Sometime had passed since Bastion's promotion duel against Chazz and the run-in with Wheeler.
The class was going on a field trip. Ash was being punished for entering the abandoned dorm with permission and Jaden, Syrus, Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were being punished for skipping class to look for Chazz.
"I'm going easy on you guys because you were looking out for your friends." Banner informed the six.
Ash was a little apprehensive.
Bastion was assisting Prof. group continued on their way to their destination. They crossed a river by walking on a tree trunk.
Syrus then approached Ash and Jaden and pulled them to the side.
"What's up?" Ash asked him.
"I overheard Prof. Banner talking to someone. Apparently we're going to be buried."
"And?" Ash questioned.
"You're worrying too much." Jaden waved it off.
As they walked, climbed and crawled for many hours, Chumley kept whining and complaining about what he hated throughout the trip:
"Are we almost there?"
"My feet really hurt!"
"Can we take a bathroom break or something?"
"I hate climbing!"
"I hate crawling!"
"I hate hiking!"
"Are we there yet!?"
"I'm hungry!"
"Finally, we're here!" Banner laughed triumphantly, secretly glad he didn't have to put up with Chumley complaining for awhile longer.
The others looked directly in front of them, was what looked like a broken archway that was mostly covered in green moss.
"Cool..." Jaden breathed, "They looked all ruined." He commented, looking around at the site.
Alexis smiled slightly, "That's because they're ruins."
Banner set down his pack and looked around, "Marvelous!" He tried to hold back his excitement, "You can still see the fated remains of the oculus, oh and the phastigium! No doubt inspired by a meniment of Saka'Ra."
"How intriguing." Bastion stated.
"This is unbelievable." Bastion was left speechless.
"Pretty." Mindy had stars in her eyes.
"You said it." Jasmine agreed with her friend.
"Well I'm just happy I get to sit down." Chumley groaned, rubbing his legs, "I hate hiking..."
Jaden grinned at his friends and looked at his teacher, "Speaking of sitting down, how about we chowdown?"
Banner nodded, "I don't see why not. Afterwards, we can check out the rest of the ruins. Maybe there's some well preserved sarcophaguses around...or is it sarcophagi?" he dropped his bag and looked through it, "Oh well, time to eat for now. I love pizza, I can barely wait."
Jaden and the others turned around on their lunch blanket, staring at their professor.
"Pizza?! You get pizza while we're stuck with whatever it is I'm holding?" Jaden whined, holding up some sort of rice balls.
"Professor." Ash gritted his teeth.
He wasn't happy with Prof. Banner not sharing the pizza with them.
Jaden rolled his eyes and joined his friends once again.
"That's funny." Banner murmured, rummaging through his backpack, "I don't remember having a fur-topping on my pizza."
Instead of pulling out his lunch, Banner pulled out a familiar fat cat out of his sack, crumbs around his whiskers. Pharaoh mewed and gave a small belch.
"What the?" Jasmine gasped in shock.
A giant metal hand proceeded to grab Ash, Bastion, Mindy, Jasmine and Pikachu.
"What's going on?" Ash asked.
"Ah!" Mindy screamed.
"Get me down." Jasmine demanded.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt." Ash told Pikachu who's cheeks started to spark.
"No. We're too close." Bastion reminded him.
After Pikachu stops his attack, the five are sucked into a portal.
"Bastion!" Jaden called out.
"Ash, Jasmine, Mindy, Pikachu!" Alexis also called out.
Banner face faulted, "Pharaoh! You were supposed to stay at home, not hitch a ride in my bag and eat my lunch!" He cried. Banner hung his head in dismay, then slowly turned to his students, looking very humble, "Maybe...you could share you lunch with me, children?" He asked, hands together.
"Why would we do that when you weren't going to share that pizza." Ash shot back.
Banner face faulted again, "But of course, I was going to share!"
"Share what?" Alexis asked, "Pepperoni breath all day?"
While Banner kept trying to score some free food, Pharaoh walked around the area. The fat cat looked around and noticed something sticking out of the dirt. He walked over and dug, shoveling dirt behind him as the object became clearer. It was a large, round disk with symbols carved into it. In the exact middle of the disk, a green gem lay. Pharaoh mewed and prodded the disk.
At the touch of the cat's paw, the green gem began to glow a bright light. Pharaoh shrieked and ran back to his master, while beams of bright green light shot into the sky from the earth.
"What's going on?!" Jaden watched as more and more beams erupted from the dirt. Everyone else rose to their feet and stood back to back, while Pharaoh leapt into Banner's arms, shaking like a leaf.
Everyone gazed upward to see the sun split into three separate balls of fire and light.
"Is...anyone else seeing things in triplicate?" Banner asked nervously.
Chumley's jaw dropped as a veil of different colored lights appeared, moving around them in a circular pattern. He had gone on the field trip with them, "Man...this is the most lishus field trip ever."
A hooting made Jaden look away from the light to see Winged Kuriboh on his shoulder.
