The Duel Giant

It was the middle of the night on Academy Island, and one of the Obelisk Blue students had just been beaten by a duelist of mammoth proportions. His opponent walked over and picked up one of his cards. 
"I'll be taking this. You're lucky a card is all you're losing tonight. Next time pick on someone your own size." The man said before disappearing.
The next day some of the Obelisk Blues, including Michael, were talking about the incident in the hallway. 
"I heard he picked off another one last night." Michael said. 
"I heard it too. They say he's huge, and that he can't be beat." Another one added. 
"Hey. What's up?" Jaden asked as he, Syrus, and Chumley walked up. Most of the Obelisks just walked off, not bothering to answer. 
"Wow, is my breath really that bad?" Jaden asked.
"Lousy Obelisks, whispering behind our backs and then just strutting off." Syrus said. 
"I hope you're not including me in that statement. And we were talking about the Duel Giant." Michael said. 
"Duel Giant? Who's that?" Jaden asked. 
"This ginormous duelist who's been challenging a bunch of Obelisk Blue students and winning. The really scary part about it is that he only comes out around midnight." Chumley explained. 
"Wait, I've heard about this, he takes their cards too." Syrus said.
"Yep. He makes them play with an ante. You know, where you put up your best card, and if you lose, you have to give it to your opponent." Chumley explained. 
"Isn't that against school rules?" Syrus asked. 
"Yeah, that's why he always duels in disguise. I've heard that he duels wearing the blazers of all the Obelisks he's beaten." Michael responded. Just then, Crowler was walking down the hall thinking about what to do about the Duel Giant.
'What a nightmare. At least no one has gotten hurt, but if Chancellor Sheppard gets word of this Duel Giant enforcing this ante rule of his, I could be fired. What am I going to do?' Crowler thought before he looked up to see Jaden and the others. 
"Wait, maybe Jaden and Michael could be my salvation. Jaden, Michael, I want to talk to you!" He shouted. 
"Oh boy, here comes trouble." Syrus said. 
"What do you want Crowler?" Jaden asked. 
"Jaden, I know we've had our issues in the past, but I need yours and Michael's help." Crowler said.
"Why would I help you after you hired Titan to get rid of me and Michael?" Jaden asked. 
"Please Jaden! You're my only hope! I realize I was wrong. I was blinded by my pride and I should never have done something like that, and I fully accept the punishment Chancellor Sheppard gave me. But if he finds out about the Duel Giant, I could be fired. Please Jaden, help me." Crowler begged on his hands and knees.
'Wow, I never thought I'd see the day. He must really regret what he's done.' Jaden thought to himself. 
"Come on Jaden, let's go. It would serve him right to get fired." Syrus said. 
"Okay, I'll help." Jaden said. 
"You will?" Crowler asked. 
"Absolutely." the Slifer responded. 
"Thank you Jaden! You don't know how much this means to me." Crowler said before leaving them. 
"Jaden, why did you agree to help him?" Syrus asked.
"I know Crowler's done some rotten things, but I'm certain that plea was 100% genuine." Jaden responded. 
"I agree with Jaden. There's no way Crowler could beg someone for help, let alone a Slifer, unless he had a change of heart." Michael added. 
"Well, if you guys say so." Syrus responded. 
"Alright, let's go find this dino-sized duelist." Jaden said. 
"I'm gonna go see what I can find out from the other Obelisk students who dueled against him." Michael said before walking off.
30 minutes later
Michael finished talking to the Obelisk Students who were attacked by the Duel Giant but couldn't find out anything to figure out who it was. 
"Find anything out?" Jaden asked once they met back up at the duel arena. 
"Nothing. From what they told me, there's nothing connecting the incidents or any leads on who it might be." Michael answered. 
"So we've got nothing." Syrus griped. Michael turned to the side and saw a duel going on.
"Why don't we take a short break and catch the end of this duel?" He asked. 
"Sounds good to me." Jaden responded. It was a duel between a Ra Yellow and an Obelisk Blue. The Ra had Mad Sword Beast on his field and 300 life points and his opponent had Marauding Captain, a face-down, and 200 life points. Jaden looked closely and noticed a particular spell in the Ra duelist's hand.
"He's got Earthquake. This duel is over." Jaden said. 
"What do you mean Jay?" Syrus asked. 
"Earthquake is a spell that changes monsters on the field to defense mode, and due to Mad Sword Beast's special ability, when it attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack and its opponent's defense is dealt as damage to the other player." Michael explained. 
"So all he's gotta do is throw it down and he wins." Syrus said.
