Beasts of the Arena:

It was a dark night on Duel Academy Island, the moon was high in the night sky and was glowing bright and the stars were sparkling. Normally this would be a great night to watch the stars but with the Shadow Riders around, no one felt like watching the stars. On the eastern part of the island at the large Coliseum which had been built by Duel Academy students for the Shadow Rider Tania, two figures in dark robes were walking around the arena. While no one used this Coliseum it was a useful place for hiding.

One of the figures removed his hood to show a deformed face which looked out pf place and he wore a large mask which covered up the left side of his face. The Mask had the symbol of the Shadow Riders on. The man sneered and he looked at the other one.

"Now my slave, our mission is to draw the Key Keepers to this arena where we will duel them for their Spirit Keys." He hissed. "I have modified your deck so that you will be able to beat these Key Keepers, but we must have those Keys so I can unleash the Sacred Beast cards and gain more power. Are you up to the task Avexis?"

The other hooded figure who was actually a young girl of around 12 years old with long blond hair which went down her back looked at the man with eyes which glowed red.

"Yes master Frenic." The girl known as Avexis stated in a toneless voice which seemed to show that she wasn't acting of her own free will. "My Beasts will tear those Key Keepers apart and this Arena is perfect for my Gladiators."

"Good." The man known as Frenic stated. "Do not fail me Avexis or else you will be punished for this."

"Understood master." Avexis said and then Frenic left Avexis alone while the little girl began to think of a plan to complete the orders given to her by her master.

...

That morning, it was a normal day at Duel Academy with the normal classes and the Key Keepers keeping an eye out for any more Shadow Riders. Seven of the Shadow Riders have been defeated which left just five left and they still had eight keys to protect so all of the Key Keepers were all on their guard to keep an eye out for anything strange.

But in class that day with Professor Dorian, it was noted that some students were missing from the class. And it was a mixture from all three Dorms, not just one of the dorms but among the Missing were Bastion, Theorn and Kallian. Professor Dorian found that strange since Bastion never missed any of his classes and the fact that so many students were missing was worry to Sheppard so he called the Key Keepers to his office when class had ended that day.

Sheppard was in his office as he spoke to the Key Keepers "I'm afraid I may have some news, I am worried that another Shadow Rider has appeared on this island" he said to the Key Keepers.

"What makes you think that Chancellor?" Jaden asked

Sheppard sighed. "It's just that with all these students vanishing, it just doesn't seem right."

"This has happened before." Solona remained. "This happened when that Shadow Rider Tania used the students to build that Coliseum."

"But maybe those students are just sick or something." Chazz suggested

"But not this many at once." Aedan claimed. "If it was just a few students that maybe but not for the number of students that have vanished."

"And Theorn and Bastion would come to class even if they are ill." Daylen replied

Alexis and Sereda looked at the other key keepers. "So if another Shadow Rider has taken these missing students then we need to find them." Sereda stated

"Agreed." Alexis added. "Though do we have any idea where we will find them?"

Neria then had a suggestion.

"It's not just Theorn and Bastion who are missing." She stated. "Kallian has also gone missing, she got up early this morning and decided that she was going to the Beach for a while, I have a feeling that she was taken while there so maybe we should start at the eastern part of the Island."

"So I guess we will be going to search for the missing students." Daylen smiled and Jaden cheered

"Let's get up to a search and Rescue party" he cheered while everyone just looked at him.

...

Later that day, all of the Key Keepers along with Professor Dorian were looking all over the beach for any signs of the missing students. But so far they had found nothing.

"We've found nothing here." Chazz groaned. "There is nothing here to say that the missing students are here."

"Maybe they're at another part of the island." Sereda suggested

"But this island is big, it could take a whole week to find anything." Aedan groaned

But then Daylen arrived and he had a concerned look on his face.

"I think that our missing students are around this part of the Island somewhere and they may be in trouble!" He gasped

"What makes you say that brother?" Solona asked

Daylen gave a few deep breaths before he reached into his pocket and pulled out several cards.

"I just found these over in the Forest on one of the trails." Solona looked at the cards and gasped at what cards they were.

The cards were Dalish Varterral, the Grand Jupiter and Water Dragon.

