Knox: It's time to d-d-d-d-d-d-DUEL!

King: Having fun?

Knox: Yes~

King: So, this is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Knox: What would everyone's decks be? Any ideas~

King: I have my ideas. But that's not for here. I use Cost Down to summon Chaos Command Magician...

/\

As everyone returned, they found King and Knox floating nearby with a card game floating between them.

King placed a card on their floating field. "I sacrifice two level six spell casters to summon the Sorcerer of Black Magic. You now have no access to your trap cards."

Knox groaned. "Crap… Uh…" The golden flame noticed the audience and looked between the game and the people. "Oh hey!" He instantly made the game disappear.

"Hey!" King was none to happy. "I was about to win!"

"Intermission is over, King~!" Knox tried to act innocent, a golden halo forming from his fire.

"Ass…" King turned to the groups and sighed. "Right then. Welcome back."

Yang chuckled, "So, going to introduce us to your new friend?"

King nodded, "Everyone, this is Knox, a physical embodiment of the personality created within our screen."

Oobleck looked at the golden flame, "Incredible! How did such a thing happen?"

Knox laughed, "No idea~!"

King sighed. "My life in a nutshell these days… So! Let's start the next one."

Knox giggled, "It's time to duel!"

They both disappeared into a combined flame.

The canvas screen opened to show Beacon tower, but of a different kind. This was The Beacon Duelist's Academy. You see, this world plays by a different set of rules. This world doesn't have to worry about large scale war or other conflicts. Instead, the world was gripped by a popular trading card game.

Yang grinned, "No Grimm, no wars, and everybody just plays a card game? Sign me up~"

The best of the best gain sponsorships and become celebrities. The screen showed a man having his fist held up as confetti dropped from the sky. They are given fame and fortune beyond any other path in life. It's a lifestyle very much of the world.

But another piece of the world is the Duelist Academies. Institutions designed to train the best of the best of the next generation. Training to become professional duelists, card designers, or business moguls for the game. But one thing unifies them, dueling. These are people who join for the love of the game, the competition, and the community it created.

Ozpin smiled. If not for the threat of Grimm, he would love to have created a school like that. One that just brought people together.

But… At Beacon, there's also a certain level of competition between three groups of students. Three levels of the hierarchy of the school.

The screen faded to black and showed Blake in a long blue coat.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what's this then?"

At the top is Obelisk Blue. These students are considered the best of Beacon.

Blake felt a certain pride at being, supposedly, one of the best in that school.

Blake faded away to be replaced by Yang in a yellow blazer.

Yang chuckled a bit, "So, I'm not one of the best at a game?"

The second tier is Ra Yellow. These are the students that show incredible promise. They may not have yet reached the Blue dorm, but many deserve it, needing only to wait for the promotional exams.

Yang felt a bit better. "Alright. That's not that bad then."

Yang faded, and Ruby took her place in a red blazer with a scarf around her neck, hanging back like a cape.

Ruby gasped, "Oh! That's so…" Then she remembered the series of events. "Wait a minute…"

At the bottom of the barrel is the Slifer Red students.

Ruby shouted out in annoyance, "Oh come on! Why is Red the worst one?!"

These students are usually the least talented, least motivated, you name it. At least, that's the idea.

The picture changed to show Ruby, Penny, Nora, and Ren (all in red) being group hugged by Jaune in the center. Of to the side was Neo and Sun, laughing at the situation with their dorm professor Roman Torchwick smiling in the background.

Neo chuckled to herself silently. The thought of Roman being a teacher was just too precious~

But they also have close-knit friendships and a genuine passion.

Sun laughed a bit, "Hey, I certainly don't mind. Good friends are better than being the best of anything."

Neptune chuckled a bit and lightly punched Sun's shoulder. "Back at you, man."

And that brings us to today. Beacon Academy's midterm/duel exams. These are to test the students' improvement since the beginning of the year. But this year, it'll be a bit different.

"A tag duel?" Jaune asked from the gym floor.

