Rise of the Sacred Beasts, Part 2

Kagemaru: 2900

Jaden: 1600

*'I'm facing down two Sacred Beasts and there's nothing on my side of the field.'* Jaden thought. *'This isn't good.'*

*'Jaden's in deep trouble, but I know that he can prevail.'* Kaoru thought.

"Daunting, isn't it?" Kagemaru asked, noticing Jaden's stare, "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon...when the Sacred Beasts defeat you, Jaden."

Ryan and the Shiba siblings had full faith and confidence in Jaden.

"We'll see...my turn now." Jaden drew his card. "...and I summon a duelist's best friend: Wroughtweiler in defense mode!" He declared as a mech-dog appeared in front of him.

"Good boy, just heel for now." He said, slipping a card into his disk. "I'll throw down a face down and end my turn,"

"A face down and a duel doggy? That's how you plan on beating me? That's how you plan on stopping my Sacred Beasts? Please, don't insult them." Kagemaru waved his arm at his monsters, "After all, it'll be these monsters that'll empower me to rule the world!"

"Great another world domination plot." Arisa said.

"Now, where were we?!" Kagemaru drew his card, "Oh yes! By the effect of my Field Spell, Fallen Paradise, I'm allowed to draw two more cards from my deck to my hand." He drew again, "Now, I'll wage an attack with Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder!" hepointed at Jaden's metal dog. "Go, Cerulean Sky Fire!"

Jaden watched as Hamon created another bolt storm that rained down and destroyed his Wroughtweiler effortlessly.

"Now, I'll activate Hamon's effect!" Kagemaru smiled. "Remember, Jaden? When he destroys a monster, he deals you an extra 1000 points of damage to you!"

A huge, blue bolt of lighting shot down from the sky and hit Jaden dead on. The Slifer screamed as an explosion sent him flying backward.

Kagemaru: 2900

Jaden: 600

"Nice special effect." Jaden gasped, rising to his feet. "I got one, too...my Wroughtweiler's! When he's destroyed in battle, I get to take back an Elemental Hero and Polymerization from my deck to my hand." He reached down and plucked two cards from his glowing Graveyard. "And the Hero I've picked is Bubbleman!"

Elemental Hero Bubbleman: 800/1200

Kagemaru laughed at the move.

"Too bad you will never have the chance to summon him!" He taunted.

"We'll see about that." Jaden shot back. "Now finish your turn!"

"Fine fine...but it's not just the turn that I'm about to finish." He pointed to Jaden.

"Uria! Attack with Hyper Blaze!" He screamed.

"If this hits we're screwed." Davis said.

Uria reared back his head, then fired off another powerful burst of flames straight at the young Slifer.

"It's all over!" Sheppard cried, watching the fireball fly through the air.

"We're done for!" Bastion moaned.

"Jaden, no!" Syrus yelled out for his friend.

Jaden smiled, just a little, as the fireball closed in. "Not so fast, Kagemaru! I play my face down! Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This card allows me to Special Summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck, in defense mode!" He explained quickly as his winged fur ball appeared on the field...seconds before it was engulfed by the fiery blaze of Uria's.

Kagemaru frowned, "Pure luck...,"

"No, that's pure Kuriboh!" Jaden shot back.

A soft hooting sound made him look to the right to see Winged Kuriboh pointing at something. Following his claw, Jaden looked down and watched as a card popped out of the top of his deck, glowing for a few seconds.

"Huh? What's this?" He drew his card and stared. "It's Banner's card! The one that was in that book of his!" He looked at the card for a little bit, then looked back up at Kagemaru. "I have the feeling that he wanted me to have it so that I could use it to beat you!"

"Alright there's still hope." Kaoru cheered.

"You give him too much credit! He was a dullard, a pawn that I used...just like you, Jaden!"

"You wish!"

"It's true, Jaden! Your soul? Once I win it, my reign is assured!"

"Well, then I'll make sure you won't win it!" Jaden drew his card. "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode."

Elemental Hero Bubbleman: 800/1200

Jaden's caped Hero was soon transformed into the modified version of himself, his new fins jutting out of his back and limbs.

Kagemaru scoffed. "You just sacrificed one weakling for another..."

"Oh yeah? Well, in that case, I guess it's a good thing I have this!" Jaden slipped a card into his disk and a large bazooka with a water tank appeared on Bubbleman's shoulder. "The Equip Spell card Bubble Blaster!"

