2nd Round

While the Four Way Duel was going on, the reporter Gerard was in the computer room and he was trying to find the password to Duel Academy's database.

"If I can just get past this thing, I'll be able to access Duel Academy's student files." He said to himself and he watched as his PDA tried and failed to find the password. He was about to shout but he was then finally able to crack the password and he was in the database where there were images of the three Egyptian God cards and profiles of all the students of each dorm. Gerard scrolled down until he came across a boy with long brown hair and wearing a white blazer. "Atticus Rhodes. Studying abroad on special sabbatical." Gerard then scrolled down and then he frowned as he saw more profiles of students who were studying abroad "That's strange, all of these students are studying abroad but they have no forwarding address. I don't buy it, these must be the missing students from the Abandoned Dorm and the Academy is trying to cover it up." Gerard smirked as he installed the information onto his pen drive. "I smell a front page scandal and a major payday for the reporter who makes the story. Thanks for the scoop Duel Academy and good luck trying to survive all the bad publicity."

...

Meanwhile, the first Duel of the second round was about to start. This Duel was between Neria and Theorn. Most of the students sat in the stands to watch while Bastion and Jaden sat on some benches near the Duel Arena so that when this Duel was finished, they would do their Duel.

"Attention Duelists of Duel Academy." Crowler announced over his microphone. "Welcome to the first Duel of the second round. This Duel will decide who goes through to the final. Please welcome our two students from Ra Yellow, Theorn Maheriel and Neria Surana."

Theorn and Neria had finished shuffling each other's decks and they got onto their sides of the Duel Arena.

"Hey Neria" Theorn called "Good luck, may the best Duelist win."

"Good luck to you too Theorn." Neria replied and then the two students activated their Duel Disks.

"**DUEL!"**

**Theorn: 8000**

**Neria: 8000**

"I'll take the first move." Neria said. "And I'll start by activating the spell card Charge of the Light Brigade, now by discarding the top three cards of my deck I can add one Level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from my deck to my hand so I'll add my Jain to my hand." Neria then discarded three cards and one of them was Wulf, Lightsworn Beast. "Also one of the cards I discarded was Wulf Lightsworn Beast so now his effect activates which special summons him to the field." The large white furred Cat Beast with the Axe appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 2100 Defense 300) "And then I'll summon my Jain in attack mode." The white haired warrior woman in armor appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defense 1200) "Then I'll throw one card face down and end my turn which means discarding two cards thanks to Jain."

"Nice move." Theorn said. "Now it's my turn. I play the spell card Graceful Charity so now I can draw three cards as long as I discard 2. Then I'll play the spell card Monster Reborn which allows me to summon one monster in my graveyard. So I choose to summon the monster I discarded, my Dalish Halla Keeper." An Elven woman wearing hunting gear appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2400 Defense 1900) "And now my Halla Keeper will attack that Jain." Dalish Halla keeper brought out a large stick made of metal and then pointed it at Jain and then a heard of small white furred dear like animals appeared on the field and charged at Jain who got trampled.

**Theorn: 8000**

**Neria: 7400**

"Then I'll throw two cards face down and end my turn." Theorn finished

Neria drew her next card. "I summon Raiden Hand of the Lightsworn in attack mode." A brown skinned man wearing a purple robe and with black hair, holding two daggers appeared on Neria's field (Level 4 Attack 1700 Defense 1000) "This is a gamble but now I activate Raiden's ability, now I discard the top two cards of my deck and if any of them are Lightsworn Monsters then Raiden gains 200 attack points till the end of my turn." Neria discarded two cards and to her delight one of them was the one she wanted. "I discard my Solar Recharge and my Felis Lightsworn Archer so now her ability activates which special summons her." A green haired cat like woman armed with a bow and arrow appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1100 Defence 2000) and the Raiden's attack points grew. (RHOTL Attack 1700-1900)

"That doesn't make much sense." Jaden questioned at the side. "Sure Neria has three monsters but none of them can beat Theorn's Halla Keeper."

"Actually Neria is playing smart." Bastion said. "Lightsworns are a risky deck because you have to discard cards at the end of each turn but they all have effects that can turn Duels around."

"I now activate Felis' ability, so now I can tribute her to destroy one monster on your field but then I have to discard three cards so now your Halla Keeper is destroyed." Neria said and then Felis fired her bow at the Halla Keeper which caused the monster to shatter and then Felis vanished. "And with no monsters on your field you're wide open. Go now Wulf and Raiden will attack you directly." Raiden slashed Theorn with his daggers which Wulf hit him with his axe which caused Theorn to take a big hit on his life points.