Port stood before all the students. He was the Chancellor of the Academy, acting both as headmaster and a governor of sorts. "That is correct~"

Ozpin blinked and turned to Port, "You as a headmaster?"

Port laughed, "I'd prefer my position as it is. Inspiring students and going out fight the forces of the Grimm!"

Port was flanked by Roman and Raven, the dorm masters of the Red and Blue dorms respectively. Port nodded and continued, "I felt it would be better to flip the script a bit~ Keep you all on your toes. You'll be working in randomly selected teams of two. From there, you'll duel another pair. You will be graded based on your performance." When all of the pairs were set, the teachers left for the stands and set the games in motion. The one that this round will focus on is Jaune's battle, obviously. Opposing the team was a pair of students in blue: Cardin Winchester and Sky Lark. On Jaune's team, he was paired with Neo.

The rules are as follows! The two teammates share a combined and shared Life Point total of 8000. If this reaches 0, both members of the team lose. No attacks may be made during the first round of turns. All summoning methods are allowed.

Port raised a hand before bringing it down again, "Begin!"

All four students shouted out "DUEL!"

Neo smiled a little, being able to hear herself speaking again.

[Cardin & Sky – 8000 LP]

[Jaune & Neo – 8000 LP]

The central orb on Sky's duel disk, the odd looking mini-table-like device on his arm, began to glow, indicating he would have the first turn. Sky drew his card to add to the five he started with. "Okay. I'll start by summoning Blackwing – Zephyros the Elite!" As Sky placed the card on his disk, a hologram brought the card to life in front of him, a cross between man, bird, and ninja with long black wings and long beaked mask. A small box appeared reading [1600/1000]. "And, since I have a Blackwing on the field, I can special summon Bora the Spear from my hand!" Another bird man appeared holding a giant, spiral spear in hand, [1700/800]. "I end my turn."

Yang chuckled a bit. "Crazy looking creatures."

Ruby wasn't so calm, "Holographic technology! That's amazing!"

Velvet watched the scene, curious to see what the others will play.

Neo's disk glowed next. Neo grinned and drew her card. Neo looked up from her cards and placed one on her disk. "I summon Performapal Skullcrobat Joker!" The creature that appeared was a man with long blonde hair and very much the stereotypical joker look, complete with puffed pants, curling shoes, and a patchwork top hat with a purple skull design. [1800/100]. "And, when This card is normal summoned, I can add a new monster to my hand. And I choose my Nobledragon Magician. I end my turn with a face down card." A card appeared on the ground with the backing facing upward.

The joker kind of reminded Neo of Roman to a certain degree. Just, less constrained.

It was Cardin's turn now. He drew his card and grinned. "I summon Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode!" The creature that appeared before him was a rusting automaton with a lance and gear-centric shield. It had a single glowing red eye. Cardin placed another card down facedown, "One face down and I end my turn."

Penny didn't like the look of the Ancient Gear monster. It was like seeing the equivalent of a mechanical zombie.

Nora groaned, "Nothing's happening…"

Ren shook his head. "They're not allowed to attack on the first round, remember?"

Pyrrha looked up the screen, "Well, it's Jaune's turn now."

Jaune drew a card and looked over his options. "I play one monster face down in defense mode and two cards face down." The three cards appeared in front of him, all face down, with one sideways in front of the others.

Nora fell into her chair again, "Man… We don't even get to see what it is…"

Now it was Sky's turn again. He looked over the hand and grinned, "I summon Blackwing – Fane the Steel Chain!" A very ninja-esc bird man appeared on the field, complete with mask and attire [500/800].

Mercury tapped his foot in the air with legs crossed, "Why play something that weak?"

Sky chuckled, "Fane can attack my opponent directly! No matter what monsters you have. Now Fane! Attack Neo directly!" Fane disappeared in a flurry of feathers, appearing behind Neo. He attacked the opponent with a knife in its wing.