"Now, Neo Bubbleman, attack with Bubble Slamming Stream!"

Neo Bubbleman launched a huge blast of high-pressured water straight at Kagemaru's monsters. The Superintendent chuckled at the move.

"You think that little bubble's going to make a difference? Hamon, counterattack!" He ordered.

Hamon roared and launched a massive amount of yellow, flaming energy back. The energy wave, and the Bubble Stream met each other head on, but strangely enough, Hamon's energy blast was pushed back by the stream and seconds later, Hamon blew up in such a large explosion, a strong shock wave ripped through the area.

"WHAT?!" Kagemaru stared in shock. "Hamon's been destroyed!"

"That's because of Neo Bubbleman's special ability!" Jaden explained, When he fights a monster, it's automatically destroyed!"

"But...Hamon was stronger!" Kagemaru protested angrily. "So you should still take damage!"

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda." Jaden shook his head. "Sorry, but by destroying Bubble Blaster, any and all damage you would've dealt to me becomes zero!" he explained as his Equip Spell blew apart, lowering his Hero's strength.

"Nice move." Sheppard said with a slow nod.

"Yeah, that's what I woulda done." Chumley agreed.

"Way to play, Jay!" Syrus cheered.

"That's showing him who is boss." Arisa said.

"Next, I place a card face down, and end my turn." Jaden finished, slipping a card into his disk.

"Your last turn." Kagemaru growled as he drew his card, "Remember, because of Fallen Paradise, I get to draw two extra cards!" He drew two more cards, "Now, Uria, finish him off with Hyper Blaze!"

Jaden watched as Uria fired off another blast of fire, heading straight for his monster.

"Time to do your thing!" He pressed a button on his disk. "Bubble Illusion! When Bubbleman is on the field, this card allows me to play a Trap card from my hand." he looked at his hand and plucked one of the three cards left. "I play this one...Hero's Rule 1: Five Freedoms! Five Trap cards now leave the Graveyard!"

"They what?!"

"That's right! They're removed from play!" Jaden grinned. "So say your goodbyes!"

"That'll weaken Uria heavily." Kaoru said.

"Alright, now Neo Bubbleman's got the edge in this fight!" Jaden pumped his fist as Uria's flame died down, "Let him have it!"

Kagemaru watched in horror as, once again, Uria was obliterated from the field, thanks to Bubbleman's Bubble attack. The exploding Demon sent another shock wave through the area, making most of the people in the area cover their faces protectively.

"You're only postponing the inevitable..." The madman growled, taking a card from his hand. "You cannot stop the Sacred Beasts! Especially with this...I play Resurrection Tribute! Now, since my monster was destroyed, I get to destroy one of yours...meaning that Bubbleman will now burst!"

Jaden watched as Bubbleman blew up in dozens of digitized pieces, "Aw man..."

"But that's not all, Jaden, I get to summon back a monster from my Graveyard to my field in defense! So, rise again, Hamon!" Kagemaru roared as lightning bolts crashed behind him, giving his fallen creature life once more. "Next, I'll activate Uria's special effect. By discarding one Trap card to the Graveyard, I can summon him back!"

Kagemaru slipped one card into his Graveyard slot and once again, Uria was reborn in a pillar of fire.

"Dang it, what does it take to defeat the Sacred Beasts?" Davis asked.

"Aw great." Jaden muttered, looking at the newly resurrected Sacred Beast.

"And now, I'll activate the Spell known as Phantasmal Martyrs!" Kagemaru held up a new card, one that had both Hamon and Uria on it, but also...a strange, horrific blue monster. "When Uria and Hamon are out, I can send two cards from my hand to the Graveyard, and then I can summon three Phantasmal Martyr Tokens!"

He slipped two cards into his Graveyard and seconds later, three monsters appeared on his field, looking like a cross between a mutant bat and a Hollow from Bleach.

"Since he sent Divine Wrath, a Trap card to the Graveyard, Uria gains another 1000 attack points!" Bastion shook his head slowly.

"If there was ever a time for a miracle it would be now." Kaoru said.

"Just like that, my two Sacred Beasts are back." Kagemaru grinned wickedly. "It's like you're just back where you started...but you're not, because I'm sacrificing the three Phantasmal Tokens in order to summon the third and final Sacred Beast. So you see." his grin widened as thick bolts of lightning boomed above them. "Things are much, much worse!"