"These cards belong to Theorn, Kallian and Bastion." Solona gasped

"And there were more cards along the trail which belong to other missing students." Daylen added

"Maybe if we followed the trail of cards then we'll find our missing students." Dorian suggested

Everyone agreed to the plan and they went to where Daylen had found the cards and they soon followed the other missing cards which Alexis collected so she could return them, but then she gasped when she saw two certain cards near each other and when she showed them to Jaden, he took looked worried since the cards were Steamroid and Des Koala, Syrus and Chumley's cards.

"If that Shadow Rider has taken my friends then he will pay!" Jaden growled

"Jaden calm down." Solona stated

"Yeah, you can't just charge in recklessly, that's a good way to end up losing." Aedan added

Eventually they soon came to the end of the card trail and they ended up in a place where they didn't expect.

"Does this place look familiar to you?" Neria asked

Everyone looked at where the trail had led them, they had found themselves at the Dueling Coliseum that had been built by Duel Academy students when they faced the Shadow Rider Tania.

"Our friends must be in there." Jaden stated

"I hope so." Solona added. "But we go in together and carefully, we don't want to wander into another trap."

"Agreed." Chazz, Aedan and Daylen said at the same time and so all of the Key Keepers went into the large Coliseum where they found that it was just the same as before when they had faced against Tania. But then they noticed a large cage over near the edge of the arena on the other side. Jaden gasped when he saw Syrus, Chumley, Theorn, Bastion and Kallian as well as many other students locked in the cage and they weren't moving.

"Syrus! Chumley!" Jaden gasped

"Theorn! Bastion! Kallian!" Neria shouted at the same time and then the two of them ran towards the Cage

"Jaden! Neria! Wait come back!" Daylen shouted

"This could be a trap!" Alexis shouted but Jaden and Neria quickly ran towards the cage but when they arrived at the Cage they stopped when they heard an angry growl and they turned to see an angry looking bear dressed in armor and roaring as it stood on its hinds legs. It gave a loud roar before charging at them so Neria and Jaden quickly turned and ran back to the other Key Keepers while the bear growled at them but didn't charge.

Then a loud laugh was heard and everyone looked to see a girl dressed in a black robe standing on one of the walls. "I see you have met my little Gladiator Bear" she sneered before she did a somersault and landed on the floor of the arena and stroked the bear's head. "So these are the Key Keepers that guard the Spirit Gate Keys? Well I hope you're ready to lose your keys and your souls as well."

"Hey! I'm not afraid to Duel you but let our friends go!" Jaden yelled

The girl laughed.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, my master doesn't just want your keys, he wants souls as well and I always obey my Master's orders." She sneered. "My name is Avexis and I work for my master Frenic, I'm one of the Shadow Riders but I take my orders from my master who is a higher Shadow Rider than me."

"All right, if you want a Duel then you've got it!" Jaden hissed

Avexis shook her head.

"You're too reckless for me to do." She said. "And I pick who I want to duel and I think I'll duel you." She pointed at Neria who looked a bit worried.

"Well don't just stand there looking scared, come here and get ready to duel. Or are you scared? Well I don't care, you come here now or should I take one of your friend's souls."

"You can't!" Aedan shouted

"Hey, leave them out of this!" Solona yelled. "I'll take you on." but Neria placed her hand of Solona's shoulder

"It's all right Solona," She said. "I'll take her on if that's what she wants."

"Good luck Neria." Daylen said

"You better win this because it's not just your key and Spirit Gate in danger but all of our friends as well." Chazz hissed at her

Neria just walked over to the Arena while the other Key Keepers went over to the sitting area and watched as Neria and Avexis got their Decks into their Duel Disks and then activated them.

"**Duel!"**

**Neria: 8000**

**Avexis: 8000**

"I'll take the first move." Neria stated as she drew her sixth card. "And I'll start by summoning Shining Angel in attack mode." A male angel with large angel wings wearing a light blue robe and blond hair appeared on the field (Level 1400 Defense 800) "Then I will place one card face down and end my turn."

