Amnael's Endgame Part 2

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Kallian, Theorn and Solona all stared in shock at the identity of the final Shadow Rider. This Shadow Rider seemed to be the toughest of all the Shadow Riders as he had already defeated Chazz, Aedan and Alexis and had just defeated Solona's brother Daylen. But they were all shocked to discover that Amnael was actually their missing teacher Professor Banner.

"Professor Banner?" Jaden gasped. "You're behind all of this?"

"Of course Jaden." Banner laughed. "But before I duel you, I may as well tell you the whole story."

"I really would like to hear why you are doing this!" Solona spat. "Sheppard trusted you and now you turn out to be working for the enemy"

Banner laughed. "I work for myself, not for the Shadow Riders." He said. "But like you lot, I was once a young duelist with unlimited potential, I traveled the world in search of the rarest and more powerful cards. Finally, my search led me to the ultimate prize, a lost tomb, buried and hidden deep in a lost desert. Inside this tomb was a duelist's dream as it held the world's first Duel Monster cards. The ancient stone tablets used in Ancient Egypt, like Pegasus years before, I sought out their great power. But this tomb was cursed and science had no answer to the magic which ravaged my body. I tried everything but soon I realised that there was only one thing I could do. I had no choice but to create a new body, therefore I used Alchemy to create a Homunculus, an artificial life form and I placed my soul inside of it"

"Do you have any idea what he's saying?" Chumley asked

"Don't ask me." Syrus shook his head

"I don't understand science at all." Kallian added

Theorn looked. "I think what Banner is saying is that he found a lost tomb which was cursed and now that curse is destroying his body."

"You are correct Theorn." Banner smirked. "However, this new body is only temporary, it won't be long before I am nothing more than a pile of dust" he then felt along his cheek and the skin began to crumble. "You see, I don't have much time left."

"Hold on just wait a second" Jaden gasped. "So you're saying that you're a clone."

"Sort of Jaden." Banner smirked. "But this body is dying and to survive, I need the power of these cards on the tablets you see behind me, the three Divine Sacred Beasts, I was the one who discovered their power in the first place, they caused my curse and they can fix it."

Solona narrowed her eyes. "Even though you will end up destroying the world when you unleash them!" Solona hissed. "Sorry Banner, but we can't let you do that."

Banner laughed. "You forget, once you both lose the duel, your spirit Gate keys are mine and I will open the final two gates."

Jaden lowered his head. "Then I won't duel."

Banner laughed. "You're forgetting that I still have your friends." He pulled out the tome as he put Pharaoh down. "All of them including Daylen are my prisoners, if you walk away, they are mine forever, you two have no choice but to duel me, I will take you on in a two on one duel, pretend it's your final exam"

Jaden narrowed his eyes.

"Well then, bring it on." Jaden hissed as he and Solona activated their Duel Disks and Banner did the same.

"**Duel!"**

**Jaden: 8000**

**Solona: 8000**

**Banner: 16000**

"16000 life points!" Theorn gasped

"That is a lot of life points!" Kallian added

"I hope they can do this." Syrus added. "Because if they don't then they will lose their Spirit Gate keys and the Sacred Beast cards will be unleashed."

"Solona and Jaden are tough duelists alone." Theorn smirked. "But together they will be better."

"You can take the first move Jaden." Banner offered

"Then I will make good use of it." Jaden smirked as he drew his sixth card. "And I will start by summoning my good pal Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode." the aqua hero with the water pistols appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 800 Defense 1200) "And since he's the only card on my field, I get to draw two more cards" Jaden drew two new cards "And now I will play the equip spell Bubble blaster which gives Bubbleman an extra 800 attack points." The large water cannon appeared on Bubbleman's shoulder (EHB Attack 800-1600) "Then I will throw one card face down and end my turn."

Banner laughed. "Now it's my turn, and just like last time, I play the spell card Chaos Distill, now any cards that are sent to the graveyard are removed from play instead, now I play three spell cards, Steel Lamp, Bronze Scales and Lead Compass which allows me to summon my Alchemy Beasts."

"Oh boy." Jaden groaned

"Those Beasts again." Theorn added

"And now come forth, Alchemy Beast Salamandra the Steel, Ouroboros the Bronze and Leon the Lead." Banner called and the dragon, lion and snake monsters appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 500 Defense 500 x3) "Though since this is a two on one duel, I can't attack this turn so I end my turn by placing one card face down."