**Theorn: 4000**

**Neria: 7400**

"I end my turn." Neria finished

Solona and Daylen watched from the stands. "Wow, Neria sure is good, she took out half of Theorn's life points in just one turn." Solona said

"Don't count Theorn out just yet, he still has some good cards in his deck." Daylen said "Remember he did beat me."

Theorn smirked and he drew a card. "Nice move, now it's my turn." He said. "I activate the spell card Dalish Love, now by discarding two cards in my hand; I can summon Dalish Monsters without sacrifices for the next two turns. So now I normal summon my Dalish first in attack mode." An Elven Mage wearing robes with magical symbols sown on and holding a large wooden staff appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2900 Defence 2600) "And now I play the field spell Dalish Camp." The field changed into a forest with a large camp with wagons "Now all my Dalish monsters gain 1000 attack and defense points when they attack a monster with less attack points. Which will come in handy later, but now I activate the spell card Arlathvhen which I can only play with Dalish Camp in play, now all Dalish monsters gain 200 attack points." (DF Attack 2900-3100) "And now my Dalish First will attack your Raiden." Dalish First fired a blast of green lightning from her staff which engulfed Raiden and destroyed him.

**Theorn: 4000**

**Neria: 6000**

"I end my turn with by throwing one card facedown." Theorn finished

My turn." Neria drew her card. "I sacrifice Wulf to summon Gragonith Lightsworn Dragon in attack mode." Neria's powerful Lightsworn Dragon appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2000 Defense 1600) "And remember his ability," Neria added "He gains 300 Attack points for every Lightsworn in the graveyard, so right now there are four in my graveyard so he gains 1200 attack points" (GLD Attack 2000-3200) "And now Gragonith, destroy that Dalish First with Light Blast." Gragonith fired a blast of white fire from his month which destroyed Dalish First.

**Theorn: 3900**

**Neria: 6000**

"I end my turn." Neria finished

"Well my draw." Theorn said. "And I'll start with by special summoning my Dalish Lookout in attack mode." Theorn's Lookout appeared on the Field (Level 5 Attack 2300 Defense 1000) "And don't forget that my Dalish Love's ability is still activated so now I can summon my Dalish Healer to the field without a sacrifice." An Elven woman wearing Healing robes appeared on the field (Level 7 Attack 2700 Defense 2400) "And now I play my face down, Call of the Haunted which brings back my Dalish First. And now thanks to my spell cards, all my monsters gain attack points." (DF Attack 2900-3100 DL Attack 2300-2500 DH Attack 2700-2900) "And now my Dalish First will destroy that dragon and thanks to Dalish Camp field spell, he gains 1000 attack points." (DF Attack 3100-4100) Dalish first sent a blast of Lightning which destroyed Gragonith."

**Theorn: 3900**

**Neria: 5100**

"And now you are wide open, so now my monsters will attack you directly." Theorn added

"Sorry but I play a trap, go Glorious Illusion." Neria countered. "Now I can summon back my Gragonith from the graveyard." The Lightsworn Dragon returned and it still had the extra attack points.

"Well my Dalish Camp will give my lookout some extra attack points." Theorn said as then Dalish Lookout gained more attack points (DL Attack 2500-3500) "Now destroy that Dragon once again." The Lookout fired a shot from his bow which destroyed the dragon again.

**Theorn: 3900**

**Neria: 4800**

"And now my Dalish Healer will attack you directly." Theorn finished and then Dalish Healer threw a bag of burning herbs at Neria which exploded and dealing her more damage.

**Theorn: 3900**

**Neria: 1900**

"I end my turn." Theorn finished. "And now my Dalish Healer's special ability activates, on each of my end turns, I gain 100 life points for every Dalish Monster in my graveyard and right now I only have my Halla Keeper but I still gain 100 life points.

**Theorn: 4000**

**Neria: 1900**

"Well that was quite a good move." Neria said. "But this Duel is not over yet. My draw" Neria drew her card and smirked. "I now play the spell card Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Neria drew two more cards. "And now I play the spell card Emergency Provisions which allows me to sacrifice my face down card and gain 1000 life points." Neria's other face down vanished from the field and the orbs were absorbed by Neria.

**Theorn: 4000**

**Neria: 2900**

"And now since I now have at least four different Lightsworn monsters in my graveyard, I can summon my Judgement Dragon in attack mode." Neria's powerful Dragon with red claws appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defense 2600) Theorn looked worried as he remembered Judgement's Dragon's ability.

"This isn't good for Theorn" Solona said in the stands. "Now Neria can turn the Duel around with Judgement's special ability."