Syrus, Chumley and Banner started to run around, trying to find shelter. The lightning and thunder came quicker and quicker each time, making them more frightened.
Banner looked ahead towards a tall building, "We'll find safety in that-" His last word was drowned out by more thunder.
"The what!?" The kids shouted.
Banner pointed to the thing ahead of them.
"The building with the hole!" He yelled.
The others ran to the cave.
Jaden turned to see the others in the cave and went to join them.
Meanwhile...
Ash and Bastion were the first to regain consciousness.
They then noticed they were in a rocky area with a waterfall and sand.
"Where are Pikachu, Mindy and Jasmine?" Ash asked Bastion.
"I have no idea." Bastion shook his head.
Both then hear a scream.
"Is someone in trouble?"
"Let's find out." Bastion suggested.
Ash and Bastion ran to find the origin of the scream.
They find Jasmine struggling to hold onto a rock near the waterfall.
"Help!" Jasmine screamed.
"Hang on!" Ash ordered.
He and Bastion went over to the waterfall and stood below her.
"First a monkey and now this." Jasmine groaned.
Jasmine slipped and Bastion caught her bridal style.
A blush formed on her face after she looked up and noticed Bastion shine with the sun.
"Are you alright?" Bastion questioned.
"Yeah, thanks to you." Jasmine responded.
"Where's Mindy and Pikachu?" Ash asked her.
Jasmine snapped back to reality after his question.
"Can you put me down." She insisted.
"Huh?" Bastion realized he was still holding her in his arms and was nervous. "Oh, of course."
"So what do you want to do when we get back to the Academy." Bastion and Jasmine conversed for a while.
Rainbow Kuriboh then appeared.
Jasmine and Bastion were shocked.
"What is that?" Bastion asked.
"It's cute." Jasmine squealed.
Rainbow Kuriboh floated over to Jasmine and snuggled with her.
"You guys can see him, right?" Ash asked the two.
"I sure can." Jasmine nodded.
"This can't be real." Bastion was in denial.
He was someone that believed in science.
Ash caught wind of his expression.
"You don't sound too convinced." He noted.
"Not everyone is going to believe this." Ash responded.
"Let's focus on finding Mindy and Pikachu." Ash told the other two.
The three follow Rainbow Kuriboh and then they hear a scream.
They run in the direction of the scream and spot Mindy holding Pikachu in her arms. They were in a ball above lava.
"Mindy, Pikachu!" Ash called out and tried to step forward.
Bastion stopped him though.
"That's lava. You'd be fried instantly." Bastion pointed out.
"Who did this?!" Ash demanded while inspecting the area.
"I did." A creepy, yet cool voice replied.
A masked man with a mirrored visor made his presence known. He also had a cloak with a hood on his body and a suit of armor.
A frightened Jasmine hid behind Bastion.
"Who are you?" Bastion demanded.
"My name's Slate." The figure introduced himself.
"What exactly are you after?" Ash's eyes narrowed at Slate.
He simply presented his deck.
"Duel, obviously." Slate retorted.
"If you just wanted a duel, all you had to do was display your deck instead of resorting to a lava trap." Ash shot back.
"I have my reasons." Slate gave a vague answer. "If I manage to win this duel, everyone is going in the pit of lava."
Ash, Pikachu and Mindy freak out after Bastion and Jasmine find themselves in a ball and hover above the lava next to them.
"Leave them alone!" Ash ordered.
"If you want to save them, you'll have to win." Slate brought out his duel disk. It looked familiar. There was a golden cross-like wheel on the duel disk.
'That looks familiar.' Ash thought.
Rainbow Kuriboh then got his attention.
Ash prepared to face Slate and Rainbow Kuriboh inserted itself into Ash's deck.
"DUEL!"
Ash: 4000
Slate: 4000
Both players drew their starting hands.
"I'll start this duel." Slate drew a card.
"Say hello to Skilled White Magician." A man in white robes came onto the field. (1700/1900)
Bastion realized what that monster was.
"It can't be." He got the other's attention.
"What?" Jasmine asked him.
If Skilled White Magician was on the field, Buster Blader would eventually take it's place.
"He's in trouble." Bastion said.
"I play the Upstart Goblin spell. With it I draw and you gain 1000 life points." Slate drew a card and Ash gained 1000 life points.
There was a blue flame above Skilled White Magician.
Slate: 4000
Ash: 5000
Another blue flame appeared above Skilled White Magician
"I activate the continuous spell Shard of Greed." Slate said. "Whenever I draw during my draw phase, a counter is placed on this. If it has two or more counters, I send it to the graveyard to draw two cards."
Skilled White Magician had three small blue flames above it.
"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed in shock.
"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked, concerned.
"He can sacrifice White Magician to summon Buster Blader." Bastion revealed.
"No way." Jasmine was surprised.
"It can do that." Mindy was also surprised.
'That's a problematic monster.' Ash thought.
He was trying to recall where he heard about it.
"Oh yeah. It becomes stronger when it faces dragon type monsters like Blue-Eyes." Ash groaned.