'Come on Brier, you've got him right where you want him, now win this thing and go home. Just forget about everyone watching you. Should I use Earthquake, or just attack?' The Ra duelist thought to himself. 
"Get a move on! I'd like to get home some time this school year." The Obelisk duelist shouted. 
"What's the matter short stack, can't see over the cards?" Another student mocked. 
"Okay, um, I attack with Mad Sword Beast," Brier said. His monster began to charge at his opponent. 
"I play the trap card Reinforcements, which will let me boost the attack power of my Marauding Captain by 500." the Obelisk student explained.
Captain: 1200-1700 ATK
Brier: 0 LP
Brier fell to his knees in defeat. "He was so close to winning too." Jaden said. 
"A classic case of stage fright." Bastion said as he walked up to them. 
"Hey Bastion." Syrus said. 
"Brier has a lot of talent, but he can't handle the pressure of dueling in front of a crowd like this." Bastion explained. 
"I didn't think it was possible, but on his knees, he looks even smaller than before." The Obelisk who beat Brier said. Brier got up and stormed off.
Michael and Jaden could sense the hatred coming from the boy and gave each other a silent nod. "So what's the gang up to today?" Bastion asked. 
"We're looking for the Duel Giant." Syrus informed him. 
"Yes, I've heard of this titan." Bastion responded. Jaden and Michael looked back at Brier and saw another Ra Yellow student, only this one was easily 4 times Brier's size. 
"Hey Bastion, who's that with Brier?" Michael asked.
"Oh, you mean Beauregard? I think I see where you're going with this but allow me to stop you. Beauregard is studying here to design games, not play them. I know him, he can hardly duel." Bastion said. 
"Well, I guess that theory is down the drain." Syrus said. 
'Or maybe not. I think I see what's really going on here, and I think Jaden does as well.' Michael thought to himself. 
"Meet me in front of the building tonight. I have a hunch the Duel Giant is going to make an appearance tonight." Michael said before walking off.
Timeskip
"Michael, do you really think the Duel Giant is going to show up tonight?" Syrus asked. 
"Not if we keep talking." He responded. 
"Look there's two things I do with my mouth: talk and eat. So either give me a grilled cheese or." Chumley began to say before he was interrupted by the sound of someone screaming. 
"Let's go!" Jaden shouted. They ran off and found an Obelisk Blue student on his knees in the middle of the forest.
"He took my best card." He said. 
"Which way did he go?" Jaden asked. The other student raised his hand and pointed them deeper into the forest. 
"Wait, that's the guy we saw duel earlier today." Chumley said as he ran past the Obelisk student. They kept running and saw the Duel Giant, and he really was as big as his reputation. 
"Hold it!" Jaden shouted, catching the man's attention.
"Jaden, I'm beginning to rethink our decision-making paradigm. I mean who in their right mind chases a giant?" Syrus asked. 
"The same guy who's gonna duel him. It's time to throw down, so what do you say big guy?" Jaden asked, to which his would-be opponent only grunted in response. Winged Kuriboh appeared and floated up next to Jaden before telling him something. 
"You sure? Well, I guess this means we're in this together now." Jaden said.
"Since I know you only duel with an ante, I'll put this card up." He said as he raised Winged Kuriboh's card. 
"So be it duelist." the Duel Giant said before they both activated their duel disks. 
"Get your game on!" Jaden shouted.
Jaden: 4000 LP
Duel Giant: 4000 LP
"I'll go first, and I summon Giant Orc in attack mode," the Duel Giant said as he summoned a monster that was even bigger than him.
Level 4/Dark/Fiend
ATK 2200/DEF 0
"First move first mistake. When Giant Orc attacks, it switches to defense mode after the battle, which would be fine if it didn't have 0 defense points." Jaden pointed out. 
"Make your move." His opponent said. 
"With pleasure." Jaden said before he drew his card, which turned out to be his Winged Kuriboh. 
"You wanna come out and play?" Jaden asked, to which the spirit readily agreed. 
"Alright then, I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." Jaden said.
Level 1/Light/Fairy
ATK 300/DEF 200
"Your move," Jaden said. "And it will be one to remember. I summon Second Goblin in attack mode." The giant said.
Level 1/Dark/Fiend
ATK&DEF 100
"Now Giant Orc attacks Winged Kuriboh with Bone Basher," he continued. His monster raised its club before bringing it down on Winged Kuriboh. "But now your Giant Orc switches to defense mode." Jaden pointed out as Giant Orc bent down onto one knee. 
