A New Breed of Hero, Part 1

It wasn't long after Aster defeated Zane and he was swarmed by reporters asking for comments on the duel.

"What a impressive win. What's your secret?" One of the reporters asked.

"Like I tell my fans, winning duels is a piece of cake when destiny's got your back."

"Now why don't you tell us about this new deck of yours?"

"Well there's a reason I unveiled it today. See last week I paid a visit to Duel Academy, and get this there are two students there who totally copied my deck."

"Who are they?" A reporter asked.

"Jaden Yuki and Kaoru Shiba." Aster answered.

"He better not be calling us out." Kaoru said.

"I think he is." Jaden said.

"This could get ugly." Tyson sweat dropped.

"He's a liar. He dueled Jaden and lost, and now he's taking credit for Jaden's deck."

"Aster was using a mishmash deck." Davis pointed out.

*'Aster's gone mental.'* Ryan thought to himself. *'What's he really doing this for?'*

The Shiba's were thinking the same thing.

*'Okay Aster, you really want to go there. Fine.'* Kaoru thought.

That night, Aster was meeting with his manager.

"A wise choice."

"You were right, I have to beat Jaden. My career is on the line."

"I'm glad you agree, but dueling Jaden was not my idea, it was decreed by fate."

"That may be true, but we both know fate's already chosen me to be the best."

"Your pride serves as both a strength and weakness. Now bring me your deck. I'd like to peer through the doors of destiny."

Aster handed his deck to his manager. His manager turned to the side and inserted a strange energy into Aster's deck before giving it back to him.

"So what did you see?" Aster asked.

"It seems you already knew the future."

"Then you don't have to wish me luck."

That night, Crowler and Bonaparte waited at the docks for Aster's arrival.

"I'm freezing my croissants off, where's Aster already? He'd better not have stood us up again."

"All I know is that I've lost all feeling below my chin."

In the sky, a cargo plane flew over Duel Academy.

"We've reached our target Mr. Phoenix, are you ready?"

"Yep." Aster nodded.

The pilot opened the cargo door and he jumped out on a sky surfing board and made his way to the academy.

"Duel Academy, here I come."

On the island, Syrus and Jaden were in Bastion's room and Bastion looked up any useful information on Aster.

"According to my research, there isn't a single sport Aster hasn't mastered and there's more. He has a high IQ as well as a photographic memory."

"I have a photographic memory too. Well when I remember to load the film at last."

Jaden yawned.

"Will you guys chill out? If you wanna do some research, I have some homework that needs finishing. Otherwise, cool it with the spy mission."

"This is important Jaden. Bastion's trying to figure out what Aster's weakness is. And so far he doesn't have one."

"Syrus, you're my best bud, but you're taking all the fun out of this."

He yawned once again.

"You gotta love those Ra Yellow beds."

"I would know considering I spent some time in Ra Yellow." Kaoru said.

"Oh hey, Kaoru." Syrus said. "What are you doing here?"

"Paying a visit to the Ra Yellow Headmaster and to help." Kaoru replied.

"How?" Syrus asked.

"Well." She whispered into his ear.

"That's your plan." He repeated.

"Basically." Kaoru said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jaden asked.

He wanted to know what was just said and made his way over to the two.

"I was just telling Syrus I was going to help you with the upcoming duel." Kaoru replied.

Meanwhile...

Someone had broken into the academy's card shop and took everything off the shelves. He ran off campus until he heard a sinister laugh.

"Who's there?" The thief demanded.

"What's your rush, tough guy? Now that you've stolen those cards, don't you wanna use them?"

"What do you want?" The thief asked.

"I'm just looking for a friendly duel."

The thief activated his duel disk and faced the mystery person.

Over at the docks...

Crowler and Bonaparte were still waiting for Aster to arrive when they saw his board float past them.

"Where did that come from?" Crowler asked.

Just then a explosion went off in front of the academy and the card thief fell to the ground.

"I have a little saying. It goes "You just can't hide from destiny"."

"No, wait! AH!"

Everyone heard the scream and ran to find out what happened. They arrived just in time to see Aster drop the stolen cards on the ground.

"I caught this guy robbing your card shop."

"It looks like you knocked him out cold." Syrus pointed out.

"What did you do to him?" Bastion demanded.

"Jaden, how've you been?" Aster ignored his question.

"Hey, Bastion asked you a question."

"Yeah, now fess up."

"I don't appreciate you calling us out."

"Hey, save it for our duel."