"My move." Avexis smiled. "And I summon Gladiator Beast Andal in attack mode." A large black bear wearing armor and clawed gloves appeared on the field standing on its hind legs (Level 4 Attack 1900 Defense 1500)

"This Shadow Rider duels with Gladiator Beasts?" Alexis questioned

"I've heard of these cards." Daylen stated. "They're not easy to use and they relay heavily on special summon. This could be hard but I know Neria can do it."

Avexis then sneered. "Now Andal, attack that male Angel" she ordered and the Black bear swipe the Angel with his claws and sliced the monster apart which shattered and Neria groaned as she took damage.

**Neria: 7500**

**Avexis: 8000**

"I may have taken damage but now my Angel's effect activates." Neria stated. "So now I can summon another Light Attribute monster with 1500 attack points or less from my deck. So I will go with another Shining Angel." A second Shining Angel appeared on the field.

"That monster has already failed you once." Avexis sneered. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My move." Neria stated as she drew her card. "And I summon my old friend Jain Lightsworn Paladin in attack mode" the white haired armored woman appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defense 1200) "And now Jain will attack that bear, but she gains 300 attack points when she battles an opponent's monster which makes it stronger than your Bear." Jain's sword glowed as she gained more power (JLP Attack 1800-2100) Then Jain's sword slashed through slashed the giant armored Black Bear and the monster shattered.

**Neria: 7500**

**Avexis: 7800**

"And now that your monster is gone, you're wide open for an attack." Neria smirked. "Now Shining Angel, attack her directly." Shining Angel threw his arms into the air and then threw a ball of light through the air and at the Shadow Rider. The Ball exploded and threw Avexis back.

**Neria: 7500**

**Avexis: 6400**

"All right." Solona cheered, "Neria's winning the duel with more life points and has two monsters"

"Just remember that this duel is not over yet" Daylen added "This Shadow Rider may have more tricks"

"I end my turn." Neria stated. "Which means that I have to discard the top 2 cards of my deck thanks to Jain." Neria discarded the top 2 cards of her deck

Avexis stood up and glared at Neria.

"You may have taken out some of my life points!" She hissed. "But you'll run out of luck soon, I play my face down, Call of the Haunted which allows me to summon back my Andal." The Black bear returned to the field.

*'Great.'* Neria thought. *'Jain's ability only works when she attacks so her ability won't save her.'*

"And then I will add some reinforcements to the field." Avexis stated. "I summon Gladiator Beast Equeste in attack mode" A large armored centaur with wings and holding a shield appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1600 Defense 1200) "And now Andal, attack that Paladin." Andal threw a fist towards Jain but Neria smiled

"I'm sorry but that attack won't happen." She smiled. "I play my face down, Lightsworn Barrier, now since you have targeted a Lightsworn monster, I can discard the top two cards of my deck and then your attack is negated." Neria discarded the top two cards of her deck and then the Bear's attack went back to Avexis' field.

"And the best part is that trap is a Continuous trap." Alexis stated. "So now Neria can defend her Lightsworns from attacks."

"Well your Shining Angel is still vulnerable to attacks." Avexis stated. "So Equeste, attack that Angel." Equeste charged on his horse legs before jumping high and then gliding towards Shining Angel and bashed him with his shield which blew him back and the 2nd Angel was destroyed.

**Neria: 7300**

**Avexis: 6400**

Neria looked at her field.

"Well my Angel's ability activates again." She stated. "Which means that I can summon my third Angel in my deck to the field" the third Shining Angel appeared on Neria's field.

Avexis smiled. "You may have brought out another one of those Angels, but you will not have an advantage with your trap. At the end of my battle phase, I can use Equeste's ability that most of my Beasts have, now since he attacked, I can shuffle him into my deck and special summon another one to the field and I have the perfect one in mind. I special summon Gladiator Beast Bestiari in attack mode." The Centaur vanished and was replaced with a large green winged bird that stood on two feet had thick arms equipped with cannons (Level 4 Attack 1500 Defense 800) "And when Bestiari is special summoned by the effect of a Gladiator Beast, his ability activates which allows me to destroy one card on your field so now that barrier of yours is gone." Neria's trap shattered so she no longer had her barrier to protect her. "Now make your next move."

