Greg & Dimitri's Room, Evening…
Greg was listening to music and tapping his pencil against the desk as he mulled over the last few questions on his homework. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dimitri leap to his feet. His roommate went about getting his duel disk before heading towards the door.
This piqued the Gladiator Beast user's interest as he silenced his headphones and hung them around his neck before standing. "Hm, what's going on here."
He moved towards the door and caught sight of Dimitri knocking on the door to Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley's Room.
Slifer Dorm
Dimitri knocked on the door and grinned as Jaden answered. "Hey, Jaden!" He showed his duel disk and deck. "You want to duel?"
"I was just thinking about challenging you." Jaden grinned right back as he scrambled to gather his deck and duel disk. "I've wanted to see what these heroes you wield can do against mine."
Syrus and Chumley shared a look before smiling. Seeing two distinct hero uses go at it was bound to amount to something. As said hero users bolted for under the cliff, Syrus, Chumley, and Greg moved to stand atop it,
Jaden and Dimitri faced off and activated their duel disks. "Get your game on!/Let's Duel!"
(Jaden 4000/Dimitri 4000)
"I want to see what you can do, so you can take the first turn." Jaden declared.
"Alright, I draw!" Dimitri looked at his sixth card before grinning. "I'll activate Graceful Charity to draw 3 cards before then pitching 2 from my hand. Now, I'll summon Masked HERO Fountain(LV 4/1000/1400)."
A warrior in blue, black, and white armor appeared. "When this HERO is summoned, I get to draw 1 card." He took a moment to look his hand over before nodding. "I'll conclude my turn by setting one card. Your move."
"You've started, now let's see how I follow up." Jaden drew. "Since you started with a water attributed HERO, I'll follow suit. Come on out, Elemental HERO Ice Edge(LV 3/800/900)." A short warrior in blue spandex with ice armor appeared.
"During my first Main Phase, I can send any one card from my hand to the grave in order for this little guy to attack directly." He did just that. "Let him have it Ice Edge!" Ice Edge skated along the ground and through Dimitri (Jaden 4000/Dimitri 3200).
"You've activated an effect unique to my Level 3 Vision HEROs." Dimitri declared. "Whenever I take damage, I'm permitted to withdraw any of them I wish from my graveyard and place them within my backrow as continuous traps. I choose Vision HEROs Multiply Guy and Poisoner."
A purple and black armored warrior appeared alongside a light purple armored warrior with a blaster on his hand. Both appeared as apparitions, moving as though they were a mirage.
"Monsters that act as though they're continuous traps?" Syrus questioned. I've never heard of something like that."
"Before I came to Duel Academy, I heard rumors of some guy receiving monsters that can be placed as continuous spells." Greg stated. "If that's true, it makes sense Pegasus would come up with an alternative archetype to fulfill the other side of the coin."
"An archetype that can do that sounds like it wouldn't be cheap." Chumley noted. "Does that mean Dimitri is loaded?"
"Well, he does have a lot of decks which hold rare cards." Syrus admitted. "Despite lacking certain ones, that always seems to be more rarity over his capability to acquire them. It's possible."
"Whoa, that's a sweet ability." Jaden grinned. "Of course, my HEROs don't lack abilities of their own. In fact, Ice Edge here can now destroy any one spell/trap on your field since he dished out some battle damage.
"I'll leave your monsters and target that set card instead." Ice Edge produced an icicle, which he threw at the face down, and it flipped to reveal Apparition before shattering. "Now, I'll set one card of my own before turning things over to you."
"Here goes!" Dimitri drew "For the tribute summon of Vision HERO Witch Raider(LV 8/2700/1900), I can tribute monsters as well as traps, so I'll tribute the two Vision HEROs acting as traps to bring him out." The apparitions vanished as a warrior in witch hunting attire appeared. "When he's normal summoned, all spell/traps you control are destroyed."
"I'll chain the card you're going to destroy, Elemental Recharge." Jaden countered. "For every Elemental HERO I control, this trap gives me 1000 extra life points, and I do happen to control one."
Jaden was awash with a green aura before his trap shattered (Jaden 5000/Dimitri 3200).
"You managed to pretty much avoid his effect; however, Witch Raider can still destroy your Ice Edge." Dimitri declared, resulting in Witch Raider blasting Ice Edge (Jaden 3100/Dimitri 3200). "I'll finish out my turn there."