"I now activate Judgement Dragon's special ability, by paying 1000 life points; I can destroy every card on the field except for Judgement Dragon." Neria said and she lost some points while a bright light was emitted from Judgement Dragon's scales which shone over the entire field. All of Theorn's monsters groaned in pain before they shattered. And then the Camp caught fire and then the field spell vanished.

**Theorn: 4000**

**Neria: 1900**

"And now you're wide open for an attack." Neria added. "Go Judgement Dragon, attack Theorn directly with Justice Blast." Judgement Dragon sent a blast of blue fire towards Theorn and he was engulfed in the fire.

**Theorn: 1000**

**Neria: 1900**

"I end my turn." Neria said. "Let's see if you can get out of this one."

"Well played." Bastion said to himself. "With that dragon out this is not going to be easy for Theorn."

"Hey Theorn's a strong Duelist" Jaden said. "A duel's not over until the last card is played"

'This isn't going to be easy but I have to try.' Theorn thought and then he drew his card. "I activate Card of Sanctity so now we both draw until we have 6 cards in our hands." Both Theorn and Neria drew until they had 6 cards in their hands "Now I summon my Dalish Soldier in attack mode." Theorn's Dalish Soldier appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defense 1200) "And thanks to his special ability, I can special summon another Dalish monster with 1500 or less attack points so I summon my Dalish archer in attack mode." The Elven Archer appeared on the field as well (Level 3 Attack 1200 Defence 900) "And now I know my monster's aren't strong enough to destroy your Judgement Dragon which is why I equip my Dalish Soldier with Heartwood bow which give him an extra 1000 attack points and Ironwood armor to give him an extra 500 attack and defence points." The Dalish Soldier get a powerful looking bow and a suit of armor made from strong metal like wood (DS Attack 1500-3000 Defense 1200-1700) "And now my Dalish Soldier will attack that Judgement Dragon" The Dalish Soldier fired a shot from the Heartwood bow and Judgement Dragon fired a blast of blue fire and when the battle was over, both monsters were destroyed. "Now both monsters may have been destroyed but now you're wide open for my Archer's attack." Theorn added and then Dalish archer fired a shot from his bow and struck Neria directly.

**Theorn: 1000**

**Neria: 700**

"I place one card face down and end my turn." Theorn finished

"Now it's my move." Neria said and she drew her card and smiled at it. "Sorry Theorn, it has been a good Duel but this Duel is mine. I summon Lumina Lightsworn Summoner in attack mode." The girl with the light balls in her hands and short white hair appeared on Neria's Field (Level 3 Attack 1000 Defense 1000) "And thanks to her special ability, I can discard 1 card to resurrect my Jain from the graveyard." Neria's white haired paladin returned to the field. "And now Jain will attack your Archer and remember her ability, she gains 300 attack points when she attacks." (JLP Attack 1800-2100) Jain's sword slashed Dalish archer and destroyed him and leaving Theorn with very few life points left.

**Theorn: 100**

**Neria: 700**

"Sorry Theorn but it is over now." Neria added. "Now Lumina, attack Theorn directly and end this Duel." Lumina got 2 light balls in her hands and threw them towards Theorn.

However Theorn still had a face down.

"Sorry but I play my face down card, go Dalish spirit, now since you destroyed a Dalish monster, if you declare a second attack then I can negate the attack." He said

"Good trick, but let's see if you can get out of this." Neria said. "I throw one card face down and end my turn which means I have to discard 5 cards." Neria discarded 5 cards and one of them was the Equip spell card Lightsworn Sabre. "Since one of those cards was Lightsworn Sabre, I can equip it to my gain from the graveyard and she gains 700 attack points." Jain's sword turned into a large blue sabre (JLP Attack 1800-2500) Neria smirked as she thought. 'My Lightsworn Barrier trap card will protect me against an attack he makes against my monsters and then I can win the Duel."

Theorn drew his card and looked at it 'This isn't going to be easy, that face down could be a trap and Lumina can summon back any level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from the graveyard.' Theorn looked at his cards and widened his eyes as he got a plan in his head "I activate the spell card Dalish Funeral, now by discarding one card, I can summon back my soldier in attack mode, but he won't be around for long because I'll now sacrifice him in order to summon my Dalish Hunter in attack mode." The Soldier vanished and was replaced with a Hunter wielding a bow. (Level 6 Attack 2000 Defense 2000)

Neria widened her eyes as she remembered the four way Duel. 'Dalish Hunter can attack directly if they are no other monsters on Theorn's field, and my trap only works for attacks on my Lightsworns, it's over!'

"And by the look on your face I take it that trap card won't work." Theorn said. "Now Dalish Hunter, attack Neria directly and since I have no other monsters my Hunter can do that." Dalish Hunter fired his bow and Struck Neria directly, ending the Duel.