"My turn." Solona said as she drew her next card. "And since I'm the third one to go, it means I can attack, I summon Mirage Dragon in attack mode." The long yellow scaled dragon with bluish green hair appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 600) "And if you are thinking of playing a trap card then don't even think about it since when Mirage Dragon attacks, you can't activate any trap cards. Now go Mirage Dragon, attack one of those Alchemy Beasts with Mirage Blast." Mirage Dragon unleashed a burst of green light which engulfed Leon and the lion roared before shattering and Banner hissed as the blast struck him.

**Jaden: 8000**

**Solona: 8000**

**Banner: 14900**

"All right." Syrus cheered

"First blood." Chumley added

"Now I will throw one card face down and end my turn" Solona finished

Banner narrowed his eyes, "You may have gained first blood but it will not stop me or my Alchemy Beasts." He hissed. "I play the spell card Copper Pipes which allows me to summon Clawros the Copper in attack mode" A large insect monster made from copper appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 500 Defense 500) "And remember, my Alchemy Beasts can attack you directly, now go my Alchemy Beasts, attack Solona directly." Salamandra unleashed a blast of fire along with Ouroboros while Clawros fired sharp spines from his tail, all of the attacks struck Solona and caused her to groan.

**Jaden: 8000**

**Solona: 6500**

**Banner: 14900**

Banner laughed. "Maybe I was wrong about how strong you were Solona. I expected more from you"

"Like this?" Solona smirked. "I play my face down Damage Condenser, so now I can summon a monster from my deck with equal or less attack points than the damage I just took so I summon Masked Dragon in attack mode." A white and red scaled dragon appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1400 Defense 1100)

Banner smirked. "Those cards won't save you, I end my turn."

Jaden looked at Banner with determination.

"All right, my turn." He said as he drew his card. "And I summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode." A red and orange armored Hero with fire in his fists appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1200) "And now Bubbleman, attack that Clawros." Bubble Blaster fired a blast from his water cannon which went towards Banner's field but Banner laughed

"Sorry but I play my face down card, Elemental Absorber, now I can remove a monster card in my hand that has the same attribute as your Attacking monster and it negates the attack. And I have Aqua Spirit in my hand so now your Bubbleman's attack is negated." The blast just bounced off the copper armor. "And there's more, now all monsters with that attribute cannot attack."

"Wait that means that Jaden cannot attack with any Water attribute monsters." Syrus gasped

"Worse Banner can use that card multiple times" Theorn gasped "That means that he can prevent Jaden and Solona from attacking"

Jaden looked at Banner. *'I still have one more attack left.' he thought. 'But he has no cards in his hand which means that I don't need to worry about him using that Elemental Absorber.*' Jaden then smirked. "Well I still have one attack left and you have no cards left in your hand so you can't use that Elemental Absorber again, now go Heat, destroy one of those Alchemy Beasts." Heat threw a fireball which exploded on Clawros and the copper insect howled before shattering.

**Jaden: 8000**

**Solona: 6500**

**Banner: 13800**

"And that will do it for my turn." Jaden finished. "Which means that Heat's effect activates which deals you 200 points of damage for each Elemental Hero on my field and with two on my field, that's 400 points of damage." Heat threw another fireball which caused Banner to growl as he was hit.

**Jaden: 8000**

**Solona: 6500**

**Banner: 13400**

Banner narrowed his eyes. "You may have dealt me more damage but science always has an answer." He snarled as he drew his card. "I play the spell card Pot of Greed which allows me to draw two more cards. Then I play the spell card Zinc Battery which allows me to summon Alchemy Beast Zack the Zinc in attack mode." A large metal bird appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 500 Defense 500) "And now the two of you will be more even in your life points, go my Alchemy Beasts, attack Jaden directly." The three Alchemy Beasts attacked Jaden causing him to groan

**Jaden: 6500**

**Solona: 6500**

**Banner: 13400**

"And now I will end my turn" Banner finished with a smirk on his face

Solona then began her next turn as she drew her next card.

*'He still has one card in his hands and I have two monsters which can attack, so I can take the risk.*' She thought.

"Now Mirage Dragon, take out one of those Alchemy Beasts." She ordered and Mirage Dragon sent a blast of light which destroyed Salamandra.