"You took things up a notch, so I'll match it!" Jaden drew. "The card I discarded through Ice Edge last turn was Elemental HERO Necroshade. Once while he's in there, I can summon any Level 5 or higher HERO without tributing a single card."
Come on out Elemental HERO Bladedge(LV 7/2600/1800)." The golden hero with blades coming out his arms appeared. "While he might currently have one hundred less ATK, I can fix that with H – Heated Heart.
For the rest of the turn, Elemental HERO Bladedge(LV 7/3100/1800effect) will have 500 more ATK, and while he could already do it himself, it also lets him deal piercing damage." Bladedge burned with aura. "This HERO will attack your Witch Raider."
Bladedge surged forward and cut Witch Raider down (Jaden 3100/Dimitri 2800).
"As I took more damage, Vision HEROs Multiply Guy and Poisoner return from the grave to my back row as continuous traps." Dimitri declared.
"In that case, I'll throw down a face down and call it good." Jaden stated.
Elemental HERO Bladedge(LV 7/2600/1800)
"My turn!" Dimitri drew. "I'll start off this turn with Vision Fusion. This pretty much acts like any other Polymerization, except it's locked to HEROs. In return for that, I can banish up to two monsters acting as continuous traps from my backrow as materials.
I'll now banish Multiply Guy and Poisoner. Through this fusion, they'd earned adoration. Fusion summon Vision HERO Adoration(LV 8/2800/2100)." A warrior in black robes appeared with his arms crossed.
"Whoa, those Vision HEROs are versatile." Syrus noted.
"I think we're only seeing the surface of what those cards are capable of." Greg noted.
"I wouldn't doubt that given all the HEROs we've seen from both of them tend to act like a tool box." Chumley voiced. "It's unlikely, even now, that we've seen everything Jaden is capable of, so with Dimitri just picking up his own HERO deck recently, he's bound to have a lot of tools."
"I know HEROs to the point that monster must have one sweet effect." Jaden stated.
"You'd be right Jaden; however, I first need another HERO." Dimitri took a card from his hand. "Fortunately, I still got my normal summon which I'll use on Masked HERO Ray(LV 4/1800/200)." A warrior in gold and white armor appeared.
"When this HERO is summoned, I can special summon any Level 4 or lower Masked HERO from my grave. Welcome back Masked HERO Fountain(LV 4/1000/1400). With his summon, I draw. "Now, Adoration lets me target 1 monster you control and 1 other HERO I control.
Until the end of this turn, the monster you control looses ATK/DEF equal to the ATK of the HERO I've targeted with this effect. I target Ray!" Elemental HERO Bladedge(LV 7/800/0 effect) was covered by a purple aura as his size reduced greatly. "Adoration attacks Bladedge!"
Adoration came in and smashed Bladedge into the ground.
"I activate my face down Hero Spirit." Jaden declared. "If an Elemental Hero I control is destroyed by battle this turn, I can make the battle damage I take from one of your monster's zero, and I'll utilize that ability now."
"Alright, Ray and Fountain will launch direct attacks then." Dimitri declared, the two Masked HEROs punching through the opposing HERO player (Jaden 300/Dimitri 2800). "I'll then set one card of my own and end my turn."
"That was sweet." Jaden laughed joyfully. "I didn't know there were other HEROs like those around, but they're giving me a run for my money."
"Yeah, these HEROs are good." Dimitri ended up laughing with him, finding he was having a blast himself. "That said, every turn you've matched my move, so what do you have now?"
"Let's see." Jaden drew.
"I'm activating my set quick-play Double Attack – Team Strike." Dimitri declared. "Now I target any 2 Masked or Contrast HEROs I control. In exchange for being unable to attack this turn, they gain ATK equal to each other's until the end of the turn. I only got the two."
Masked HERO Ray(LV 4/2800/200 effect)
Masked HERO Fountain(LV 4/2800/1400 effect)
"Looks like I'll need to make this turn count!" Jaden grinned. "Fortunately, I got just the combo. First, I'll activate my own unique fusion spell, Miracle Fusion. By banishing materials from my field or grave, I can Fusion summon any Elemental HERO I wish.
"I'll banish the light attributed Bladedge and Necroshade. I'm bringing the light. Fusion summon Elemental HERO the Shining(LV 8/2600/2100)." A radiant, white suited warrior with a golden hoop behind him appeared.