He needed something that wasn't a dragon type monster to deal with it.
"Next I discard a card to special summon Supay, Duskwalker from my hand."
"I've never seen that monster before." Bastion commented.
"It's effect lets me bring out the tuner monster Supay." Slate added.
"Did you just say the words Tuner Monster?" Ash raised a eyebrow.
"He has one too!" Mindy gasped.
"Since when?" Jasmine asked.
"Is he about to synchro summon?" Bastion questioned.
"That's correct." Slate nodded.
The others had concerned expressions on their faces.
"I tune Supay, Duskwalker with Supay to synchro summon Moon Dragon Quilla." It was a dragon with four heads and a blue cracked moon face in the middle. (2500/2000)
"Where did you get a synchro monster?" Ash asked Slate.
"That's for you to find out. I end my turn." Slate gave a ambiguous response.
"Oh man." Ash said in a panic before drawing the top card of his deck. It was the spell One for One.
A smirk formed on his face.
"I discard Quillbolt Hedgehog to special summon Tuningware." (100/300)
"Next I normal summon Road Synchron." (1600/800)
"I've never seen that before." Bastion responded.
"What is it going to be used for?" Jasmine asked.
"With a tuner monster on the field Quillbolt Hedgehog brings itself back." (800/800)
He then continued his statement.
"When it's used as synchro material, Tuningware becomes a level 2 monster."
"That would mean." Bastion realized what was going on.
"I synchro summon Road Warrior!" Ash declared. (3000/1500)
"That looks tough." Mindy commented on the new monster.
"Once during my turn, I can play a level 2 or lower monster." Ash revealed.
"I play Speed Warrior in defense mode." Speed Warrior knelled down in front of him. (900/400)
"Cut Moon Dragon Quilla down with Lightning Claw!" Ash ordered.
Ash: 5000
Slate: 3500
"When Moon Dragon Quilla is declared as a attack target, I gain life points equal to half of the attacking monsters attack."
Ash: 5000
Slate: 4000
"It can increase Slate's life points." Mindy was shocked.
"Pika." Pikachu said.
"I end with two face downs." Ash stated.
Slate drew for turn.
"I summon Dragon Buster Destruction Sword and tune it with Buster Blader to synchro summon Buster Dragon." (1200/2800)
"All your monsters are now dragon types. In addition, I can special summon Buster Blader because I do not control it." Slate explained.
"All dragon types." Mindy was nervous.
Pikachu was as well.
"This isn't good." Jasmine didn't like that either.
"The Buster combo is really dangerous." Bastion nodded.
All four agreed that this was bad.
To emphasize this, his monsters become dragons with a single wing and the sides of their face become scaly with a single eye.
"Next I special summon Ascator, Dawnwalker."
"It's effect special summons Fire Ant Ascator." A small red ant crawled out of a portal.
"I tune Ascator, Dawnwalker and Fire Ant Ascator to synchro summon Sun Dragon Inti." It was a four headed dragon with a orange sun face in the middle. (3000/2500)
"Oh no." Mindy was panicked.
"That's as strong as Blue-Eyes!" Jasmine shouted.
"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed.
"Pika." Pikachu called out.
"Attack!" Slate ordered.
A powered up Buster Blader rocketed towards Ash and swung it's sword. (4100)
'I can't beat something that powerful.' Ash thought.
"My move." Ash drew a card. It was the equip spell Black Pendant.
"I'll use it on Road Warrior." A pendant was placed on Road Warrior's neck.
Slate didn't look concerned.
"Go after Inti with Lightning Claw!" Ash commanded.
Inti was destroyed by a electrified slash.
Slate: 3500
"It's gone!" Mindy cheered.
"Yeah!" Jasmine was also happy.
Bastion simply nodded.
"Pika." Pikachu said.
Road Warrior suddenly grabbed it's head in pain.
"What's going on?" Ash questioned.
Slate then chuckled.
"Sun Dragon Inti. Since it was destroyed, your monster goes with it and you take half of that monster's attack as damage." He informed Ash.
Ash gritted his teeth in pain.
"I felt that for some reason."
"Since Black Pendant was destroyed you lose 500 life points." He explained.
Slate took more damage since Black Pendant was destroyed.
Slate: 3000
Ash: 3500
"At least Inti's gone." Mindy said.
Bastion then took a look at the field.
"Don't speak too soon."
Quilla had returned to the field.
"How did it come back?" Jasmine asked.
"Whenever Inti or Quilla is destroyed, the other is revived." Slate informed them.
"What?" Mindy was shocked by this revelation.
"A endless cycle of resurrection. Remarkable." Bastion was left speechless.
"Now I use Soul Release to banish 5 cards from either graveyard and I choose yours." Ash pointed at Slate.
"With Inti gone, the resurrection cycle is broken." Bastion pointed out.
"I use Dragon's Gunfire to deal 800 points of damage."
"I end my turn with three face downs." Ash announced.
To be continued.