[Jaune & Neo – 7500 LP]

"And, when he deals damage, I can change the battle position of a monster in attack mode on your field. Like your Joker." Fane wrapped a ribbon-like rope around the Joker and forced it into defense mode. "And I'll have Bora attack that Joker with piercing damage!" Bora charged and impaled the Joker. Normally, no damage would go through, but piercing damage meant that Neo took damage equal to the difference between the attack and defense. In this case, 1700 attack minus 100 defense.

[Jaune & Neo – 5900 LP].

When the smoke cleared, however, the Joker was still there.

"What?!"

Neo grinned. "I discarded the Perfomapal Rain Goat from my hand to make it so my Joker can't be destroyed this turn.

Yang started to chuckle, "Rain Goat?!"

Neo just rolled her eyes. She like a joke like anyone else, but blondie was taking this a little far.

Sky growled a bit. "Whatever… Place a card face down. So, go ahead you Slifer slacker. Show me why you wanted to keep that card so badly!"

Neo chuckled, "If you insist." She drew her card and placed a card in the back row again, "I set a scale with my Pendulum Dragon. But he won't be there for long. Because I summon my Nobledragon Magician! Next, I Synchro-Summon with my level 3 tuner and my level 4 Joker!" The magician became a set of three rings that surrounded the defending Joker. A bright light surrounded the creature. Neo rose a finger to the sky. "The Noble magician and the mad jester! Together tune into one who falls to Earth with a destructive force!" The light faded and revealed a massive red dragon with fire-like effects and wings, as though it was flying though the atmosphere. It's eyes, however, were an interesting note; being red and green. "Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!" [2500/2000]

Neo went wide eyed. A giant dragon with mismatched eyes… It was an incredible sight, all things considered. Though, she felt a little typecast based on heterochromatic eyes, but she also didn't really mind, either. It was awesome.

Neo continued, "And, when this dragon is Synchro Summoned! I can bring one monster in my pendulum zone to the field. Like say… My Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" [2500/2000] Another red dragon with mismatched eyes, though less ornate or designed. It's wing-like outcroppings had a red orb on one side and a blue orb on the other.

Neo 'gasped' Is the whole deck like that?!

"Meteorburst Dragon can't attack this turn, though. But Pendulum can! Attack Fane the Steel Chain!" The dragon reared back and unleashed a burst of flame into the ninja bird, destroying the monster. "Also, when my pendulum dragon attacks a monster on your field, you take double the battle damage."

[Cardin & Sky – 4000 LP]

Blake blinked in surprise. "Took out half their points in on move."

Port nodded. "An excellent strategy to grab the Magician last turn and ensure her other creature remained long enough. Good move…"

The turn passed to Cardin, who was pissed. "Damn it, Sky! What the hell was that?!"

Sky shrunk a bit. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry doesn't cut it. We can't lose to these chumps in Red…" Cardin drew his card and looked at the field. "I activate the field spell Geartown!" All four were surrounded by the holograms as a city of gears took form around them. "Now, we can summon Ancient Gear monsters with 1 less tribute. So, I only need one tribute to summon my Ancient Gear Golem!" A giant golem of gears and rust formed behind Cardin. A giant of aging metal, looking down on the world below. [3000/3000] "Now! I'll have my Golem destroy that pendulum dragon!" The monster moved slowly, punching the dragon and causing it to explode.

[Jaune & Neo – 5400 LP]

Neo growled, kind of. She liked that monster.

Like that, it was Jaune's turn again. "I flip my monster face up. Elemental Hero Clayman!" The monster was a man made of clay, forming what looked like a super hero [800/2000]. His next play was a spell card. "I play Hero's Bond!" The card formed before him, showing a set of hands meeting in the middle of the picture. "If I have an Elemental Hero on the field, I can summon two more from my hand. I play Sparkman and Lady Heat!" [1600/1400] and [1300/1000]. The Sparkman was a man in blue tights with electric yellow armor with sparks flying through his body. Lady Heat looked like a warrior princess/hero hybrid, with face-framing headpiece and form fitting suit. Her long blond hair curled upward like a fire.