Shinning here gains 300 extra ATK for every Elemental Hero I got chilling in the banished zone. Since I just added 2, that's 600 extra ATK." Elemental HERO the Shining(LV 8/3200/2100 effect).
"Alright, looks like you can overcome any of my HEROs." Dimitri noted.
"Nah, this is to ensure your life points hit 0." Jaden smiled as Dimitri raised an eye brow at that. "The Shining will attack Adoration with Optical Storm." He then showed the last card in his hand. "Battle Fusion here is what will ensure I overcome your HERO.
Whenever a fusion I control is involved in a battle, they gain ATK equal to the ATK of the monster they're clashing with." Elemental HERO the Shining(LV 8/5000/2100 effect) radiated light so powerful it destroyed Adoration (Jaden 300/Dimitri 0). "That's game!"
Dimitri, a far cry from the Ra who came to loathe losing, collapsed to his butt with a good laugh. "I lost, but that was such a great duel."
"Yeah, it was pretty fun." Jaden had walked over and took a seat next to his fellow hero player. "That's a good deck you've made, for sure."
"Man, that was such a close duel." Syrus stated.
"No kidding." Chumley voiced.
"It's a far cry from how Dimitri would have done before." Greg added
Academy Island: Night…
A duel was just wrapping up within the forest as an Obelisk Blue fell to his knees in defeat. As he looked up, he saw his opponent. He was a huge figure wearing multiple blue blazers all around him and black shades that covered his eyes.
"I'll be taking this." He picked up a rare card from the pile. "You're lucky a card is all you're losing tonight!" The Obelisk cringed in fear. "Next time, pick on someone your own size."
The figure chuckled as he disappeared into the night.
Duel Academy: Next Day…
A bunch of Obelisks were conversing about the late night's duel.
"I heard he picked off another one last night."
"Me too! I hear he's huge and can't be beaten."
"I hear that…"
"If you three have time to stand around gossiping, you have time to get to class." Mokuba stated.
The three boys stiffened.
"Right, Vice Chancellor Kaiba."
"The Duel Giant." Mokuba watched those three take off. "A supposedly tough duelist that strikes at midnight, taking down Obelisks." He walked off. "He's said to play by the ante rule, which is not allowed on Duel Academy Island."
While digging into it revealed any Obelisk who was challenged agreed, that wasn't their call to make. If it were off the island, that's a whole separate matter, but the fact remained this was happening on Academy Island.
"All I can do now is wait until tonight." Mokuba thought.
Typically, he'd have left this matter to campus security and been done with it. This time, he felt like handling it directly and ensuring his skills were still sharp.
Dueling Arena: Later…
Mokuba wrapped up his work for the day and was simply bidding his time until night by moving around the academy. He ended up at a dueling arena where a duel between a Ra and Obelisk was seemingly coming to an end, so he decided to watch.
(Ra 300/Obelisk 200)
Obelisk's Field
Marauding Captain(LV 3/1200/400)
1 set card
Ra's Field
Mad Sword Beast(LV 4/1400/1200)
The Ra Yellow was a rather short, nervous looking boy with long green hair. "Alright…I'll play…uhm…"
Mokuba squinted to scan the Ra's hand. "Hm, he's got Earthquake in his hand. If he plays that, Marauding Captain switches to DEF. Provided that set card is a bluff, as well as that Obelisk not having anything in his hand or grave to protect him, Mad Sword Beast can finish."
"Come on Brier, you got him right where you want him." The Ra looked up from his hand. "Just take him down and bring it home. Forget everyone watching you." He looked at his hand. "Now, should I use Earthquake to switch his Marauding Captain into defense or just attack?"
"Just make a move already!" His opponent yelled. "I'd like to get home sometime this school year!"
Brier shrank at the outburst but kept the focus on his hand. His opponent wasn't the only one teasing the Ra. He had three fellow Obelisks on the sidelines, goading him as well.
"What's the matter, short stack? Can't see over the cards?"
"Looks like the little baby's going to cry. Want to call your mommy?"
Brier tried to ignore those words as he looked over his hand. "Eenie, meenie…"
"Miney, mo!" His opponent finished angrily. "Make a move, you're going way too slow!"
Cringing, Brier shut his eyes, "Okay, I'll...I'll attack with my Mad Sword Beast!"
The dinosaur-type monster charged full speed at the opposing monster.