**Theorn: 100 (Winner)**

**Neria: 0000**

"And the Winner of this Duel is Theorn Maheriel who will go on to the final Duel." Crowler announced over the microphone. "Now will the next pair of Duelists take their places?" Theorn and Neria left the Arena and they went up to the stands where they sat next to Solona and Daylen.

"Good Duel Theorn." Solona said

"Thanks Solona." Theorn replied

"You still did well Neria" Daylen added

"You sure did" Theorn agreed

"Well now let's see how Bastion and Jaden do." Solona finished

"And now it is time for the second Duel." Crowler announced. "Whoever wins this Duel will go on to face Theorn Maheriel in the final tomorrow. Please Welcome from Ra Yellow, Bastion Misawa." Some people, mainly Ra Yellows and Obelisk Blues cheered for Bastion. "And then from Slifer, some kid." All of the Slifers cheered as well as a few Yellows and Blues such as Solona, Sereda, Alexis, Daylen and Aedan.

"He still has that Grudge against Jaden for beating him?" Daylen said

"Dr Crowler doesn't like losing." Aedan said. "He feels humiliated that he lost to an amateur"

"That's just silly." Daylen said "All duelists should be treated the same."

"If our dad were here he could do something." Solona said sadly. "He and Kaiba know each other and he could have convinced Kaiba to do something about this bullying."

"Well the Duel is about to start." Theorn said. "I wonder who I will be facing?"

Jaden and Bastion shuffled each other's decks. "Well good luck out there Bastion" Jaden said

"Oh please you flatter me." Bastion replied. "But I don't need luck, I have knowledge on my side and I have found a way to beat you Jaden by using the flaw in your deck."

"My deck has a flaw?" Jaden questioned. "Well I'm not holding back. You're a nice guy Bastion but that doesn't mean I'm going to go easy on you."

"Well good because I don't want you too." Bastion said

Meanwhile, Alexis and Zane watched the Duel from the balcony.

"Well Intelligence vs. Instinct." Zane said and Alexis nodded in agreement.

Both Bastion and Jaden drew their opening hands and drew their cards.

"Get your game on Bastion." Jaden said

"**Duel"**

**Bastion: 8000**

**Jaden: 8000**

"You can take the first move Bastion." Jaden said

"With pleasure." Bastion replied. "And I'll start this Duel by summoning Shocktopus in attack mode." An octopus like monster with a long head appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 800) "That will do it for me."

"That's all." Jaden said. "Well it's my move then and I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode." Jaden's monster wearing the aqua like suit with water pistols appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 800 Defense 1200) "And since he is the only monster on my field, I can draw two more cards. And I'm going to activate one of them, Bubble Blaster which gives my Bubbleman an extra 800 attack points." A large water blaster appeared on Bubbleman's shoulders (EHB Attack 800-1600) "And now Bubbleman, attack that Shockopus with Bubble Barrage." The Water Blaster fired a blast of bubbles while Shocktopus threw a tentacle and since both monsters had the same attack points both monsters should have been destroyed however, "When Bubbleman is equipped with Bubble Blaster, it is the blaster that is destroyed." The Bubble blaster shattered and Bubbleman's attack points returned to normal. (EHB Attack 1600-800)

Bastion smirked. "Good trick but my Shocktopus has an ability of his own, you see when he is destroyed, he is equipped to that monster and that monster's attack points become zero and it cannot change his battle position." Bastion said and Jaden gasped and the Shocktopus reappeared on the field and wrapped his tentacles around Bubbleman and his attack became zero (EHB Attack 800-0)

Jaden growled in frustration "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move." Bastion said. "And I summon an old favorite of mine, I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode." The dinosaur monster made from muddy water appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1000) "And since your monster has no attack points, my Hydrogeddon will attack your Bubbleman." Hydrogeddon fired a blast of muddy water and destroyed Bubbleman.

**Bastion: 8000**

**Jaden: 6400**

"And now Hydrogeddon's ability activates which allows me to summon another one to the field." Bastion added as a second one appeared

"Well I've got a trick too." Jaden said. "I activate my face down card, Hero Signal so now I can summon 1 level 4 or lower Elemental Hero from my deck and I choose my old buddy Sparkman." The Blue and yellow Sparkman appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1400)

"Well I'm not going to attack so I place one card facedown and end my turn." Bastion finished

"My move." Jaden said. "And I summon Elemental Hero Heat in attack mode." The fiery armored warrior was summoned to the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1200) "And my Heat has a special ability, he gains 200 attack points for every Elemental Hero on my field so with two on my field, he gains 400 attack points." Heat glowed orange as he gained attack points (EHH Attack 1600-2000) "And now my Heat will attack one of those Hydrogeddons." Heat threw a fireball from his fists which destroyed Hydrogeddon.