"Now Second Goblin, attack directly." The Duel Giant ordered. His monster ran up and tried to deliver a punch to Jaden, but was blocked by a barrier.
"What happened?" The Duel Giant asked. 
"During the turn Winged Kuriboh is destroyed, I take 0 damage from your attacks." Jaden explained. 
"Not a bad move, but I'll show you a better one. I activate Second Goblin's special ability, and with it I'll equip him onto Giant Orc, which will let me change him back into attack mode. I'll end my turn there." the Duel Giant said as his monster stood back up.
"My move. And I play the spell card Polymerization to fuse the Elemental Heroes Burstinatrix and Clayman in order to summon the Elemental Hero Rampart Blaster in defense mode." Jaden said.
Level 6/Earth/Warrior
ATK 2000/DEF 2500
And due to her special ability, when she's in defense mode, she can attack your life points directly by dropping half of her attack points for the battle," Jaden explained. Rampart Blaster fired a barrage of missiles at the Duel Giant's feet, causing the blazers wrapped around him to be blown away, revealing Beauregard. 
"Wait, it's Beauregard? But I thought Bastion said he couldn't duel." Syrus said.
"He can't, but he has a friend who can. Why don't you come out Brier?" Jaden asked. The student in question came out from behind a large rock behind Beauregard. 
"How did you know?" He asked. 
"Back at the arena, I could see how mad you were at the Obelisks, and when I saw that Beauregard was your friend, that's when it came together. It was kind of obvious really." Jaden said. 
"But I lost the duel you saw. Why did you think I could be behind this?" Brier asked.
"Because Bastion told me you're a great duelist, but you can't handle the pressure of dueling in front of a crowd, which explained why the Duel Giant only came out at night." Jaden responded. 
"Well, it's over now. Just give back the cards." Syrus began to say. 
"What do you mean over? Nothing's over! I won't just go home and be little Brier again. Everyone makes fun of me, they say I'm small, a shrimp. I'm tired of being laughed at. Don't you see? That's why I get so nervous, I can't concentrate. Then I met Beauregard. They made fun of him too, so we made a promise to each other." Brier said.
"To get back at the ones who made fun of you." Michael said, feeling empathetic for the pair. 
"And that's why you put on the costume." Syrus said. 
"So you wouldn't get caught for breaking the rules by enforcing an ante." Jaden added. 
"That's right." Brier responded. 
"Well, what now? Your secret's out. Pretty soon the whole school, including Dr. Crowler is gonna know who the Duel Giant is. Unless of course, we continue this duel, with you out in the open Brier." Jaden said.
"I guess I don't have a choice. Fine." Brier said before Beauregard moved in front of him. 
"Let's go Beauregard." He said. His friend drew and showed him the cards in his hand. 
"I summon Goblin King in attack mode." Brier declared.
Level 1/Dark/Fiend
ATK&DEF 0
"No attack points?" Jaden asked. 
"Not for long. I send Warrior Dai Grepher and Big Shield Gardna from my hand to the graveyard to summon two Half Goblins in defense mode." Brier said.
Level 3/Dark/Fiend
ATK&DEF 500
"And due to Goblin King's special ability, he gains 1000 attack and defense points for every fiend type monster on the field other than himself." Brier explained.
Goblin King: 0-3000 ATK/DEF
"So not liscious." Chumley commented. 
"Now Goblin King, attack Rampart Blaster!" Brier shouted. His monster delivered a strong punch to Rampart Blaster, destroying her. "
Now Giant Orc, attack Jaden directly!" Brier ordered. His monster brought his club down on Jaden, taking away more than half his life points.
Jaden: 1800 LP
"And now I'll use Second Goblin's effect to change Giant Orc back into attack mode and end my turn." Brier said. 
"Then it's my move. Little guy or not, get ready, because I'm giving you my very best." Jaden said as he drew his card. 
"I play the spell card Pot of Greed, so that's two more cards for me." He said. 
"And now I summon Elemental Hero Sparkman in attack mode and equip him with Spark Blaster. It has 3 shots, and each one changes the battle mode of a monster on the field," Jaden explained as Sparkman fired a blast at each of the Half Goblins and at Giant Orc.
"Next I play The Warrior Returning Alive. With this card, I can take any warrior type monster in my graveyard and put it in my hand, like my Elemental Hero Clayman. And now I'll use Polymerization to fuse him with Sparkman in order to summon the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant." He continued.
Level 6/Light/Warrior
ATK 2400/DEF 1500
"Brier's in trouble now." Michael said. 