"Oh I wil." Neria smirked as she drew her next card. "First I will switch my Shining Angel to defense mode." The Shining Angel knelt down in defense. "And since that Andal is a bigger threat, I'll attack that instead, so go Jain, attack that Andal again, and remember she gains 300 attack points when she attacks." (JLP Attack 1800-2100) Jain's sword slashed through Andal and the Black bear was destroyed once again.

**Neria: 7300**

**Avexis: 6200**

"And then I will end my turn with that." Neria finished. "Which means discarding two cards because of Jain's effect" Neria discarded two cards and one of them was Gragonith Lightsworn Dragon.

Avexis smiled as she drew her next card. "My draw. And I will play the spell card Double Summon which allows me to make two normal summons this turn. So I summon Gladiator Beasts Laquari and Retiari in attack mode." First a large armored orange tiger that was on fire appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1800 Defense 400) and that monster was followed by a large crocodile with shin pads and wielding a trident appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1200 Defense 800) "And now I will play the equip spell Gladiator Beast Battle Gladius and equip it to Laquari which gives him an extra 300 attack points." The large flaming Tiger gripped hold of a sword made of light (GBL Attack 1800-2100) "And now Laquari, attack that Paladin." Larquari slashed the sword and Jain screamed before shattering and Neria took damage.

**Neria: 7000**

**Avexis: 6200**

"And now Bestiari will attack that Shining Angel." Avexis added and then the large Eagle sent a gust of wind from his wings which blew Shining Angel back but since he was in defense mode, Neria took no damage since her Angel was in defense mode.

"My Shining Angel's ability activates." Neria stated. "Now I can summon another Light attribute monster and I choose Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden." a young girl wearing a sheer white robe with gold patterns and having red auburn hair in tails with golden bands and holding a snowy white owl appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 800 Defense 200) Neria would have summoned Aurkus Lightsworn Druid but that had already been sent to her graveyard by Jain's ability.

"Well I still have one more attack left." Avexis sneered.

"Now Retiari, attack that Maiden." The crocodile Gladiator Beast swung his axe and smashed the child away who screamed.

**Neria: 6600**

**Avexis: 6200**

"And now that my Battle Phase is over, I will shuffle Retiari back into my deck and replace him with Gladiator Beast Secutor in attack mode" a small green lizard in armor appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 400 Defense 300) "And then I will end my turn by throwing one card face down."

"My move." Neria smirked. "And I'll start by playing Monster Reborn which allows me to summon back my Gragonith Lightsworn Dragon in attack mode." The large white dragon with angel wings and a white mane appeared on the field (Level 6 Attack 2000 Defense 1600) "And then I will summon Lumina Lightsworn Summoner in attack mode." A blond haired woman wearing a white robe and had hands that glowed with magic joined the dragon (Level 3 Attack 1000 Defense 1000) '*I would use her ability but I don't want to have too many Lightsworns on my field as I will lose too many cards.'* Neria thought. "And now Gragonith gains 300 attack points for every Lightsworn in the graveyard and right now there are 3 so he gains 900 attack points." The dragon glowed as he gained more power (GLD Attack 2000-2900) "Now Gragonith, attack Bestiari." Neria added and then the dragon open its mouth and then unleashed a blast of bright light.

But Avexis smirked. "I play my face down card, Negate Attack so now your attack is negated." She sneered and a barrier appeared and blocked the attack.

Neria sighed. "I end my turn."

Avexis smirked.

"Now it's my turn." She sneered as she drew her next card and she smiled at what she drew. "And I will start by summoning Gladiator Beast Darius in attack mode." A large horse that stood on two legs appeared who wielded sets of chains as weapons (Level 4 Attack 1700 Defense 300) "And now it is time to summon one of my best monsters, I shuffle Gladiator Beasts Secutor, Bestair and Laquari into my deck, doing this allows me to summon a Gladiator Beast fusion monster from my deck. So say hello to Gladiator Beast Heraklinos."