**Bastion: 7600**

**Jaden: 6400**

"And now I'll throw one card facedown and call it a turn." Jaden finished

"Good trick Jaden but it's my turn now." Bastion said. "I summon Oxygeddon in attack mode." The flying dinosaur monster made from water appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defence 800) "And now Oxygeddon will destroy that Sparkman." Oxygeddon fired a water shot from his mouth but Jaden had a trap.

"Don't think so I've got a trap, go Hero Barrier." Jaden shouted. "Since I have an Elemental Hero on my field, I can negate one of your attacks."

Bastion sighed. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My draw." Jaden said. "I play Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Jaden drew two cards and smirked at them "Sweet! I summon Elemental Hero Lady Heat in attack mode." A female version of Heat appeared (Level 4 Attack 1300 Defense 1000) "And since there is another Elemental Hero, Heat's attack points increase." (EHH Attack 2000-2200) "Next I equip my Sparkman with Spark blaster, now I can change the attack position of any monster 3 times. So now my Spark Blaster will change your Hydrogeddon into defence mode." Sparkman fired a blast shot from the blaster which switched Hydrogeddon into defence mode. "And now my Heat is going to destroy your Oxygeddon." Heat fired a shot of fire and caused Oxygeddon to explode.

**Bastion: 7000**

**Jaden: 6400**

"Well someone has forgotten their chemistry." Bastion laughed. "Fire and oxygen, they don't mix Jaden. So when Oxygeddon is destroyed by a Pyro type monster, we both take 800 points of damage." A large fireball engulfed the field and both Jaden and Bastion took damage.

**Bastion: 6200**

**Jaden: 5600**

Solona and Daylen watched.

"Jaden walked right into that one." Solona said

"Maybe Jaden needs to stop sleeping in classes" Daylen added

Jaden smirked. "Well I still have more attacks, now Lady Heat will destroy that Hydrogeddon." Lady Heat fired a fireball from her hands which destroyed the Hydrogeddon. "And now Sparkman will give a direct attack." Sparkman fired a lightning bolt from his hands which struck Bastion.

**Bastion: 4600**

**Jaden: 5600**

"I now end my turn which activates Lady Heat's special ability." Jaden finished. "At each End Phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental Hero on my field." Lady Heat fired another fireball and Bastion took more damage.

**Bastion: 4000**

**Jaden: 5600**

"Zane was right about that boy." Sheppard said

"Yes in Slifer we teach our duelists everything." Banner agreed

"This Duel isn't over yet." Dorian added. "Bastion still has some powerful cards."

The only one who wasn't impressed was Crowler.

"Why is this happening?" He screeched. "Bastion is losing to the Slifer Slacker, this was a mistake to have him Duel!"

"What was that Crowler?" Sheppard asked

"Oh nothing!" Crowler protested as he feared he would get into trouble.

"Good show Jaden." Bastion said. "But this Duel is not over yet, I play the trap card Damage Condenser, now I can summon a monster from my deck with less attack points than the damage I just took in your battle so I summon out my third Hydrogeddon." Bastion's third Hydrogeddon appeared on the field "Now to begin my turn, I'll use my Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." Bastion drew two cards and looked at one of them. 'This is it, the card that will win me the Duel' he thought "I now play my other facedown, Call of the Haunted to bring back my 2nd Hydrogeddon. Then I use the equip spell card Living Fossil, this card allows me to bring back Oxygeddon though he loses 1000 attack points." Bastion's Hydrogeddon and Oxygeddon returned to the field. "And now I play the spell card Bonding H20 which allows me to sacrifice my three monsters and they become what two Hydrogen mixed with Oxygen become, they become water or in this case, my Water Dragon." Bastion's powerful Water Dragon appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2800 Defence 2600)

"Now that is an impressive Monster" Sheppard commented

"Yes and that is not good for Jaden." Banner agreed

"And it gets worse thanks to that Water Dragon's ability." Dorian added

"And you should remember my Water Dragon's special ability Jaden" Bastion said. "Now the attack points of Fire attribute and Pyro Type monsters automatically become zero. That means your Heat and Lady Heat loses all their attack points." The flames around Heat and Lady Heat died down as they were engulfed with water. (EHH Attack 2200-0, EHLH Attack 1300-0) "And now Water Dragon, destroy Elemental Hero Heat." Bastion ordered and Water Dragon released a burst of water which destroyed Heat and damaged Jaden's life points.