Suddenly, the whole field was engulfed in a bright blue light. Everyone covered their eyes from the glaring light as a very strong wind picked up around them. Kagemaru laughed triumphantly as the ground behind him exploded, sending huge chunks into the air.

"ARISE...RAVIEL, LORD OF PHANTASMS!"

Raviel, Lord of Phantasms: 4000/4000

"As if things weren't hard enough with just two of those beasts." Kaoru said.

"Jaden has to face down all three of them." Davis added.

"And if Raviel is anything like Obelisk then Jaden is in deep trouble." Arisa said.

Jaden looked up as the light died down and stared at the final demon. Raviel looked like a very dark and twisted version of Obelisk the Tormentor.

"Okay...definitely not friendly." He murmured.

"Not good." Zane scowled. "He's gathered all three of them out at once!"

"I remember Yugi once defeating all three Egyptian God Cards." He remarked. "So Jaden can defeat all three Sacred Beasts."

"Was that when all three were on the field at once or did he face each of them in seperate duels?" Kaoru asked.

"I believe it was the Ceremonial Battle." He elaborated.

"How do you know that?" Arisa asked.

"I heard about it from Joey Wheeler."

"Remind me to ask Joey Wheeler about this." Davis said. "More to the point how are you on speaking terms with Yugi's best friend?"

"Well, a couple months before I enrolled in the academy I happened to witness him mention it while walking around the city."

"That explains a lot." Arisa said.

Once again, the Sacred Beasts began to glow a bright golden aura as hundreds of small, glowing orbs flew through the sky towards them. Jaden looked around, staring at the orbs. "Oh no!"

"Hey, the cards!"

Two small boys in a game shop stared through the display case and watched as the Duel Monsters cards slowly lost their images, golden orbs floating away unseen.

"They're gone!"

Both boys started to cry as an elderly, short man in overalls walked up behind them, gazing at the cards as well.

"Oh no." Sheppard soon realized what was going on. "It's as if Kagemaru's absorbing the Duel Monsters and using their energies!"

Crowler scratched his head, "That's not in the rules...."

Kagemaru looked straight at Jaden. "The Spirits sense your defeat, Jaden...they're surrendering themselves to me, yielding to me their might so that I can unleash the three Legendary Demons with a new life that shall be eternal!"

"So, if Jaden loses this..." Chazz started slowly.

"Then all of the Duel Spirits will be sucked up!" Zane finished. "Not good."

Chazz whipped out his deck and looked down in horror. "OJAMA YELLOW!"

The small, annoying duel spirit's image on it's card slowly decayed away, leaving only a bony skeleton on the card.

Kagemaru held out his arms as he began to glow a faint blue light. "Yes...come to me...come to me...COME TO ME!"

Jaden stared at his opponent's glowing body. "...that's freaky."

"And the Ceremonial Battle and Battle City weren't freaky?" asked Arisa.

"Sorry, Kagemaru, but there's no way I'll ever let you do that to my friends!" Jaden swore.

"Duel Spirits aren't meant to be your friends, they exist so you can get what you want!" Kagemaru snapped at the Slifer. "Now, I'm going to use them Jaden, to destroy you!"

Jaden remained silent, staring up at the trio of Demons.

"Time to step up!" he drew his card, "I play the Spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production! Now, I can take two monsters from my Graveyard and add them to my hand!" He looked down as two familiar monsters popped out. "The ones I'm pickin' are Burstinatrix (1200/800) and Avian!" He held up a familiar Spell. "Next up is the Spell card Polymerization! I'll fuse both Avian and Burstinatrix together to create the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

Jaden's trademark monster in his Elemental Hero deck appeared on the field, dragon-head arm smoking and wings flapping as he descended to the ground.

Kagemaru grinned. "Now, Raviel's special ability activates! Whenever you summon a monster to the field, I get to summon a Sacred Beast Token!" He explained as a smaller version of Raviel appeared on the field.

'Hmmm...with Flame Wingman on the field, I can take out Uria this turn but.' Jaden looked at Hamon and Raviel. 'Those other two would take me out next turn! Man...'

"Jaden...Jaden..." A mysterious voice called out.

"Huh?" The Slifer turned around and scanned the area, "Who's there?"

Jaden watched as a large yellow orb of light phased through some kind of veil, and hovered towards him, Pharaoh leaping and mewing at it, trying to hit it with his paw.

"Not now, Pharaoh!" The orb scolded.