"I activate my face down." The Obelisk smirked. "It's called Reinforcements, and it gives me 500 ATK. I think I'll give them to Marauding Captain(LV 3/1700/400 effect)!"
The double sword wielding warrior met the Mad Sword-Beast halfway and sliced it deep (Ra 0/Obelisk 200).
"A classic case of stage fright." Mokuba thought. "On the path of a pro duelist, that won't serve him well." He took out his PDA and opened its notepad function. "Note to self. Have a word with Seto about entrance exam admittance, as well as those we admit from duel preps."
Brier was on his knees, holding the tears that threatened to fall.
"I didn't think he could get any smaller, but it looks like I was wrong!" The victorious Obelisk laughed with his fellow dorm mates.
Mokuba finished his note just in time for that Ra to walk off the platform. The vice chancellor stroked his chin as he noted how angry that boy looked. Eventually, that boy met up with a rather large, heavy-set Ra who was holding his arms out to him, as if to comfort him.
"Ah, Beauregard." Mokuba had already perused the student profiles to narrow down potential suspects among the student body. "That must mean the shorter student is Brier."
The shorter student whose problem seemed to be stage freight was friends with a mountain of student here to study game design. Typically, Beauregard hadn't seemed the type to be intimidated by anyone. As they left down a hallway, Mokuba wandered along that way.
Duel Academy
Brier and Beauregard were walking down the hall when the Obelisk Brier dueled, along with his three friends, approached them.
He looked Beauregard over. "Someone's exceeding this hall's weight limit!" The bigger Ra grunted, looking hurt at the comment. "Hey, are you catching my drift wide load?" the Obelisk snapped, raising a fist. "You are in my way!"
Brier grabbed his friend's sleeve, lowered his head, and shook his head. Beauregard followed him as they both cleared the space. Mokuba had observed this interaction from a distance before slipping into a hallway as anyone attempted to look his way.
Academy Island: Night…
It was close to midnight as Mokuba hid behind a large stone in the front of the Academy's courtyard. He didn't have to wait long as a scream echoed through the air. Mokuba took off into the forest and came across an Obelisk Blue, the same one he recognized as Brier's opponent. He was kneeling on the ground, holding back tears, as his deck was scattered.
"Which way did he go?" Mokuba demanded.
The Obelisk looked up and pointed ahead.
Mokuba ran that way and eventually caught sight of something large just ahead. "HOLD IT!"
The large thing stopped and turned, letting the vice chancellor get a good look. It was a huge figure, with numerous Obelisk blazers on its torso, some of them covering its face with some black shades over the eyes. A Duel Disk was on its arm.
"I know how this works, so let's ante up." Mokuba stated. "If I win, you're removing those blazers and turning yourself in." He plucked a card from his extra deck. "If you win, you can have this Chaos Angel Synchro card, and my pursuit of you stops here."
"So be it, duelist." The giant agreed.
Both inserted their decks and activated their duel disks.
"Let's Duel!"
(Mokuba 4000/Giant 4000)
"You get the first move!" Mokuba declared.
"If you insist!" The Giant drew. "I summon Giant Orc(LV 4/2200/0). Now, make your move."
"This is the guy who's managed to beat Obelisks?" Mokuba thought. "Among talking to Seto about updating Duel Academy's entrance exam and duel prep requirements, I should also talk to Sheppard about putting all those Obelisks who lost through demotions exams."
While losing your card was nothing to make light of, losing to an opening turn like this was just sad in this age. It was even worse when you factored in some of those Obelisk this guy beat were second and third years.
"At this stage, you're either going to need one heck of card in hand, or this duel is over." Mokuba declared.
"You're bluffing." The giant stated. "You can't end this duel in one turn."
"I'm the younger brother of the man who excels at ending duels like this in one turn." Mokuba gave a smirk that would make Seto proud. "Observe! I summon Mementotlan Tatsunootoshigo(LV 5/1350/1600)." A black hippocampus with bone plating appeared.
"Hey, that monster's a level 5." The giant declared.
"If I don't control any other monster, the exception being Memento Monsters, I can Special summon this guy. Now, I utilize his effect, and as he's the only monster on the field, I must destroy him to do this. That's by no means bad.
Now, I can send Memento monsters from my deck to the grave whose total levels either equal or are less than 5. I'll send the level 4 Mementotlan Dark Blade and level 1 Mementotlan Mace. I'll then normal summon Mementotlan Goblin(LV 1/400/400)." A bone covered goblin appeared.