**Jaden: 6500**

**Solona: 6500**

**Banner: 12300**

"And now Masked Dragon will take out another." Solona added and Masked Dragon fired a blast which went towards Ouroboros.

But Banner smirked. "I remove Spirit of Flames in my hand which allows me to negate the attack of your fire attribute monsters." The flame blast was absorbed by a magical barrier.

"Oh man." Kallian groaned

"Now Jaden and Solona can't attack with Fire or Water attribute monsters." Theorn sighed

"I hope they have a plan to overcome this." Chumley whimpered

I'm sure they do." Syrus stated

Banner smirked.

"It is my move again." He sneered. "And now my two Alchemy Beats will attack, one attack for each." Ouroboros fired a swarm of feathers at Solona while Zack fired his own feathers at Jaden, both Duelists groaned from the impact.

**Jaden: 6000**

**Solona: 6000**

**Banner: 12300**

"And that will do it for my turn" Banner finished

Jaden looked at his deck. "I have to do something." He said to himself. "Otherwise we will take damage each turn, and I can't attack with my monsters thanks to that Elemental Absorber. I guess I will have to play something else." Jaden drew his card and he smiled at it. "I summon Elemental Hero Wildheart in attack mode." the dark skinned warrior with the tattoos appeared on the field"

"All right" Syrus cheered. "Now Jaden is in with a chance."

"That's right." Theorn smiled. "Since Wildheart is immune to traps that Elemental Absorber won't work on him."

"Now Wildheart, attack one of those Alchemy Beasts with Wild Slash." Jaden ordered and Wildheart drew his sword and then slashed Alchemy Beast Ouroboros" The explosion blew Banner back

**Jaden: 6000**

**Solona: 6000**

**Banner: 11300**

Jaden smirked as now he had a way around the Elemental Absorber.

"I end my turn." Jaden still had his two face down cards which he had placed on his field earlier. "Which means that Heat's special ability activates which deals you 600 points of damage." Heat threw fireball which made Banner groan.

**Jaden: 6000**

**Solona: 6000**

**Banner: 10700**

Banner narrowed his eyes. "You think you have won, well it is time to face your biggest test yet, I play Card of Sanctity so now we all draw until we have 6 cards in our hands." Jaden, Solona and Banner drew until they had 6 cards in their hands. "Then I will play the spell cards Silver Key, Tin Spell Circle and Mercury Hourglass which allows me to summon Alchemy Beasts Moonface the Silver, Aretos the Tin and Ekenas the Mercury." A large eagle, walking rock monster and shark appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 500 Defence 500 x3)

"I have a bad feeling about this." Kallian admitted

"What is Banner about to do?" Theorn wondered

Banner smirked. "Now I play the spell card White Process Albendo."

"Not that card!" Syrus gasped

"That's not good." Chumley added

"With this card, I can summon Golden Homunculus and you should remember what this card does, it gains 300 attack points for every card removed from play. So with 15 cards removed from play, my Homunculus gains a total of 4500 attack points." The Homunculus glowed as it gained power (GH Attack: 0-4500) Jaden gasped in shock. "You will take a big hit Jaden as all of my monsters will attack you. Go my Alchemy Beasts, attack Jaden directly." Zack and Aretos fired feathers at Jaden while Moonface fired silver shards and Ekenas fired a water blast. Each of the four attacks made Jaden groan and he was thrown back.

**Jaden: 4000**

**Solona: 6000**

**Banner: 10700**

Banner smirked.

"And now you will take a big hit, go my Homunculus, attack that Wildheart." Homunculus fired a fireball from his hand which exploded on Wildheart and created a smoke field. Banner smirked but gasped when the field cheered and revealed Jaden who was standing up and the life points hadn't changed but his Wildheart was gone.

"What!" he gasped. "Why didn't you take damage?"

Jaden smirked.

"Take a look for yourself." He said and he showed Banner his trap card which he had activated. "When you destroyed my Wildheart, I activated the trap card Hero Spirit so I don't take any damage. And now I will chain it with my other face down, Hero Signal so now I can summon another Elemental Hero from my deck. And I think I will go with good old Burstinatrix." The female Pyro Hero appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1200 Defense 800) "I'll play her in defense mode."

Banner narrowed his eyes.