"Bonjour Monsieur Phoenix, welcome to our school. I'm Chancellor Bonaparte, and this is my assistant."

"Pardon?" Crowler repeated.

"Sorry, but I'm not supposed to talk to management. All business goes through my agent."

"Your agent?" Bonaparte asked.

"Yeah. Guys like me don't have time to deal with all the little people."

"Serves you right for that assistant remark Bonaparte." Crowler mocked.

"I'll see you bright and early for our duel Jaden. By the way, other than your friends, there are no spectators allowed."

"Why not?" Bastion asked.

"I'm a pro, which means people pay to watch me duel. There's no way I'm giving a free show to a bunch of amateurs."

"That's not cool, Aster. A lot of the students look up to you, and you're going to treat them like that? How selfish can you be?"

"Call me what you want, but at least this you won't embarrass yourself in front of the whole school when you lose."

"We'll see about that Aster."

The next morning, Jaden's friends entered the arena to watch his duel.

Jaden removed his deck from his pocket and put it in his duel disk.

"I know we can win you guys."

"Alright, help me welcome Aster Phoenix, the biggest star of our time."

"With an ego to match." Crowler muttered.

Davis and Tyson were present and so were Ryan and Kaoru.

One of the men who set up the duel arena pulled out a phone and contacted Aster's manager.

"Yes Master Sartorius, the match is about to begin."

"Then it's only a matter of time before we acquire our newest member, Jaden Yuki. For when he loses this duel, young Jaden will see the light. Everyone does eventually."

Jaden and Aster prepared to duel, but Winged Kuriboh appeared and warned Jaden to be careful.

"Don't worry, I won't let my guard down. I know this guy is supposed to be the best, but we beat him once and we can do it again. Trust me, it's all good."

'I'll show him what a deck of real heroes can do.'

"Alright, time to loosen your tie, roll up your sleeves and get your game on."

"Ryan, what are Jaden's chances of winning this?" Tyson asked.

"It's not going to be easy. Aster defeated Zane without much difficulty." He commented.

"Please, I won't even break a sweat. You're going down man."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"Let's do this!"

Aster: 4000

Jaden: 4000

"I'll kick things off. This card look familiar? Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode."

Elemental Hero Clayman: 800/2000

"Alright, I'll let you off the hook for now."

"Funny, I usually lead off with Solid Soldier or Wildheart." Kaoru spoke.

"How ironic. Now Jaden has to fight against some of his favorite monsters."

"Pretty sweet opening move, but watch this. I activate Polymerization."

"Alright, it's time for some fusion action."

"Now he can order a higher-rankin monster to the field."

"I fuse Elemental Hero Avian and Burstinatrix to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman."

Elemental Hero Flame Wingman: 2100/1200

"Now Flame Wingman attack with Infernal Rage!"

Wingman released a jet of fire from his dragon arm at Clayman, vaporizing him instantly.

"And thanks to Wingman's special ability, you take damage equal to Clayman's attack points."

Aster: 3200

"What do you know? The pro took the first blow."

"I end my turn."

"Lucky shot, but that'll change. Guess what I just drew."

"How should I know?" Jaden asked.

"You just played it. Polymerization."

"Here it comes." Bastion said.

"Like you I'm fusing Avian and Burstinatrix, but unlike you I'm combining them to create Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer."

Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer: 2100/1200

"I was hoping to see him. This is so cool."

"How's this for cool? Enforcer, attack Flame Wingman!"

Enforcer fired a multi-colored energy ball that tore straight through Flame Wingman.

"Wait, that should have been a draw." Hassleberry stated.

"There's one small technicality: Phoenix Enforcer can't be destroyed in battle." Bastion pointed out.

"Way to one-up me." Jaden said.

"What'd you expect? Our decks are similar, not equal."

"Huh?" Jaden blinked, confused.

"Think of the cards we use as a mirror. They reflect who we are and what motivates our actions."

"Do you have to get so deep?" Jaden asked.

"I rest my case. The point is, my deck's better."

"We'll see. I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode."

Elemental Hero Bubbleman: 800/1200

"Next I play the Warrior Returning Alive to add Avian back to my hand. Next I use Fusion Recovery to return Burstinatrix and Polymerization. Now I re-activate Polymerization to summon Elemental Hero Tempest."

Elemental Hero Tempest: 2800/2800

"Now attack with Chaos Tempest!"

Tempest flew up into the air and launched a powerful energy beam from his cannon at Phoenix Enforcer, forcing Aster to cover his eyes.