"His ability lets me destroy 1 Memento monster I control to send two others from my deck to the grave. I'll destroy Goblin to send Mementotlan Mystic Sheep and Mementotlan Angwitch. Just like that, I have one more Memento monster in my grave than is required.
I return Mementotlan Dark Blade, Tatsunootoshigo, Mace, Angwitch, and Goblin to my deck as the five required pieces needed to summon my deck's ultimate monster. The culmination of 5 into one. Special summon Mementoal Tecuhtlica - Combined Creation(LV 11/5000/5000)."
What rose was a massive Wrym covered in bone plating and a verity of colorful crystals. The giant took a few steps back. While he wasn't easily intimidated, no opponent they've dueled busted out a monster close to this. Forget doing it on turn 2 with such ease.
"Well, that monster of yours still can finish things this turn." The Giant stated.
"You'd be right if I didn't have Raigeki." Mokuba played the spell which caused lightning to strike the Giant's field and destroy his monster. "Your field is wide open, and I take it by your stance nothing in your hand can help.
Tecuhtlica, wrap this up with Crystalized Devastation!" A red crystal appeared around the Duel Giant before shattering around him to take out his life points (Mokuba 4000/Giant 0). As his monster faded, the vice chancellor strolled up to his opponent, who fell to his knees.
"I won, so start upholding your end of the bargain." Mokuba crossed his arms. "Remove your blazers." The duel giant did just that. "Looks like my assumption was correct. Beauregard. Given his seeming lack of duel skills, he was either hiding them, or…"
Brier rushed out from behind the rock, a headset on his head. Upon seeing that, Mokuba looked closely at the larger Ra. He spotted the receiver in his ear which meant they'd been working together.
"I'll assume you were the mastermind Brier, so why go around dueling Obelisk with the ante rule in effect?" Mokuba asked.
"Why?" Brier clenched his teeth. "You ask why just like any other authority figure on this island would. I won't go back to being 'Little Brier' again. People make fun of my height every single day. They always call me short, a shrimp, and I'm tired of it."
He reached over and placed his hand on his large friend's shoulder. "Then, I met Beauregard, and they made fun of him too. From that moment, we became friends and made a promise. We'd get back at those who mocked us, big time!"
Flashback
In a dimly lit room, Brier and Beauregard were on the floor looking over their decks.
"Also, we'll play by the Ante rule, so when we beat those guys, they'll have to give us their best card!" Brier smiled.
Beauregard looked at him worriedly. "What if we get caught?"
Brier smiled slyly. "Just leave it to me."
End Flashback
"I know we're finished, but please just put this all on me." Beauregard bowed his head. "Forget Brier had anything to do with this."
Brier looked at his friend, "Huh?"
The larger duelist looked down. "I've always been alone, and I'm not going to let them expel you for showing mw what it's like to have a friend. After all, didn't we promise we'd always stand up for each other?"
"Beauregard…" Brier stated.
"You're the best duelist I've ever seen." The heavy-set Ra continued. "There's no way I'll let them kick you out."
"What about your dream of being a game designer?" Brier asked
Beauregard smiled slightly and ruffled his friend's hair. "Not all dreams come true..."
Brier felt his eyes fill with tears. "Beauregard…"
"Do you two know why nothing is ever done about how the Obelisk treat students of a lower rank?" Mokuba asked, drawing their attention. "While you will find good people in the world, it's not all rainbows and kittens. People can do a lot worse than insults. If you can contend with those now, it's one less thing that'll bother you out there.
This island is meant to be a microcosm of the world and prepare you to deal with it. If this was an issue that's always plagued you, there are resources to help you deal with it in healthier ways. In the end, you resorted to the ante rule knowing it was banned on this island. Right now, you two have dug your hole regardless of their agreement."
"What's going to happen to us?" Brier asked.
"I'm willing to be a bit lenient." Mokuba stated. "If you give me every card you took and agree to the leave the island peacefully, consider it expulsion without going on your record. At that point, you could seek out another academy or attempt to reapply here next year.
Let me assure you, the entrance exams will have been overhauled to the point neither of you, no matter your field, will be able to get in as you are now. If you want back in, it'll require growth on your part. This is the best I can give you."
"It's better than we thought would have happened to up." Brier reached into his blazer and pulled out a stack of cards. "Here's every card we took."