"Well it won't save you." He hissed. "I end my turn."

Solona then drew her next card and smirked at it. "Let's see how you handle a powerful monster of our own." Dhe smirked. "I sacrifice my Mirage Dragon and Masked Dragon which allows me to summon my Red Eyes Black Dragon." The large black scaled dragon with red eyes appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2400 Defence 2000)

Banner smirked. "That card can't beat my Golden Homunculus and my Elemental Absorber will just stop your attack."

Solona smirked, Banner may had been bluffing as he may not have had a Dark Monster to attack with but Solona didn't need to worry.

"I'm not going to be attacking your monsters." She smirked which made Banner and the others look confused

"What's she going to do?" Syrus wondered

"She must have some kind of plan." Chumley claimed

"She does." Theorn smiled "And it will deal a good bit of damage to Banner."

Solona smirked.

"My dragon's attack is an actual card." She said. "I play the spell card Inferno Fire Blast so now you take damage equal to my Dragon's original attack points." Banner gasped as Red Eyes fired a blast which threw Banner back.

**Jaden: 4000**

**Solona: 6000**

**Banner: 8300**

"All right!" Kallian cheered

"They have a chance now." Syrus added while Theorn just smiled at Solona.

"Good hit Solona." Jaden called. "You've dealt a good bit of damage there."

"Thanks Jaden." Solona replied. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

Banner narrowed his eyes. "It will take more than that Red Eyes to defeat me!" He hissed. "But I have something else, you were unable to protect Jaden so this is the end, once my Alchemy Beasts and Homunculus attack, Jaden's life points will be reduced to zero, now go, attack Jaden my Beasts."

"Oh no!" Theorn gasped. "If all those attacks go through then Jaden will lose the rest of his life points"

"I think this is it guys." Syrus whimpered

"Jaden has no cards that can save him." Chumley gasped

Solona then smiled.

"But I do." She said. "Go, Negate Attack, now your attack is negated and your battle phase is over."

Banner narrowed his eyes "Well go on then, you are only delaying your defeat, make your move, your luck won't last for long"

Jaden smiled at Solona before looking at his deck. *'I have to draw something good, I may have a full hand but I need something big to give me a chance in this Duel. I can't let Solona's trap go to waste.'* Jaden then drew his card and smiled at it. "It seems that it's a good thing I summoned Burstinatrix. I play the spell card Burst Return so now all other Elemental Heroes on my field are returned to my hand." Heat and Bubbleman returned to Jaden's hand. Then Jaden looked at Solona "Solona, I'm going to need your help for this, but to beat Banner I will need to sacrifice your monster."

"What's mine is yours Jaden." Solona stated "Just don't let my Red Eyes sacrifice be wasted."

"Oh it won't be." Jaden smiled. "Now I play the spell card, Burst Impact, since I have Burstinatrix on the field, I can play this card, now all monsters on the field are destroyed and you the controllers take 300 points of damage for each of them." Burstinatrix had a red glow around her which exploded which destroyed Solona's Red Eyes along with Banner's Homunculus and his Alchemy Beasts and the groaned as he was engulfed by the blast.

**Jaden: 4000**

**Solona: 5700**

**Banner: 6800**

"All right" Syrus cheered "Now Banner's life points are down more than half"

"They are still in with a chance here/" Theorn stated

"Let's just hope that nothing bad happens to Solona since she has no monsters on her field/" Kallian added

Banner however smirked' "You may have destroyed my monsters but I still have my Elemental Absorber on the field so I can negate your attacks."

"Well I can sort that out too." Jaden smiled. "I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode'" The large rock Golem appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 800 Defense 2000) "Next I play the spell card Clay Wrap and equip it to Clayman. Now I play Polymerization to fuse Clayman and Bubbleman in order to summon Elemental Hero Absolute Zero." The white warrior monster appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2500 Defense 2000)

"What good will that do?" Kallian questioned. "Jaden can't attack, that Elemental Absorber stops all Water and Fire attribute monsters from attacking."

"And Jaden got rid of that Clay Wrap" Syrus added. "What was the point?"

"The point was to use Clay Wrap ability Syrus" Theorn stated

"That's right." Jaden smiled. "Since Clay Wrap was sent to the graveyard, I can now destroy one spell or trap card on the field and I choose your Elemental Absorber." The Elemental Absorber then shattered. "And now that your Absorber is gone, I'm free to attack, so go my Heroes, attack him directly." Absolute Zero fired a blast of ice at Banner while Burstinatrix threw a fireball at him. The attacks made Banner groan.