**Bastion: 4000**

**Jaden: 2800**

Crowler laughed "Well now Jaden is losing now so now he looks like a fool while I look smart, I knew choosing Bastion was a great Idea." He sniggered.

"Well Jaden, I'll end my turn by placing one card facedown." Bastion finished

"Well it's my turn." Jaden said. 'This isn't going to be easy, that Water Dragon is tough and I remember his ability. And he still has that powerful Tripper Mercury in his deck, but right now I need to take out that Water Dragon." Jaden looked at his hand and saw Clayman and Polymerization. "Well Bastion, it's time to say goodbye to your Water Dragon, I use Polymerization to fuse Lady Heat and Clayman in my hand which will allow me to summon my Elemental Hero Gaia."

'This is it' Bastion realized. 'Time to play my secret weapon' he smirked. "Sorry but that is not going to happen, I play the trap card, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell, now by discarding a spell card from my hand, I can negate the activation of your spell card and destroy it." Jaden watched in shock as his Fusion was cancelled and then Lady Heat stayed on the field and Clayman was in his hand. "And there is more." Bastion added. "When Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell is played, you can no longer use that spell card for the remainder of the Duel"

Jaden gasped and he widened his eyes "Wait you mean I can't use Polymerization anymore?"

"No you can't." Bastion confirmed. "Which means that you can no longer use any fusion monsters, no Flame Wingman, no Thunder Giant, no Gaia, no Nova Master, no Great Tornado, none of them. Basically, your deck is now mostly useless now"

"So that was the weakness in Jaden's deck." Theorn said. "That was Bastion's plan."

"Jaden's deck relies heavily on Fusion." Neria added. "Now Jaden in now in big trouble."

"Well this Duel has gotten more interesting." Solona said

"Let's see what Jaden has planned." Daylen finished

Jaden sighed. 'Not good, fusing is a big part of my deck, now I can no longer use it, so I guess I should just play in defense.' "I switch Lady Heat into defense mode and then Summon Clayman in defense mode." The fiery lady switched into defense mode while the large grey rock like warrior appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 800 Defence 2000) "And now I end my turn. But there is more, my Lady Heat's special ability is still in effect so you lose another 600 life points since there are three Elemental Heroes on my field." Lady Heat sent another fireball at Bastion which struck him directly.

**Bastion: 3400**

**Jaden: 2800**

"Well it's my turn." Bastion said. "Water Dragon, attack and destroy Lady Heat." Water Dragon sent a blast of Water which caused Lady's Heat's flame to go out and the monster exploded "And now that Lady Heat is gone, I don't take damage any more. I end my turn."

"My turn." Jaden said. "And I summon Elemental Hero Knospe in attack mode." A small plant like flower monster appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 600 Defense 1000) "Sure he may be weak but Knospe has a special ability, if I control another Elemental Hero, he can attack you directly and you cannot select this card as an attack target. Now Knospe attack Bastion directly." Knospe sent a flowery punch at Bastion.

**Bastion 2800**

**Jaden: 2800**

"Sorry Bastion, you may have eliminated my ability to fuse but I still have other methods of winning." Jaden said and he ended his turn.

Bastion drew his card and smirked. "I play the spell card Water Blast." He said. "With this on the field; I can destroy one monster on your field as long as I have Water Dragon on my field and I choose your Knospe so no more direct attacks." Knospe howled in pain before shattering "Now Water Dragon will destroy your Sparkman." Water Dragon's blast then destroyed Sparkman "I end my turn."

...

Meanwhile, while Jaden and Bastion were Dueling, the reporter Gerard was returning from the computers. "Now that I have the records of those missing students, I'll be able to sell this story for a fortune; sure the scandal will probably ruin Duel Academy but oh well." But then Gerard began having flashbacks of Jaden and how friendly he had been to him and when he had seen Jaden's Skyscraper card. 'That kid, why can't I get him out of my head.' Then Gerald came to the Duelling Arena and there was Jaden and a kid wearing a yellow blazer Duelling. "Well it's the Duel those Slifers wanted me to see, the one that is suppose to change my life and it looks like Jaden is losing."

...

Back on the Dueling Arena, Jaden looked at his deck. 'Oh man, I've got to do something,' Jaden thought 'I can't use my fusion monsters which mean I can't summon my more powerful monsters. This draw must count, I still have my Clayman on the field and my Elemental Hero Flash in my hand but they won't help.' "My draw." Jaden drew his card and when he smiled at it. "Well sorry Bastion you may have stopped me from using Polymerization but that doesn't stop me from fusing my monsters. There is more than one way to fuse, like using this card, I activate the field spell card Fusion Gate, now I can fuse monsters by removing them from play."