"...Professor Banner?" Jaden asked slowly, staring at the terrorized orb, "Is that you?"

"Yes." Banner 'wandered' over to Jaden.

"My boy, you must use that card now!" He urged.

Jaden looked at the single card in his hand. "But...use it how?"

"That is up to you to decide. You see, it is only as good as it's owner. It will grant you three card covets, meaning that it will turn into any card that you want it to be three times! Then, after the third covet, it's true power will be revealed, and if you've played your cards right, it will-"

Banner never finished because Pharaoh leapt up and swallowed the orb, then dashed away, jumping through the veil again.

Jaden looked back at the card, So...I just think of a card that I need? Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to try he thought as he closed his eyes.

As Jaden stood there, the card glowed a bright light and the image changed to something completely different. Jaden opened his eyes and grinned, even though his Life Points were cut in half. *'It's the exact card I wanted! Thanks, Banner...'*

Kagemaru: 2100

Jaden: 300

"Alright, I'm playing the Spell card Fusion Recovery!" Jaden held up the new card.

Chazz raised an eyebrow. "So what? That won't change a thing!"

"It could!" Alexis breathed. "If he can just play it right..."

"This card lets me take a Fusion-material monster and a Polymerization from my Graveyard and add them to my hand," he reached down and picked up the two cards, "So I get the Elemental Hero Sparkman but he won't be staying around for long, because with Polymerization, I'm fusing him and Flame Wingman to create the Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman!"

From the sky, Jaden's brightly glowing Hero descended onto the field, looking like an angel sent from Heaven to do battle with the Demons, his shining armor getting brighter with each second.

"Then I get another Token." Kagemaru reminded him as a second Raviel look-alike came to the field.

Jaden nodded.

"Cool, because I get something too! 300 attack points for Flare Wingman for every Hero in my Graveyard." He looked down at his disk. "...and at the moment, I have seven!"

"That can't be!" Kagemaru stared at the power boost. "4600 points?!"

"That's right, and he has a special ability! See, when Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"

"Wait...so..."

"So...go and get him Flare Wingman!" Jaden ordered. "Shining Emerald Orb!"

Shining Flare Wingman leapt high into the air and flew in front of Hamon. He brought his hands together and soon, a gigantic ball of bright green energy formed between his palms. With a grunt, Flare Wingman fired off the ball of green energy and everyone watched as Hamon was struck by the ball, causing him to explode and fall to the ground in the form of many pieces.

"Now, Flare Wingman! Light up Kagemaru with your special ability!"

Kagemaru looked away from his ruined monster just in time to see Flare Wingman appear right in front of him. The Hero with such intensity, the other half of the field was obscured by the bright light. However, the spectators didn't need to see what was going on...they knew that Jaden had just won! That is, until...

The light died down and everyone could see that Kagemaru was still standing, smiling widely as the bits and pieces of Hamon's body hovered between him and Flare Wingman.

"A good try, but when Hamon is destroyed while in defense mode, all damage I might recieve this turn becomes zero!" He explained with a cold laugh.

Jaden grit his teeth and looked down at his strange card.

*'Alright...this is my second card covet. Hope it works.'* He thought as the card morphed again, his Life Points being cut in half again.

"That can't be!" Kagemaru stared at the power boost. "4600 points?!"

"That's right, and he has a special ability! See, when Flare Wingman destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the destroyed monster's attack points!"

"Wait...so..."

"So...go and get him Flare Wingman!" Jaden ordered. "Shining Emerald Orb!"

Shining Flare Wingman leapt high into the air and flew in front of Hamon. He brought his hands together and soon, a gigantic ball of bright green energy formed between his palms. With a grunt, Flare Wingman fired off the ball of green energy and everyone watched as Hamon was struck by the ball, causing him to explode and fall to the ground in the form of many pieces.

"Now, Flare Wingman! Light up Kagemaru with your special ability!"

Kagemaru looked away from his ruined monster just in time to see Flare Wingman appear right in front of him. The Hero with such intensity, the other half of the field was obscured by the bright light. However, the spectators didn't need to see what was going on...they knew that Jaden had just won! That is, until...

The light died down and everyone could see that Kagemaru was still standing, smiling widely as the bits and pieces of Hamon's body hovered between him and Flare Wingman.

"A good try, but when Hamon is destroyed while in defense mode, all damage I might recieve this turn becomes zero!" He explained with a cold laugh.