**Jaden: 4000**

**Solona: 5700**

**Banner: 3100**

"Great." Chumley cheered. "They've taken out most of Banner's life points"

"One more attack like that and this Duel is over." Syrus cheered

"They can do this" Kallian cheered

Banner narrowed his eyes "I may have lost most of my life points but this Duel isn't over yet, I play the spell card Alchemy Formula."

Theorn gasped. "Oh no, that's the card that defeated Daylen!"

Banner sneered. "That's right, now I summon Alchemy Beast Conrad the Compound. And remember, he gains 500 attack points for every monster removed from play, so with 11 monsters removed from play, that gives him 5500 attack points." The large multicoloured dragon appeared on the field and roared (ABCTC Attack 0-5500) Solona stared in shock at the card that defeated her brother. "And now I will deal you a lot of damage Solona. Just like your brother, my compound will be you undoing, now attack her directly." Conrad fired a blast from his mouth which went towards Solona while everyone else watched in shock.

But Solona just stared. "Sorry but I play a trap, a Hero Emerges, now you have to pick one card in my hand and if it's a monster then I can summon it."

Banner narrowed his eyes that his plan had failed "Fine then, I choose the far left"

Solona smiled. "Good pick, now I can summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon." She said and then her large blue and white scaled dragon appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defense 2500) "I'll play her in defense mode"

Banner narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't matter, my monster still attacks." Blue Eyes was engulfed by the blast and shattered. "Then I'll throw these two cards face down and end my turn."

Solona looked at her deck and then she drew her card and smiled at it before looking at Jaden "Hey Jay, I'll need to borrow one of you monsters"

"You let me use your monsters so you can use mine" Jaden replied

"All right, I summon Blue Eyes Striking Dragon in attack mode." Solona added and then a small blue scaled dragon with a large tail with a spiked ball at the end appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defense 1800) "And my dragon has a special ability, so now by sacrificing Jaden's Absolute Zero, he gains 500 attack points until the end of this turn" Elemental Hero Absolute Zero faded and was absorbed by Striking Dragon who glowed (BESD Attack: 1500-2000)

"But what good will that do?" Syrus wondered. "That dragon still can't defeat that Conrad."

"And not only that, but now Jaden's best monster is gone." Chumley complained

But Kallian smirked.

"No, our friends are fine." She said

"Solona's done a smart thing." Theorn added which made Syrus and Chumley look at each him. "When Absolute Zero leaves the field, his special ability activates."

"Which destroys all of your monsters Banner." Jaden finished as he smiled and then the spirit of Absolute Zero appeared and then zapped through Conrad and destroyed him.

Banner smirked.

"Quite impressive." He stated. "But I'm afraid it will take a whole lot more than that if you ever want your friends back."

"You want more?" Solona smirked. "Then take this, and with your monster gone you are wide open, now go Striking Dragon." Blue Eyes Striking Dragon sent his balled tail towards Banner.

Banner however smirked.

"You fool; it is I who shall be taking you off to the great beyond." He sneered "I activate Macro Cosmos. This allows me to remove Chaos Distil from play. And now I shall be removing you from this world." Chaos Distil began to make a huge cloud of smoke which then created a bright light which made everyone cover their eyes.

When the light cleared and everyone could see again, they gasped when they saw that they seemed to be standing in outer space. Banner smirked. "The power of Alchemy flows through me. It has broken our Earthly bonds and taken us here."

"Well this isn't going to stop me." Jaden stated

"Nor me." Solona added

"Ah but this will." Banner smiled. "Thanks to Macro Cosmos, I can summon this monster Helios the Primordial Sun." A bandaged mummy with a sun for a head appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 0 Defense 0) "And she gains 100 attack points for every monster removed from play so her attack points are now at 1200." Helios glowed as she gained attack points (HTPS Attack 0-1200)

Jaden, Solona, Kallian, Theorn, Syrus and Chumley all watched as large bubbles appeared. Jaden gasped when he saw Chazz banging against one of them "Chazz!" he called out then he saw Alexis and Atticus laying in two more and they were unconscious. "Alexis, Atticus!"