Mokuba nodded as he accepted the stack. "Alright, let's get moving you two."
Even though the Obelisk were made to ante up their rare cards it didn't change the fact that they'd lost these duels. If what he's managed to overhear was correct, which he wouldn't doubt given what most Obelisk were like, they'd agreed to the ante rule as well.
"There's going to be a lot of demotion exams." Mokuba thought.
He was half tempted to have Zane, Kai, and Topher tear through the lot; however, he'd be fair by pitting them against people more on their level. Even then, tomorrow half of the Obelisk who'd had their cards returned were bumped down to Ra.
Of those, half felt the rank was beneath them and ended up dropping out. They'd rather take what came with that rather than wear the yellow blazer. While this wouldn't clean up the Obelisk's act, it did lessen what brought Brier and Beauregard to this point.
Alright, chapter 25. I'd like to take a moment here to give thanks to Vital Info. He and I tend to butt heads on the natures of these fictional worlds. He's often someone who strives for more realism while I enjoy leaning into the fictional nature. While I do tend to keep things within that fictional realm, his ideas always find their place within this story. Heck, without them Kai wouldn't have started off with the Heroics. Anyways, thanks man.
Onto this chapter itself, Jaden and Dimitri would just have to duel sometime, and I'm quite frankly a little surprised no one was asking for it. Everything else aside, Dimitri is using a Hero deck. I thought for sure someone would have asked for that. Speaking of decks, the one I've given Mokuba. Generally, it seems agreed upon that he gets Thunder Dragons or A-to-Z unions.
The latter is Chazz's while Thunder Dragons just didn't seem fun to me. As such, I settled on the Memento archetype since I think they could arguably go to any duel monsters' character. They are comprised of older cards retrained for the modern era. Not to mention it gives Mokuba his own Neo Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and it still comes with a Thunder Dragon of its own to boot.
The Duelist of Dawn (ch. 21): Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how Topher turned out. Given what Dimitri went through, even if it was canon he was supposed to be on that path, I decided the guy could use a big win. Then, everyone just comes together to discuss what they learned.
The Duelist of Dawn(ch. 22): I've just heard a lot about how Makoto seems like a season 1 character who ended up getting lost, so I figured I'd put that to the test myself. In the end, it did provide Syrus with a visible, solo duel. I think the only other duel he got was against Dimitri, and we didn't even get to see the whole thing. As for Bastion, in season 1 he was great...up until the Shadow Rider's arc. It seemed like after that was his downward spiral. I'm seeing about not letting his spiral like that.
The Duelist of Dawn (ch. 23): In my opinion, the contents of that episode just needed only minor changes to both fit in better with this variation of GX and to achieve what I want come the school duel.
The Duelist of Dawn: Then, this last chapter did provide a good opportunity for a little something different in how I structured things. Alexis got a good win and then had a great showing against Kai.
3bodyjaa: Thank you.
Threebranch: Thank you. As for Alexis, I can agree that Rituals can be a bit outdated in the meta sense, but they've always had their place in the anime. As for Alexis dueling Harrington, it is one of the only duels I could really see giving her at this stage. I suppose I could have had her duel Wheeler and Jasmine duel Harrignton; however, the monkey was literally named Wheeler and Jasmine had been given the Harpies.
Vital Info: If you follow the line of thought, it should read that the duel with Bastion where he used Magikey happened, one week back has passed, Sunday comes around and it's off to the sports arena, and then it's the month of training. At this time, Kai has lost to Bastion the two confirmed times. To be fair, Alexis wasn't meant to have him reevaluate his deck. she pulled out a surprise strategy in being able to prevent him from Xyz summoning.
As for a student who simply dueled for fun, I'd say that could work if my plans only lied with keeping this contained to GX alone. Even then, he's not done with losses or draws. No matter what happens in coming chapters, you or other people who happen to read this far should not be thinking he's going to enter season 3-4 Jaden Yuki never losses levels here in season 1.
Even if he draws, beats, or loses to Zane in their coming rematch, it won't mean he's done losing. All that said, it's never a bad thing to like the side cast more than the main character, and as I've clearly shown, I'm going to do my darnedest not to forget the side cast as I move forward. That means there'll be plenty of them moving forward.
barryc10: Sounds about right. Unless it's agreed upon by both duelists, a draw would result in no penalty.