"All right, now Jaden can use his Fusion monsters again." Syrus cheered

"And now I use Fusion Gate to fuse my Clayman with Elemental Hero Flash in my hand to summon Elemental Hero 'The Shining'" A new Elemental Hero that was wearing white armor appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2600 Defence 2100)

"A good move." Solona said, "Because now by using Fusion Gate to remove the monsters, he can use The Shining's special ability."

"And now I use Shining's special ability." Jaden said. "For every Elemental Hero removed from play, he gains 300 attack points and thanks to Fusion Gate, I have 2 so The Shining gains 600 attack points." The Shining glowed as he gained more life points (EHTS Attack 2600-3200) "And now Shining, attack that Water Dragon with Shining fists." The Shining threw a bright light fish which struck Water Dragon and destroyed him.

**Bastion: 2400**

**Jaden: 2800**

"Sorry but did you forget my Water Dragon's ability, now I can bring back my Oxygeddon and Hydrogeddons to the field." Bastion said and his three monsters returned.

'I can't attack anymore this turn.' Jaden thought, 'but if he summons the Tripper Mercury then he could finish me off, so I better play safe.' "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My draw." Bastion said. "Sorry Jaden, you may have destroyed my Water Dragon but as you know, I've still got a powerful Monster, I sacrifice all three monsters to summon out the Tripper Mercury in attack mode." Bastion's great Legendary Planet monster appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 2000 Defense 2000) "And thanks to his special ability, since I used 3 sacrifices, I can decrease the attack points of all your monsters by their original attack points." The Tripper Mercury shone as the Shining lost his shine (EHTS Attack 3200-600) "And now Tripper Mercury will attack the Shining." Tripper Mercury slashed her two swords and slashed The Shining in half.

**Bastion: 2400**

**Jaden: 1400**

"Since you destroyed the Shining I can activate his other ability, now two Elemental Heroes that were removed from play return to my hand." Jaden said and his Clayman and Flash returned to his hand.

"Well they won't help you because my Tripper Mercury can attack twice, so go Tripper Mercury, end this Duel." Bastion said and the Tripper Mercury went in to attack again.

"Sorry but I play a trap, A hero Emerges." Jaden countered. "Now you have to select one card in my hand and if it is a monster, I can summon it to the field."

"Well then I select the Far Right card." Bastion said and pointed to his selected card.

"You just selected Elemental Hero Flash so now I can summon him in defense mode." Jaden replied and a small blue armoured warrior appeared on the field kneeling down. (Level 4 Attack 1100 Defence 1600)

"Well Tripper Mercury will just attack that Flash instead." Bastion said and Tripper Mercury slashed Flash and destroyed him."

"One last thing I will do is play the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon, now I can destroy your Fusion Gate which means you can't fuse anymore." Bastion finished

Gerald watched the Duel, "So this is what a Duel is all about, it's about having fun, I remember being a Duelist before I was humiliated," he said to himself

Alexis noticed the older guy looking. 'That's the guy who questioned me about my brother.' She said in her head, 'He's been snooping around'

Solona noticed the guy as well. "Wait that's the guy I saw being bullied before." She said to herself and then the Spirit of Urthemiel appeared

"I noticed that guy on the Computers before." The spirit said. "He was looking up at the students who have gone missing from the abandoned dorm."

Back on the Duelling Arena, Jaden prepared his next more. "Now he has got one of his most powerful Monsters, I guess I'll just have to play in defence for now. I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defence mode, and then I'll throw down one card facedown and call it a turn." 'The Tripper Mercury cannot destroy my Clayman while he's in defense mode, so I should be safe."

"My turn." Bastion said and he drew a card and smirked. "You think because your Clayman is in defence mode you are safe? Well you're wrong because I play the spell card Stop Defense."

Syrus, Kallian, Faren and Chumley gasped at the card "Not that card" Syrus gasped

"Boy that's not good." Chumley added

"You're right" Kallian replied. "Because now Clayman switches into attack mode."

Clayman stood up and Bastion smirked. "Sorry Jaden, it's been a good Duel but now Tripper Mercury, attack Clayman." Tripper Mercury slashed Clayman in two.

**Bastion: 2400**

**Jaden: 200**

"And now my Tripper Mercury will attack again." Bastion said "It's over."

Crowler sniggered at the thought that Jaden would now lose while Syrus shouted "Jaden"

"Don't think so." Jaden countered. "I've got a trap, go Hero Spirit, now I can make the damage from your next attack zero."

Jaden was now safe.

"Lucky brat!" Crowler hissed. "Not like it matters, this Duel is over; Bastion will finish this brat on his next turn."