Solona widened her eyes when she saw her brother Daylen lying on his back in one with his eyes closed. Neria lay in another one while Aedan was resting in a third one "Daylen, Neria, and Aedan!" She yelled out.

Banner sneered.

"They can't hear you." He smirked. "They're my prisoners now like you will two be for all eternity." Banner then pulled out his tome from his robe. "Face it you two, this tome is your destiny now and soon both of you shall be locked in its pages. You will be nothing more than a footnote to my saga, to my ascension to power. Can't the two of you see, you cannot beat me? Neither of you have what it takes, face it you and your friends are finished. I paid for this book with my flesh and blood. I will not lose it to a Slifer Slacker and a rich brat."

Solona narrowed her eyes at Banner while Jaden looked gobsmacked. "Hey are you forgetting about all of the Duels I have won."

Banner laughed. "You both were just paws back then. All of your matches were fixed, so you would be given a key and then face me. Don't you see, the two of you were nothing but losers."

Jaden narrowed her eyes.

"All of it?" He questioned. "Crowler, Chazz and the Shadow Games. It was all a big setup, to make me seem like a great Duelist so I would get a Spirit Key to protect."

"I don't believe you!" Solona snapped. "I've faced more like those Venatori; I doubt those matches were fixed"

"Believe what you wish, now let's get on with the Duel." Banner hissed. "I play the trap card Planet Alignment." The planets then all went into a straight line. "This card is so powerful, it actually wraps space, and destroys all your monsters." Jaden and Solona watched as their Striking Dragon and Burstinatrix shattered.

"And now you take 300 points of damage each." Solona and Jaden groaned

**Jaden: 3700**

**Solona: 5400**

**Banner: 3100**

Solona sighed.

"I end my turn." She stated

"Then it is my turn." Banner said as he drew his card. "And this card is quite a mouthful. I play the spell card Yellow Process – Kitolinix. This spell allows me to remove Helios the Primordial Sun from play and summon Helios Duos Megistus." Helios the Primordial sun was engulfed in a bright fire and then replaced by a much fatter version with two suns. (Level 6 Attack 0 Defense 0) "And she gains 200 attack points for every monster removed from play so with 13 cards removed from play, that's 2600 attack points." (HDM Attack 0-2600) "And now, attack Solona directly with Solar Singa." Helios sent a blast of fire which engulfed Solona who moaned from the attack.

**Jaden: 3700**

**Solona: 2800**

**Banner: 3100**

"And now I will end my turn there." Banner finished

Jaden then drew his next card. "I play the spell card Fusion Recovery which allows me to get my Bubbleman and Polymerization in my graveyard and add them to my hand. Then I will summon Bubbleman and thanks to his special ability, I get to draw two cards." Jaden drew two more cards from his deck. "Next I play Polymerization and fuse Bubbleman with Avian in my hand in order to summon Elemental Hero Mariner." A light blue skinned monster with green hair and mask and had anchors on his arms appeared on the field (Level 5 Attack 1400 Defense 1000) "Then I'll throw a card face down. And here's the best part, if I have any facedown cards on my spell or trap card zone then Mariner gets to attack you directly, so go, attack with Anchor Away." Mariner fired one of his anchors from his arms which shot through Banner causing him to groan.

**Jaden: 3700**

**Solona: 2800**

**Banner: 1700**

"Impressive." Banner smiled. "Perhaps you are not the loser I thought you were."

"I'm the loser?" Jaden questioned. "At least I know how to use moisturiser."

Banner sneered. "All you ever do is make jokes, that's why you won't be a great Duelist. You lack the discipline, the strength. Now look at me and my power, it's cosmic, you cannot defeat me, you will be better off joining me. Yes as my servant perhaps."

"Thanks for the offer." Jaden replied. "But I have enough friends already."

"Then Jaden, you will be joining your friends soon enough." Banner said. "In oblivion, just you watch. Now Duos Megistus, attack that Mariner with Solar Singa." Megistus fired another blast of fire.

"No way." Jaden countered. "I play one of my facedowns, Mirror Gate. Now our monsters switch fields." A large mirror appeared on the field and the monsters switched sides and the fire blast was heading to Mariner on Banner's field.

Syrus gasped "Did you see that?" He questioned

"Jaden is using Banner's cards against him." Theorn smiled

"That's right." Jaden smiled. "So now Miss Tall bright and fiery is fighting on my side."