Jaden grit his teeth and looked down at his strange card.

*'Alright...this is my second card covet. Hope it works.'* He thought as the card morphed again, his Life Points being cut in half again.

"I'll place a card face down and end my turn." Jaden finished, slipping the new card into his disk.

"And I'll begin mine. First, thanks to the effect of Fallen Paradise, I add two extra cards from my deck to my hand." Kagemaru drew his extra cards, "Next, I'll switch Uria from defense mode to attack mode, and then I'll play Raviel's effect! By sacrificing monsters on my field, I can add their attack points to Raviel's!"

Everyone watched as the two Sacred Beast Tokens disappeared and Raviel glowed with the new power given to him by the sacrificed monsters.

"So that's why he sacrificed those Tokens!" Bastion spat. "To power-up Raviel, and to power-down Jaden!"

"GO, RAVIEL!" Kagemaru ordered. "CLEAN YOUR CLAWS ON THAT SHINING FLARE WINGMAN!"

Raviel roared and pulled back his arm, the claws on his right hand glowing brightly.

"I play my facedown!" Jaden shouted. "A face down that happens to be the second card I wished for! De-Fusion!"

Raviel continued his attack, but thankfully, Shining Flare Wingman split into Flame Wingman and Sparkman, both of them jumping away from the oncoming claw. The two Heroes knelt down in defense as Raviel moved back, his attack failing.

"Very well, but De-Fusion counts as two summonings, so I get two Tokens!" Kagemaru pointed out as two Raviel look-alikes appeared in front of him. "Now, Raviel, go and destroy the Elemental Hero Flame Wingman with Shimmering Scraper!"

Raviel attack with his glowing claws again, but this time, Jaden could do nothing as his headlining monster was destroyed...thankfully, he was in defense mode!

"And now, Uria will finish off the other one with Hyper Blaze!"

Jaden held up his arm as the blast from Uria's attack blew past him, his Sparkman being wiped off the field.

"Oh yeah?! My turn!" Jaden drew his card. "I summon the Elemental Hero Clayman in attack mode!"

Kagemaru scoffed, "That means another Sacred Beast Token for me..." He said as a third Token appeared on his field.

Jaden looked down at the now glowing card in his hand. *'Alright, my last card covet!'*

Kagemaru: 2100

Jaden: 75

"I play Miracle Fusion!" Jaden held up the newly morphed Spell card. "With this, I can take monsters from my Field, hand, and Graveyard to combine them and create a Fusion monster! So, I'll use the Clayman on the my field, and the Bubbleman, Avian, and Burstinatrix in my Graveyard, and fuse them to create the Elemental Hero Electrum!"

The four Heroes appeared and swirled together until the golden-skinned Hero with the E on his chest appeared, rays of multi-colored light shining off of his body.

'Alright, the third card covet's been used. Time to see what this thing's true power is...and to see if I've played my cards right..'. Jaden looked up at Kagemaru as the card began to glow again. "Now, I'll play the Spell card called Sabatiel the Philosopher's Stone! It says here, that if it's equipped onto Electrum, his attack points are multiplied by the number of monsters that you have on your field...and I count five!"

A gigantic, two bladed sword appeared in Electrum's hands, looking like a strange version of Cloud Strife's sword. But, despite it's bulky appearance, it gave Electrum a huge boost of power!

Kagemaru's eyes widened at the power-up. "14,500 attack points?!"

"It's over, Kagemaru! Now, Hero Electrum, seal his fate!" Jaden ordered his all-powerful monster.

Electrum leapt into the air, his new weapon spinning in his hands. As soon as he reached Raviel's height, he held up his sword and brought it down hard, slicing through Raviel's body like a hot knife through butter, creating a thick, glowing line in Raviel's body as he did so.

Kagemaru watched in stunned horror as Raviel was obliterated from the field, creating an explosion that rocked the island and sending a gigantic plume of smoke into the air.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" he screamed, falling to his knees as Uria began to glow gold again. "THE SACRED BEASTS CAN'T BE DEFEATED!"

The remaining Sacred Beast roared before disappearing from sight. The sky returned to it's normal blue color and the spectators cheered at Jaden's victory. However, Jaden was the only one who wasn't celebrating fully yet. He was looking at Kagemaru, who was glowing a blue light as the hundreds of yellow orbs from before flew out of his body and back into the air.

"That's how you play your cards right." Kaoru said.