"You've got that right, especially since due to Thunder Giant's special ability, I can destroy any monster whose original attack points are less than his own, like your Giant Orc." Jaden said as his monster fired a bolt of lightning at Brier's monster, destroying it.
"No!" Brier shouted. 
"And since that was his special ability, he can still attack. Attack his Half Goblin with Voltic Thunder!" Jaden shouted. His monster raised his hand above Brier's monster, unleashing a strong blast of electricity on it.
Brier: 1100 LP
"I still have life points." Brier said. 
"Not for long. I play the De-Fusion spell card, which lets me split Thunder Giant back into his fusion materials. And since De-Fusion is a quick-play spell, it's still my battle phase. Sparkman, attack Half Goblin with Static Shockwave!" Jaden ordered.
Brier: 0 LP
Winner: Jaden
"You did it Jaden." Syrus congratulated. 
"Now Jaden the Giant Slayer." Chumley said. 
"He beat us. We're through." Brier said. 
"Not we. Please, just turn me in and leave Brier out of it." Beauregard begged. 
"Why?" Brier asked. 
"I've always been alone, and I'm not going to let them expel you for showing me what it means to have a friend. After all, didn't we promise to always stand up for each other?" the large duelist asked. 
"But-" Brier began to say. 
"You're the best duelist I've ever met, and I won't let them kick you out of here." Beauregard said.
"But what about your dream of being a game designer?" Brier asked. 
"Not all dreams come true," Beauregard responded. 
"Beauregard." Brier said on the verge of tears at the thought of costing his best friend his dream. 
"Hold on you guys. We're not turning anyone in. I know what it's like to be made fun of. Everyone gets a taste of that from time to time. We're cool." Jaden said. 
"But then why did you say you would expose us?" Brier asked.
"I only said that so you would come out and duel me in the open and realize that you could. It was a close duel Brier, you should be proud." Jaden answered. 
"Jaden is right. You really do have a lot of talent Brier, and you shouldn't let what others say about you bring you down. You too Beauregard. You're both good people, and I think you both have bright futures ahead of you, so don't tarnish them with a blind pursuit of petty revenge." Michael said.
"Thanks. I guess not all you Obelisks are so bad. And you guys are right, I did play well, and in front of people too. I'm going to be more confident, and I won't let anyone else tear me down." Brier responded. 
"That's good to hear, now get out of here before someone catches you." Jaden said. Brier and Beauregard nodded before running off. 
"Of course, now we have a problem." Syrus said after they left.
"What's that Syrus?" Jaden asked. 
"What are we going to tell Dr. Crowler?" Syrus asked. 
"I think I have an idea." Michael said. The next day, the group walked into Dr. Crowler's office. 
"Boys. Please tell me you found the Duel Giant." He said. 
"Sure did." Jaden answered. 
"And who is it?" Crowler asked. 
"We don't have any idea," Syrus answered. 
"What? Didn't you duel him?" Ghe teacher asked. 
"Yep. But after his disguise came off, we didn't recognize him." Jaden answered.
"You mean it wasn't a student?" Crowler asked. 
"No. Turns out he was some rogue duelist who came to the academy by boat to try and take the students' cards. He got away, but he dropped all the cards he took, which I returned to the students he took them from." Michael answered, which was partially true. Brier gave him the cards and a list of the students they belonged to and he returned them and told their owners to keep quiet about the incident.
"Yeah, the last we saw of him he jumped a speed boat and left the island." Jaden said. 
"Well, at least this whole ordeal is over and Chancellor Sheppard didn't find out. Thank you so much for your help boys. I know I've done terrible things before, but I truly appreciate your assistance. By the way, I told the other teachers you were helping me prepare a duel lesson, so you've been excused from the homework you were supposed to do when you were searching for the Duel Giant." Crowler said.
"Thanks teach." Jaden said before he and the others left. 
"Well, I guess you were right Jaden. I guess people can change." Syrus said. 
"Maybe Crowler's not as bad as we thought he was," Chumley said. 
"Sometimes all it takes for someone to change is to be given the opportunity." Michael said. 
"Guys." Brier said as he walked up to them alongside Beauregard. 
"So what did you tell him?" Ghe larger of the two asked.
"Don't worry, you guys are off the hook. No one knows the truth about what happened." Michael assured them. 
"Thanks. And I promise, Beauregard and I are through with revenge." Brier said while his friend nodded. 
"I'm glad. Maybe we could duel again sometime," Jaden said. 
"I think I'd like that." Brier said before he and Beauregard walked off.