Banner however smirked. "I play a spell card, Grand Convergence. This powerful card destroys all monsters on the field and deals you 300 points of damage." Helios and Mariner shattered into particles and Jaden groaned as he was hit by the attack.

**Jaden: 3400**

**Solona: 2800**

**Banner: 1700**

"And now the effect of my Helios activates." Banner added. "When she is destroyed, she returns to the field with an extra 300 attack points" Jaden gasped when Helios returned to the field with more power (HDM Attack: 2600-2900) "And now Megistus, attack again with Solar Singa." Helios turned into fire again and struck Jaden who howled at the attack

**Jaden: 500**

**Solona: 2800**

**Banner: 1700**

"Jaden!" Syrus yelled

Kallian gasped in horror. "Oh no, Jaden's almost out of life points."

"Solona has to do something good on her turn." Theorn stated. "Otherwise this Duel is over."

"Now make your move." Banner sneered. "You should make it count."

Solona looked at her deck. *'If I don't draw something good then this Duel is over.'* she thought. "My draw." Solona drew her card and smirked. "I summon Kaibaman in attack mode." A warrior who looked like Seto Kaiba appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 200 Defense 700) "And now I'll use his ability which allows me to sacrifice him and summon Blue Eyes White Dragon." A second large white and blue scaled dragon appeared on the field. "Next I play Dragon's Mirror which allows me to remove my Blue eyes on the field and a second one in my graveyard." A ghostly Blue Eyes appeared on the field and then they were both absorbed by a portal. "When two Great Dragons come together, they form an even more powerful monster, one that has more power than the two combined. I fusion summon Blue Eyes Twin Burst Dragon." A large two headed dragon with sparkling blue scales appeared on the field (Level 10 Attack 3000 Defense 2800) "And now Twin Burst, attack that Helios with Twin Burst Lightning." Both heads unleashed a blast of blue fire which went together into one and slammed into Helios and destroyed her.

**Jaden: 500**

**Solona: 2800**

**Banner: 1600**

Banner sneered "Did you forget that my Helios comes back even stronger?" He asked and then Helios returned to the field again (HDM Attack: 2900-3200)

"Oh man." Jaden groaned. "We just can't get rid of that Megistus."

"Well it's not so bad." Solona smirked. "My Twin Burst cannot be destroyed so we're safe for now."

"Ah but you won't be for long." Banner smirked as he drew his next card. "If you think Helios Duel Megistus was bad, just you wait, I play Red Process – Rubedo, and with it, I sacrifice Helios Duos Megistus and summon Helios Trice Megistus." Duos Megistus was engulfed in fire and three small mummies with sun heads appeared (Level 8 Attack 0 Defense 0) "And Trice Megistus gains 300 attack points for every monster removed from play. So with 13 cards, that's 4200." (HTM Attack: 0-4200) "And now Helios, attack that Twin Burst with Phoenix Flame" A large Phoenix appeared on the field which blasted right through Twin Burst. Though the dragon survived Solona took damage.

**Jaden: 500**

**Solona: 1600**

**Banner: 1600**

"And there's more, my monster can attack again as long as there is a monster on the field." Banner added which made them all gasp as another fiery phoenix was sent towards Twin Burst which caused even more damage to Solona.

**Jaden: 500**

**Solona: 400**

**Banner: 1600**

"And now I will play the spell card Supernova." Banner added. "When Helios Trice Megistus has attacked, I can destroy one card on your field and I choose that Twin Burst." Twin Burst roared and then shattered.

Jaden looked in horror*. 'Now we have no monsters, no spells or traps and no cards that can help us. For the first time in my life, I don't know how we can win'* Jaden thought. *'And even if I can summon to destroy it, it will just come back again even stronger. What can I do, I have no cards in my hand and no strategy up my sleeve. But if I don't win this then me and all my friends are finished.'*

Banner smiled. "Goodbye Jaden, this has been quite a year"

Jaden looked determined.

"I'm not done yet." He said. *'Or maybe I am, what if everything Banner said was true. What if I have been set up from my first day. Every duel I have won was all set up so I could win. Crowler, Chazz, the Paradox Brothers. Even the Shadow Duelists. Maybe I'm not such a great Duelist. Maybe the Academy would think I was amazing, a great Duellist who hardly ever lost. Chancellor Sheppard would have no choice but to give me a key, a key that would hold the fate of the world.'*

Solona looked and saw that Jaden was feeling down.

