Only once. Battleguard King! Use the rest of your attacks to put Jaune's dolly back in the toy box!

The savage ogre pulled back from Gogogo Golem's defense, howling with fury as it smashed the rock creature to smithereens with one more strike. When it came around for its third blow, Jaune hopped back as the clang of the mace struck the ground where'd stood.

Jaune Arc: 1200 Life Points

Battleguard King snarled at Jaune for having dodged, furious steam blowing out from its nostrils.

"When a monster equipped with Battleguard Rage destroys a monster in battle, it sends the loser back to your hand instead of your graveyard. With that, I end my turn," Cardin declared, chuckling when he saw his monster. "Lucky for you. My king's inching to tear you apart."

Ruby's lips pursed with worry. The Battleguard archetype was well-known for its raw power, but also for being some of the more difficult monsters to keep under control. They loved to fight head-on and not every duelist could engender enough respect from them to make sure they only did so the way their partner wanted them to. Cardin seemed to have a good grip on his ace monster now, but he was also winning. If the tide turned, would they be safe from collateral damage? Would Jaune be safe in its path? His aura control wasn't exactly top of the class.

Then again, Jaune wasn't just acting different. He'd showed her his entire Noble Knight deck before when she'd pleaded to see the awesome cards and Gogogo Golem wasn't in it. He was using a different deck. The cards were more common, but also ones he was better at using, timing them just right instead of panicking and rushing like he usually did. Was this the source of his strange stoic confidence?

If so, Cardin might not have been as in control as he thought.

"My move," Jaune announced, drawing a card and bringing his hand up to five. "I discard Gogogo Golem to my graveyard to activate Onomatopaira. This card allows me to add to my hand two monsters of the 'Gagaga', 'Gogogo', 'Zubaba', or 'Dododo' archetypes, so long as I only pick one of each. I select Gogogo Giant and Gagaga Gardna. I will then normal summon Gogogo Giant."

A thin creature made of the same stone and metal as Gogogo Golem rose up on Jaune's field, the self-proclaimed giant taller than its counterpart by a head, nearly as big as Battleguard King (ATK 2000 / DEF 0). However, it immediately took a knee, its coloring muting as a portal opened on the floor beside it.

Rising from that portal, also on its knees, was Gogogo Golem.

"When Gogogo Giant is normal summoned, it can change to defense mode to summon another Gogogo monster from the graveyard," Jaune revealed. "I resurrect Gogogo Golem."

Ruby nodded. Depending on the cards available, a monster could be more useful in the graveyard than the hand. Jaune had circumvented the potentially problematic effect of Cardin's trap to still facilitate his combo. Now, with his Gogogos on the field and Gagaga Gardna in hand he had a defense capable of holding out against Battleguard King, even if he did get multiple attacks again.

That said, 4000 attack points wasn't anything to sneeze at. Ruby was an avid scholar of the Onomatopoeia Gang show and its associated archetype, but raw power was not its specialty. She didn't think Jaune had a monster strong enough to overpower his current obstacle, at least not without spells, traps, or the Extra Dec—

"I use my Level Four Gogogo Golem and Gogogo Giant to build the Overlay Network."

"What?" Ruby blinked.

"What!?" Cardin squawked.

"What?!" the rest of Team CRDL screeched.

A purple nebula blossomed across the field, its beautiful stars glistening with red and blue light. Gogogo Golem and Gogogo Giant transformed into nodes of golden light and soared into the swirling cosmic vortex.

"With order and chaos bound to your shining wings of valor, rise like the dawn to banish light and darkness! Messenger of Hope!" Jaune pronounced, his voice empty as if he didn't truly understand the words. "Xyz Summon!"

The instant the nebula went nova, a streak of golden light broke through the explosion of cosmic energy and shot into the air. It zoomed above the stadium, a lightning bolt given the flesh of starlight, its brilliant shine bringing sunrise to Beacon several hours early. After several seconds, or perhaps only an instant, the light whipped back towards Jaune and crashed to the floor in front of him.

Then, the warrior was there, resplendent and majestic. Armor of gold and white, wings of the brightest pearl, and a pair of curved swords sheathed at either hip. If Ruby had ever been tasked to imagine what the ultimate defender of all that was good and just would look like, she couldn't imagine coming up with anything more fitting than the monster before her now.

"Number 39," Jaune announced. "Utopia."

Originally, I had planned for the entire duel to be in this chapter, but then the setup ended up being much longer than I'd expected. Then I'd planned to end the chapter after the Forge Room scene and push the duel until next chapter, but then I realized that would add another chapter to the Jaundice equivalent and I have a policy about keeping that to two chapters or less due to desiring to avoid the issues of the arc in the original show. So I needed to find a spot in the duel to cut off... and then I wrote Utopia's summoning sequence, loved it, and knew it was the kickass beat to end the chapter on.

Thank you for Reading! I hope you enjoy what comes next!

Go Forth and Conquer!