"Wait you don't need to use Polymerization?" Jaden gasped

"There are other ways of summoning fusion monsters." Chazz added. "Like my A-Z monsters, I just remove them from play to fusion summon"

"Well say hello to my Fusion monster." Avexis sneered. "Gladiator Beast Heraklinos." A large chimera in thick armor and wielding an axe in one hand and a shield in the other appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defense 2800) "And now I play the spell card Gladiator Removal, now by removing Gladiator Beast Andal in my graveyard from, play, this allows me to negate the effect of your dragon which means it's attack points return to normal." Neria gasped as Gragonith lost the attack points it gained (GLD Attack 2900-2000) "And now Heraklinos, attack that dragon." Heraklinos gripped his axe and then slashed the dragon who roared before shattering.

**Neria: 5600**

**Avexis: 6200**

"And now that your dragon is gone, I still have another attack, Darius attack that Summoner." The large horse charged at Lumina who screamed when she was trampled and then shattered and Neria was thrown back by the attack and she screamed as she too got trampled by the horse.

**Neria: 4900**

**Avexis: 6200**

"And don't forget, now that my battle phase is over, I can shuffle Darius into my deck and summon another one from my deck and I choose Gladiator Beast Augustus, one of my most powerful gladiators." The horse man vanished and was replaced with a massive black dragon with a bird's head and 4 arms with sharp claws with one holding a large black sword and wearing a suit of black armor (Level 8 Attack 2600 Defense 1000) Neria and all the other Key Keepers all stared in shock and horror at the large dragon as it appeared on the field.

"This is the end, you will not last much longer in this Duel." Avexis sneered. "And if you think your spell and traps will save you then forget it as thanks to Heraklinos' ability, I can discard a card to negate the effect."

Neria's eyes widen at that. "That means my spell and traps are useless" she gasped and then she heard a groaning noise and she watched as Syrus along with the other captured students all began to wake up.

Syrus woke up and saw Chumley lying near him.

"Hey Chumley, wake up." Syrus then shook Chumley awake and Chumley looked up and the Theorn and Bastion woke up.

"Hey where are we?" Chumley asked

"I remember waking up early like I usually do but then someone knocked me out in my room." Bastion claimed

"Someone knocked me out as well." Theorn added and then he saw that they were all in a cage and then he saw the remaining Key Keepers and he called out to them. "Hey Solona!"

Solona looked over and saw that Theorn had woken up.

"Theorn!" She called back. "Are you guys all right?"

"Well we're fine but what's going on?" Theorn asked

Daylen answered that question "The next Shadow Rider captured you all and brought you all to Tania's old arena, now Neria is having to fight this new Shadow Rider"

"Oh no!" Syrus and Chumley gasped. "This is just like what happened when Jaden dueled that first Shadow Rider when he captured us and had us in the volcano."

Avexis laughed. "And if she fails to defeat me then you all will be coming with me to my master." She said with made Syrus and Chumley hug each other in fear

Neria narrowed her eyes.

"That's not going to happen. It's my turn!" Neria shouted and then she drew her next card. "I summon Lyla Lightsworn Sorceress in defense mode." A woman with long black hair and wearing a sheer white gown and holding a small staff appeared on the field kneeling down (Level 4 Attack 1700 Defense 200) "And then I will place one card face down and end my turn which means I have to discard the top 3 cards of my deck thanks to Lyla." Neria sent the top cards of her deck to the graveyard and one of them was Wulf, Lightsworn Beast which made Neria smirk. "And since Wulf was sent from the deck to the graveyard, I can special summon him to the field." A large white cat monster with sharp claws and wielding a battleaxe appeared on the field kneeling down (Level 4 Attack 2100 Defense 300)

"My move." Avexis smirked. "And since there is nothing else for me to do, I will just have Augustus and Heraklinos attack those two monsters" Both Gladiator Beasts swung their weapons which struck Lyla and Wulf and destroyed both monsters though since they were in defence mode, Neria took no damage. "That will do it for my turn"

Neria looked at her deck.

*'This is it, if I don't draw something good this turn then this Duel is over for me.'* She thought and then she drew her card and when she looked at it, she smiled.

"Since I have four Lightsworn Monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon Judgment Dragon in attack mode." A large purple scaled dragon with red eyes and red claws appeared on the field (Level 8 Attack 3000 Defence 2600)

"All right." Daylen cheered. "It's Neria's best monster."