"Don't give up now Jaden!" She called. "Don't listen to what Banner said, I believe in you and your skill. Your duels were not fixed, he's just trying to get to you. A duel's not over until the last card is play."

Banner meanwhile stared at him. *'All of your matches, all of your training have led up to this moment.'* He thought. *'Now make your move and make me proud.'*

Jaden looked at Solona and then over to Theorn, Kallian, Syrus and Chumley and then realised that Solona was right. *'No I can't give up on my friends.'* He thought as he smiled. *'They have risked their lives and now I must save both my friends and this world. But it all comes down to this draw. One way or another, this card decides the fate of not only this duel but this world.'* Jaden then drew his card. "Check this out, I play the spell card known as Miracle Fusion, this card allows me to fuse Elemental Heroes that are on my field and graveyard and remove them from play. So I fuse Elemental Heroes Avian, Burstinatrix, Clayman and Bubbleman in order to summon Elemental Hero Electrum." A shining hero appeared on the field (Level 10 Attack 2900 Defense 2600) "And he's got one sweet ability."

Banner widened his eyes and then he watched as cards suddenly began going into his deck. "My cards, they're returning to my deck!"

"Just the ones removed from play which means your Trice Megistus loses its attack points." Jaden smiled and Trice Megistus lost her power (HTM Attack: 4200-0) "Not only that, but Electrum gains 300 attack points for every monster you control that is the same attribute so since Helios is the light Attribute, that's an extra 300 attack points." (EHE Attack 2900-3200) "And now Electrum Attack, Elemental Radiant Burst!" Electrum emitted a powerful light which shone over the field and then Trice Megistus shattered which blew Banner back.

**Jaden: 500 (Winner)**

**Solona: 400 (Winner)**

**Banner: 0000**

Banner fell to his hands and knees as his tome fell and the Millennium symbol shattered. Then the souls inside of the tome were released. Alexis was sent back to where she was defeated along with Chazz and Aedan. Neria and Daylen reappeared in the place where the Duel had just taken place while Atticus appeared back in his room. And then the Pillars of light vanished and the Spirit Gates were resealed

"Brother, Neria!" Solona gasped as she ran over to her brother and Neria along with Theorn and Kallian.

Jaden approached Banner along with Syrus and Chumley while Solona, Theorn and Neria carried Neria and Daylen.

"That's game Banner." Jaden said to the fallen Banner who was now sitting against the wall.

"Jaden listen carefully to me my boy." Banner said as his voice started to get weaker. "I lied, you did win all those Duels. I just had to test you so you would duel to your limits so you could be prepared for the real evil to come. That is why I became a Shadow Rider, not to do evil but to test everyone. And you and Solona have past so you are ready. The two of you have to stop the one who is truly behind all of this, the real leader of the Shadow Riders. The riders were just pawns to him, you may have stopped the Shadow Riders but it's not over yet. This threat is so grave I had to deceive you. But I knew you could do it, I am proud of you both. I hope you can forgive me, now take this, you both will need it." He handed Jaden his tome.

"But this is your book." Jaden stated

"It's not mine anymore." Banner stated. "And no longer am I of this world." Then Banner crumbled and his body turned into a pile of dust

"Professor Banner!" Jaden yelled and then they heard another rumble and they looked to see the Body of Banner in the coffin also turn into a pile of dust. "It's over, he's gone"

Solona looked at the body of Banner.

"So Banner was trying to test us." She realized. "If he is telling the truth then this is not over yet. The threat of the Sacred Beasts are still real and they still may be unleashed."

A ball of light rose from Banner's body, his cat Pharaoh hit it with his paws before opening his mouth and engulfing the ball of light.

"So what now?" Syrus asked

"Well from what Banner said, it seems we should be on the lookout for something." Chumley stated

"Banner gave his life to prepare us for this." Jaden stated. "We must make sure that we are ready."

"Right." Solona stated. "If anyone is thinking about unleashing those Sacred Beasts then they will have to deal with us." Jaden smiled at her and then he opened the tome

"I just hope we're ready." Jaden added. "Because whatever we are about to face is unlike anything we have ever faced before."