"Make your last move Jaden" Bastion finished

"It all comes down to this draw." Jaden whispered to himself "If I don't draw something good, then I'll lose this Duel." Jaden then drew his card and looked at it "I play the spell card Graceful Charity which allows me to draw three cards as long as I discard two." Jaden drew three cards and looked at them, he widened his eyes at one of the, 'This is it, I can win this Duel.' Jaden discarded two of the cards and smirked. "One of the cards I discarded was Elemental Hero Shadow Mist, and when he is sent to the graveyard, I can add one Elemental Hero from my deck to my hand and I select my Elemental Hero Ocean which I will now summon to the field." A dolphin like monster wielding a trident appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defense 1200) "Next I'll play the card I kept in my hand, Miracle Fusion, now I can fuse Monsters in my graveyard so I fuse my Clayman and Shadow Mist in order to create the Elemental Hero Escuridao in attack mode." A dark monster made from Shadows came onto Jaden's field (Level 8 Attack 2500 Defence 2000) "And now his ability activates, now Escuridao gains 100 attack points for every Elemental Hero in the graveyard, and I've got seven so he gains 700 attack points." The Shadows grew and Escuridao gains more attack points (EHE Attack 2500-3200) "Well Bastion, it's been a good Duel but now it is over, Escuridao, destroy the Tripper Mercury which Shadow Tentacle attack" Escuridao formed shadowy tentacles and gripped the Tripper Mercury and squeezed him until the monster shattered.

**Bastion: 1200**

**Jaden: 200**

"And I've still got one attack left." Jaden finished. "Now Ocean, finish this Duel with Trident strike." Ocean thrust his trident forward and struck Bastion which ended the Duel

**Bastion: 0000**

**Jaden: 200 (Winner)**

"No this can't be." Crowler gasped. "Does this slacker ever lose, I can't believe that Slifer Slacker won again." but then he smirked. "Well there is still one more chance." Crowler then spoke down his microphone. "The Winner of this Duel is Jaden Yuki and he will go on to face Theorn Maheriel tomorrow to see who will be our representative in the School Duel."

"That was a great Duel Bastion." Jaden said. "And a good trick to stop my Polymerization."

"You beat me fair and square. You beat this deck but there will be another." Bastion said and Jaden chuckled

"And another Duel" Jaden said. "Till then." Jaden did his hand jester from his face

"Yes until then Jaden." Bastion said and he placed his hand out for Jaden to shake, Jaden looked confused at first but them he shook his hand.

"Well done Jaden." Syrus cheered as he along with Chumley, Kallian, Faren, Neria, Aedan and Daylen joined Jaden and Bastion.

"Well we'll see how you do against me tomorrow." Theorn said

"Good luck Theorn." Daylen said

The group all shared a laugh until Neria noticed someone was missing.

"Hey where's Solona?" She asked

...

Solona was with Alexis who was looking for that strange man.

"So what do you know about this Guy?" Solona asked

"Well he asked me about my brother while I was paying my respects at the abandoned Dorm" Alexis said

"Hey I think that's him." Solona said and she pointed to the man "Hey wait there!" she called

Gerald turned around and saw the two girls. "You're that creep who was asking me about the Abandoned Dorm, why are you here?"

"Not why I thought." Gerard replied while Solona crossed her arms. "You see I came here for a story but what I found was something very different. I found the Duelist inside me; the duelist I thought was long gone. Look I'm a reporter, a sleazy one I admit, I make a living of digging up dirt but I wasn't always like that. I took on monsters and spells before I took on pictures. I was a Duelist like Jaden and Bastion but I wasn't any good, I got beat all the time, the memories were awful, but after seeing today's duel, it made me remember what Dueling is really about." Gerard reached into his pocket and pulled out his computer file with the records of the missing duelists. "I had a great lead that I was going to sell one that would have probably ruin Duel Academy, but I don't want to see this place close, not now. Now I only want to help find the, all the missing students including your brother Alexis." Gerard then handed Solona the file and also a card. "I have no further need of that card any more, perhaps Jaden could use it, it is quite a powerful card, good luck." Gerard then walked away leaving Solona and Alexis behind.

"What did he give you?" Alexis asked Solona

"Well this data file must contain the information on the missing students." Solona replied and then he looked at the card and to her shock it was a powerful one, it was Elemental Hero Terra Firma, a card she didn't have when he gave Jaden those upgrade cards during the exams.

"Well this card would help Jaden, but I want to see how he does against Theorn."

"Well we'll see how he does tomorrow then." Alexis said and then the two of them shared a laugh.

**DUEL!"**