Aster: 2500

"Well the good thing is that all Jaden needs to do is use a card that can banish Phoenix Enforcer." Kaoru said.

"Don't start celebrating just yet. This duel still has a long ways to go."

"Back to me. Well here's a card we haven't seen in a while: Polymerization."

"Oh man, that card's only fun when Jaden plays it." Syrus groaned.

"I fuse Phoenix Enforcer and Sparkman to summon Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer."

Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer: 2500/2100

"And his special ability gives him 300 attack for every Hero in my graveyard."

"That's a whole lotta hero."

"Not really." Davis said. "Again, all Jaden has to do is use something like Soul Release to banish Aster's monsters from the graveyard."

"That bad boy's gonna be all over Jaden like flies on a cow pie."

"You're way out of your league. Shining Phoenix Enforcer, attack with Shimmer Kick!"

His monster's leg glowed and he gave a diving kick to Tempest, destroying him in one shot.

Jaden: 2800

"I'll put this card face down and call it a turn."

"Not bad, but get this. I play Pot of Greed." He drew two more cards. "And now I play Miracle Fusion. I banish Sparkman and Flame Wingman from my graveyard to summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman."

Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman: 2500/2100

"And he also gains 300 attack points for every hero in the graveyard."

"Are you done? I was hoping that after that big production that you'd play a monster that can actually accomplish something but no, you spend 20 minutes summoning a monster that's weaker than mine."

"Is Aster really that arrogant or does he know something we don't?" Tyson asked.

"I'm not done yet. I activate the equip spell Light Laser. Now when Shining Flare Wingman attacks a monster, that monster will be banished after the battle ends."

"Not bad slacker, not bad at all." Chazz smirked.

"Indeed. Now Jaden can dispatch Aster's Shining Phoenix Enforcer."

"Now I play the field spell Skyscraper. When one of my Heroes battles a stronger monster, it gains 1000 attack points."

"Now attack Shining Phoenix Enforcer!"

An energy blade extended from Light Laser. Shining Flare Wingman slashing Shining Phoenix Enforcer with it and causing him to disappear.

Aster: 1800

"Awesome. Who's the pro duelist now?"

"Now he's getting cocky." Tyson said.

"Jaden is."

"This is what I call a sweet duel. What could be better? I mean heroes going head to head, it's so cool."

"What's with you? You think this is all a big joke? Well, I've got news for you joy boy, dueling isn't about having fun, at least not for me. But someone like you would never understand that. I duel for justice and revenge."

"Revenge?" Jaden asked.

"I chose my hero cards for a reason, and punks like you who use them just because you think they look cool make me sick."

"Chill out."

"Look these cards are my life. They're everything to me, so you chill out."

"I'm always chill." Jaden replied.

Ryan and the Shiba siblings winced.

"Whatever. I told you you wouldn't get it. I was destined to build this deck and here's proof. I play the trap D - Time. You allowed me to activate this when you banished my Shining Phoenix Enforcer and since you did, I can take Destiny Hero monsters from my deck and add them to my hand as long as their combined levels are less then or equal to the level of the Elemental Hero that left the field."

"Destiny Heroes?" Jaden asked.

"What heroes?" Chazz asked.

"Destiny, son. They said it twice." Hassleberry replied.

"What are they Bastion?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know. I've never heard of them before." Bastion responded.

"Of course you haven't. They weren't publicly released. But rather than tell you about them, why don't I show you? I draw! And I activate the field spell Clock Tower Prison."

Skyscraper was destroyed and a massive clock tower appeared behind Aster.

"This clock marks the beginning of your end Jaden and there's nothing you can do to stop it."

The hands on the clock spun, stopping at 12 o'clock, and a cloaked monster appeared at the top of the tower.

"Jaden, meet Destiny Hero - Doom Lord."

Destiny Hero - Doom Lord: 600/800

"It only has 600 attack points?" Jaden asked.

"But his special ability is pretty powerful. Show him what I mean. Send Shining Flare Wingman packing with Impending Doom Grip."

Doom Lord leapt down from the clock tower at Shining Flare Wingman and gave him an uppercut, causing him to vanish.

"What just happened?" Jaden asked.

"Doom Lord's special ability. By not attacking this turn, he can send your monster two turns into the future."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"I'm the HERO duelist along with Jaden and even I'm lost." Kaoru said.

"Maybe to you, but you've got a lot to learn about destiny. And unfortunately for you, right now I'm controlling yours and your future's looking pretty grim."