"And now she can turn this Duel around thanks to Judgment Dragon's special ability." Aedan added

Neria smiled. "Now I play Judgment Dragon's special ability." she smirked. "Now by paying 1000 life points, I can destroy ever card on the field except for my dragon." Neria paid life points and then a bright light emitted from Judgment Dragon which shone all over the field forcing Avexis to cover her eyes as well as her two Gladiator Beasts. When the light cleared, Avexis' Gladiator Beasts shattered leaving her wide open. "And now I will summon Garoth Lightsworn Warrior in attack mode." A tall muscular man with blue hair and wearing white armour with his chest bear and wielding a white and gold battleaxe appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1850 Defense 1300) "And since you field is empty, I can attack you directly, so go Judgment Dragon and Garoth, attack her directly. Garoth swung his axe and Judgement unleashed a blast of purple fire which engulfed Avexis and sent her flying back

**Neria: 3900**

**Avexis: 1350**

Syrus cheered in the Cage.

"All right." he cheered

"She's winning the Duel." Chumley added. "One more turn like that and she's won."

"Go Neria." Daylen cheered

Chazz smiled.

"I guess Neria really can defeat this Shadow Rider." He said

"Let's just hope that she has no more tricks to play or try to use our friends against us." Alexis sated

"Hush." Sereda hissed to her. "Don't give her any ideas."

"That will do it for my turn." Neria stated

Avexis narrowed her eyes. "You may have cleared my field, but this Duel is not over yet." She hissed and then she drew her next card. "I summon Gladiator Beast Samnite in attack mode." A large white saber tooth tiger appeared on the field dressed in black armor and holding a blue sword and shield in hands (Level 3 Attack 1600 Defense 1200) "Then I will throw two cards face down and then end my turn."

*'Those face down cards must be traps.'* Neria thought.

"I best play it safe." Neria drew her next card and looked at her field. "To be safe, I will pay 1000 life points again which allows me to activate Judgment dragon's special ability which destroys ever other cards on the field."

"That will leave that Shadow Rider's field empty which will allow Neria to attack her and win the duel" Bastion claimed

"This duel is over" Theorn stated

But Avexis started laughing. "This duel would be over if that effect went ahead." She stated and then everyone stared at her and she added. "But it won't work because I have a trap card, go Gladiator Beast War Chariot. This trap activates when you I have a face up Gladiator Beast on my field and then you activate a monster's effect, now that effect is negated and your monster is destroyed." Neria gasped as she watched her Judgement Dragon groan and then shatter.

"Oh man, that was Neria's best monster." Syrus whimpered

"Relax Sy." Theorn stated. "Neria still has the strongest monster on the field"

"I sure do" Neria smirked. "So now Garoth will attack that Beast of yours." Garoth swung his battleaxe at the tiger.

But once again, Avexis smirked. "I play my other facedown card, Negate Attack, now your attack is negated so my Beast is safe."

Neria groaned.

"I end my turn." She claimed

Avexis drew her card and smiled. "Now it is time to bring the King of Gladiators out onto the arena." She claimed proudly. "I play Card of Sanctity which allows us both to draw until we have six cards in our hands" Neria and Avexis drew until they held six cards in their hands. "Now I play a spell card, Gladiator Proving Ground, this spell allows me to add 1 level 4 or below Gladiator Beast to my hand from my deck and so my Retiari is added to my hand and I will now summon him to the field." The large crocodile Gladiator Beast returned to the field. "And then I will play the spell card Gladiator Reborn, now by discarding two cards from my hand, I can summon back Augustus to the field." The large dragon also returned to the field giving Avexis three monsters and Augustus was more powerful than Garoth "And now Augustus, attack that Warrior." The large dragon Beast swung his sword and destroyed Garoth causing Neria to be thrown back a few feet.

**Neria: 3150**

**Avexis: 1350**

"And now that you monster is gone you're wide open." Avexis sneered. "Now Retitari and Samnite, attack her directly." Samnite slashed Neria with his axe while Retitari thrust his spear forward which knocked Neria back and onto her back as she cried out.