"Ryan, you were right." Davis told him. "Jaden won."

Back in a certain card shop, the two boys who were devastated at the cards disappearing, were now watching them return to their normal selves.

"They're back!"

"Hey look, they've come back!"

Slade and Jagger watched as their rare and powerful cards came back to normal as well.

"Too bad we can't dock them pay for time missed."

Chazz watched as Ojama Yellow's skeleton was soon covered by it's yellow flesh, followed by the normal, yet annoying soul of his Duel Spirit coming around.

"You're back!"

Ojama Yellow popped out of his card and hopped onto Chazz's shoulder. "Aw, you'll never get rid of me, Boss!"

Jaden looke down at Sabatiel, which was still glowing. "Wow...what a card..." He breathed, watching the card disappear into a group of tiny lights, Banner's quiet laughter filling his ears.

"I'll never forget you, Professor Banner." He whispered.

Looking up, he saw something strange happen to Kagemaru. The Superintendent of Duel Academy screamed at the top of his lungs as a bright blue light forth from his body into the air, his hair become more and more gray, his body more and more shriveled.

Jaden ran over to Kagemaru.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

Kagemaru slowly turned his old, shriveled head to Jaden. "I'm sorry, Jaden. All I ever wanted was what every old person wants in life. To be young again...and harnessing the power of the Sacred Beasts was the only way I found to do that..."

"Yeah, and to take over the world." Jaden added harshly.

Kagemaru reached up and grabbed Jaden's arm. "Can't you forgive a decrepit old fool? His delusions of grandeur?"

Jaden looked down at Kagemaru, and despite everything that had happened. The Shadow Riders, the Spirit Keys, Banner...there was no way he could hate an old man who just wanted to relive his youth.

"Yeah, but don't you see old-timer?" Jaden knelt down a little. "Stealing power from something or someone isn't the way to feel alive again. You got to find that in yourself!"

"I can't!" Kagemaru wheezed. "It's too late for me!"

"It's never too late." Jaden rose to his feet, Kagemaru still holding onto him. "C'mon, try and get up! Right now, go for it, and give it your all!"

Kagemaru nodded and slowly began to rise, staggering here and there. Finally, he let go of Jaden and stumbled around, but managed to stay on his feet. He looked down and smiled. "H-hey...look! I'm standing!" he looked at Jaden. "It must've been our duel! Yes, that makes perfect sense! THANK YOU, JADEN!"

Jaden grinned and hugged the old man tightly. "No problem!"

Unfortunately, Jaden must've hugged too hard because a loud snap was heard and Kagemaru yelped in pain.

"Oops...sorry."

A short while later, everyone watched as Kagemaru was air-lifted away in a cot attached to a copter thanks to a safety line.

Jaden rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "I guess bear hugs and old people just don't mix..."

Atticus chuckled and slapped Jaden on the shoulder. "You may have broken a few ribs, but I bet ya that his heart is all healed up!"

Growling, Chazz crossed his arms. "A few broken ribs? He's lucky that's all he got...after all he put us through?"

Jaden laughed and waved as the chopper took off. "Bye, Kagemaru!"

"Get well soon!" Syrus called out, waving, "...I guess..."

Sheppard watched as the chopper took off, then looked at the three Sacred Beasts cards that he held in his hand.

"It's all over." He sighed in relief, walking back to the spot where the Sacred Beasts holding box appeared again. "...and it's going to stay over! The Sacred Beasts will be under my guard and my guard alone!"

"Somehow I have a feeling this is only the beginning." Davis said.

As soon as he placed the three cards in the container, the box closed up and disappeared under the earth. The giant stone pillars around them soon slid back into the earth as well, the island now back to normal.

"Looks like things are finally gonna calm down around here." Syrus sighed in relief.

Crowler chuckled.

"I wouldn't say that." He glanced at his students. "You see...next week are the Duel Academy's promotion exams."

Jaden snapped his head towards the head of Obelisk Blue, a look of sheer terror on his face. "Promotion exams?! I completely forgot!"

Chazz shook his head as Jaden curled into a ball of despair. "Pathetic..."

Atticus laughed as he strummed his ukelele. "Savin' the world is one thing, but makin' the grade?"

"Not exactly Jaden's cup of tea." Bastion chuckled.

"If saving the world was a course Jaden would pass with flying colors." Arisa said.

Alexis nodded. "That's true!"

"All he has to do is connect that to school work." Davis said.