Nora giggled, "Hero cards? Fits our fearless leader to a T!"

Pyrrha smiled and nodded, "I wholeheartedly agree."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "The Lady Heat card kind of reminds me of Yang."

Yang took a second and tilted her head. "I could see that."

Jaune motioned toward Lady Heat, "Lady Heat's ability allows me to deal you 200 points of damage once per turn for every Hero monster on my field. So, here's 600 damage just for you!" Lady Heat created three fireballs and tossed them at Cardin.

[Cardin & Sky – 3400 LP]

"And, I activate Polymerization! I fuse Clayman with Sparkman! Two heroes together reform to become stronger! Justice shall be served! I summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant!" A massive bolt of lightning formed before a giant man of purple and gold appeared in its place. [2400/1500]. "Once per turn, I discard a card from my hand," which emptied his hand completely, "and I can destroy one monster on your field with less attack points! I choose Bora the spear!" Lightning flew from the Thunder Giant and fried the Blackwing monster. "And, he can still attack Zephyros!" The giant charged forward by electric current and grabbed the birdman in his hands, electrifying the monster.

[Cardin & Sky – 2600 LP]

"And that's my turn."

Yang slammed her fists together. "Nice! They're steamrolling their way through those jerks!"

Blake, however, wasn't so enthusiastic. "That Golem will still be a problem."

Sky growled and drew his card. His face did a complete 180.

Coco groaned, "That's not good…"

"I summon Kochi the Daybreak!" A bird with black wings and red and white feathers appeared. "And, I have another Bora I can special summon now!" Another copy of Bora appeared. "You're not the only ones that can Synchro Summon! Two birds of black wings, tune together and unleash your dragon of black! I summon Black-Winged Dragon!" A dragon formed behind Sky, a cross between dragon and raven. [2800/1600] "I'll have him attack the Lady Heat!" The dragon reared its wings back and rained a flurry of feathers into the Hero, destroying the monster.

[Jaune & Neo – 3900 LP]

Jaune flung his arm toward one of his face downs, "I activate my trap card, Hero Signal! When a Hero monster on my field is destroyed, I can summon a level 4 or lower Hero monster from my deck. I choose Elemental Hero Woodsman in defense mode!" A man with a green body and a wooden half formed on one knee with arms crossed, defending himself. [1000/2000]

Sky ended his turn with a face down card.

Yang groaned, "But the Golem can punch through defenses…"

Raven grinned at the events from the stage. "Slifer lackies… Our school would be better off without them to drag us down."

Ruby growled, "Jerk…"

Yang nodded, "Sounds about right." She scowled back at Raven as she spoke.

Roman chuckled, "And that's why they're about to lose."

"Pardon?"

"You Blue Dorm types are powerful duelists, I'll give you that. But you have no passion for the game. No sense of community with one another. That's a hindrance in a tag duel, where you need to work together."

Raven rolled her eyes. The idea of the team over the individual was a foolish notion in strength. You must become the strongest. That's all that matters.

"Trust me… We're aware."

Neo, however, grinned. "I activate my spell card, Spiral Flame Strike! If I control an Odd-Eyes monster, I can pick one target on the field and destroy it. Like that Golem, for example!" The Golem exploded in a red and black flame, much to Cardin's annoyance.

Neo then placed two cards on either side of the back row. "Now, I set the pendulum scales with my Persona Dragon and My Arc Pendulum Dragon! From 1 to 8! Now, I Pendulum Summon!" A large circle appeared in the sky and four lights fell to the world. The Joker, the Pendulum Dragon, the Magician, and a new dragon appeared. The new dragon was similar to the Pendulum Dragon, but also covered in green effects.

Neo jumped. She'd just brought out four monsters at once, which was fairly jarring. But she had no idea…

Neo's hand swiped across her body, "I tribute my Pendulum Dragon and my Joker to special summon my Supreme King Dragon Starving Venom! Then I activate Odd-Eyes Fusion to fuse my new dragon with my Meteorburst to summon Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon!" The new dragon appeared, a purple and white dragon with red and green eyes formed. [3300/2500]

Sky thrust his hand outward, "I activate call of the haunted to summon Bora from my graveyard in attack mode." The monster appeared again on the field.