**Neria: 350**

**Avexis: 1350**

"Neria!" Daylen and Solona yelled

"Oh no, now her field is empty." Alexis added

"One more attack and Neria will lose." Chazz gasped

"And then not only will we lose Neria and her Spirit Key but also our friends as well." Jaden claimed

"No, I just can't stand that!" Syrus cried as he held onto Chumley

"This duel is not over yet and I'm sure Neria can find a way." Bastion said trying to keep everyone's hopes up.

Avexis laughed. "Face it girl, you have no chance, I have three monsters while you have none and I have more life points. It will take a miracle for you to win this."

"Sometimes a Miracle is what I need." Neria stated. "Thanks to you I have a hand full of good cards so which allows me summon this monster, Raiden Hand of the Lightsworn in attack mode." A tall man with dark skin and short black hair with a ponytail, wearing purple pants and a purple scarf and wielding two daggers appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1700 Defense 1000) "And now I can play his ability so now I discard the top two cards of my deck and if any are Lightsworns, then Raiden gains 200 attack points for each." So Neria sent her top two cards and both were Lightsworn monsters. "And look at that, the monsters are Ehren Lightsworn Monk and Felis Lightsworn Archer so now Raiden gains 400 attack points." Neria sent the two cards to the graveyard and then Raiden's daggers glowed as he gained more power (RHOTL Attack 1700-2100) "Also since Felis was sent from the deck to the graveyard by a monster effect, I can special summon her to the field." A cat like woman with green hair and wielding a bow and arrow appeared on the field (Level 4 Attack 1100 Defense 2000) "Next I play Monster Reborn to bring back Ehren." A dark skinned woman with long black hair, wearing a red skirt and armor and wielding a dueling stick appeared on the field (Level 3 Attack 1600 Defense 1000)

"Three monsters?" Chazz questioned

"She may have three monsters but none of them can beat that large Dragon Gladiator Beast." Solona stated

"Neria must have a plan." Daylen replied

"I sure do." Neria smirked. "First I play Felis' ability, now by tributing her and discarding the top three cards of my deck, I can destroy one monster on your field and I pick that Augustus." Avexis widened her eyes and then Felis fired an arrow from her bow which struck the dragon who groaned before shattering. "Then I play two spell cards, Block Attack and Lightsworn Sabre. Block Attack switches your Samnite into defence mode and Sabre increases Raiden's attack points by 700." Samnite knelt down and then one of Raiden's daggers was replaced with a long sabre sword (RHOTL Attack 2100-2800) "And now we will battle, first Ehren will take out that Samnite, and when Ehren attacks a monster in defence mode, before damage calculation, that monster is sent back to the deck." Avexis widened her eyes as Samnite faded from the field. "And now Raiden will end this duel, destroy Retitari and the rest of her life points" Raiden swung his sabre and dagger and slashed Retitari and the crocodile exploded and blew Avexis back who screamed as she was defeated which knocked her hood back.

**Neria: 350 (Winner)**

**Avexis: 0000**

"All right, she did it, another Shadow Rider defeated." Sereda and Aedan cheered

Then the smoke cleared revealing Avexis lying on her back with her hood down, everyone gasped when they saw that the Shadow Rider was just a young girl.

"She, she's just a young girl!" Neria gasped. "Why, why would someone do that to a young girl."

"Because the Shadow Riders are heartless." Solona stated. "They want to unleash the Sacred Beasts and steal the souls of innocent people."

"We have to get her to the Infirmary." Daylen said as he removed the Shadow Pendant. "This must have been controlling her." Then he handed the cage key over to Jaden who ran over and unlocked the cage.

"Jaden!" Syrus cried and he hugged Jaden

"It was so scary being in there." Chumley whimpered

"Well you're safe now." Jaden said. "You all are."

"For now." Chazz stated. "Who knows when the next Shadow Rider will show up. And who know what tricks the next has to play."

…

Meanwhile, Avexis' master Frenic had been hiding in the stands of the Dueling Arena and had watched the whole duel. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Avexis get defeated.

"You failed me Avexis!" He hissed. "And soon you shall pay. And Key Keepers, don't think this is over, you won't get to try against me yet as there is one more Shadow Rider to duel before me, and he is a legend." Then Frenic covered himself with his cloak and vanished as he turned into a raven and flew away.