"Doesn't matter! I activate the ability of my dragon!"

"No you don't! I activate my second trap, Blackbird Close! I tribute Bora, negate your effect, and destroy your dragon!"

The Venom Dragon cried out in pain before exploding.

"And, I get another Black-Winged Dragon!" There were now two dragons on Sky's field.

Neo clenched her teeth and sighed. "I end my turn."

Neo would groan if she could. The idea of getting out played by that weird little creep was annoying as hell.

Yang's eyes narrowed, "Hold on…"

Ruby turned to her sister, "What's up?"

"Why didn't she attack Cardin? She could have won the duel there."

Neo blinked for a moment before returning her gaze to the screen.

Cardin's turn again. He drew his card and scowled. "Alright. I activate Ancient Gear Catapult! I have no monsters, so I can tribute my Geartown to summon another Ancient Gear Golem, ignoring its conditions." Another giant Golem appeared on Cardin's field. "And, I activate Call of the Haunted to summon my Ancient Gear Knight again to tribute for Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera!" The creature that appeared was a horror-like amalgamation of gears and rusting metal with three heads and a serpent-like tail. [2300/1300] "My Golem will destroy the Thunder Giant and the Chimera will break that Woodsman!" Both monsters destroyed Jaune's.

[Jaune & Neo – 3300 LP]

"And, I'll play a Mystical Space Typhoon to take care of that face down." A whirlwind of magic ripped through the card and broke it.

Oobleck adjusted his glasses. "If I'm understanding the game correctly, that was a good move. Tributes can't happen without monsters, leaving Mr. Arc with fewer options."

Jaune growled and drew his card. "Huh… Guess I have to thank you Cardin. If my my face down was still here, I wouldn't be able to play this! Fifth Hope! I can return up to 5, in this case all, of my Hero monsters in my graveyard to the deck and draw three cards since my hand is empty. One of which is the Pot of Greed, to give me two more cards. Now, for my monster. I summon the Winged Kuriboh!" A puffball of brown fur appeared, a pair of mini angel wings sticking out from its back. [300/200]

Coco snickered a little, "Oh my gosh! That thing is adorable~!"

"Then I place a card face down. Your turn Sky."

Sky scoffed, "An obvious trap. But that's fine. I'll just break that little thing. The Arc Pendulum will activate if I destroy the other dragon. So… First, I'll have one dragon destroy the Magician!"

[Jaune & Neo – 2200]

Cardin and Sky have taken the lead in the duel.

Velvet clasped her hands together, "Come on!"

Yang groaned, "Sky can win this by attacking Jaune's puffball…"

Sky grinned, "Now! Destroy the Winged Kuriboh!"

Roman grinned, "Game over."

Raven's eyes narrowed, "You're pretty chipper for your dorm being beaten like this."

"I believe that's my line for you."

Jaune grinned. "I activate Transcendent Wings! I discard two cards in my hand and turn my Kuriboh from level 1 to level 10!" The miniature ball of fur was now adorned with golden, dragon-shaped armor with giant white feathered wings.

Nora gasped, "Woah! That looks so cool!"

Weiss was a little concerned though, "But it isn't any more powerful."

Jaune thrust his arm forward. "And, by tributing this new form, I can destroy all the face up, attack position monsters on your fields," all four monsters ripped apart and exploded, "and you'll take damage equal to their combined attack points. In case you're not paying attention, that's 10,900 damage!"

All four of the exploded forms sunk together and blew up in a secondary explosion around Cardin and Sky.

[Cardin & Sky – 0 LP]

The screen had an effect that read [Jaune and Neo – Win!] before fading to end the viewing.

The students cheered for Jaune and Neo's win. It was a crazy play and an awesome match. Some of them started to wonder if they could find a similar game back home.