Rise of the Sacred Beasts, Part 1

The island shook as seven stone pillars rose from the ground in the forest.

"What is going on?" Chumley asked.

"The Seven Spirit Gates have been opened." Ryan answered.

"The spirit keys." Chazz spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to himself. "Something's happening to em!" The spirit keys then floated upward, forcing Chazz to his feet, and then suddenly he started running in the direction of the giant pillars. "Hey!"

"Where're you going, Chazz?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know!" Chazz cried out in panic, running past his confused classmates and into the forest. "HELP ME!"

"Let's go." Ryan ordered.

The remaining Key Keepers gave chase.

"Oh great." Chumley complained. "More running."

\*BOOM!\*

"What was that?" Syrus asked, seeing a cloud of dust rising above the treetops up ahead.

As they all kept running, Chazz soon found himself hanging onto the spirit keys as they flew up, pulling him off the ground. "AHHHH!"

"Just hold on!" Jaden called out.

"Wadda ya think I'm do-!?" Chazz shot back, only to be interrupted when he slammed into a branch. The spirit keys ripped themselves free from around his neck and continued flying towards the disturbance, while the black clad Slifer fell to the ground.

"Chazz, are you alright?" Jaden asked.

As the giant cloud of dust cleared up, they students were able to see balls of light break off from each other and fly into the pillars.

"The keys, they're being absorbed into the pillars." Zane remarked.

Passing between two of the pillars, they came to a wide open clearing where it looked like a bomb had gone off, leaving nothing but dirt. "This is not lishus…"

"They're opening up all the spirit gates!" Jaden exclaimed.

"What did you do, Chazz!" Alexis demanded.

"It's not my fault!" He insisted.

The others shot suspicious looks at Chazz.

Sheppard and Crowler emerged into the clearing, having obviously run wherever they'd come from.

"Children!" Sheppard called out. "Are you alright?"

"What's happening?" Crowler demanded. "I'm sure this is somehow your fault, Jaden."

"You're sadly mistaken."

"What? Then who?"

The others all pointed accusingly at Chazz. "IT WAS CHAZZ!"

Chazz grinned nervously at this. "I was just… borrowing the keys… for Alexis."

The blond girl sighed in dismay. "Don't you dare drag me into your big mess."

The earth shaking again interrupted the accusations. They all watched in stunned silence as something emerged from the ground in the middle of the clearing. A black pedestal rose, then the top opened up to make way for a metal stand which then projected an orb of light, inside of which were three duel monsters cards, one red, one yellow, and one blue.

"Are those…?" Jaden wondered.

"The Three Sacred Beasts." Ryan's eyes narrowed.

He and Jaden jumped down from the edge of the clearing, followed by Chazz, but before they could take a step forward, a voice projected by a megaphone came down from the sky.

"THOSE CARDS DO NOT BELONG TO YOU!"

Everyone looked up and saw a large grey cargo plane approaching. As it flew overhead, the back of the plane opened up and a metal contraption of sorts stepped out.

"What is that?" Jaden wondered.

"I have no idea." Ryan stated.

"Yeah, ask me." Chazz sarcastically replied. "Like I'm gonna know."

A set of three parachutes emerged from the contraption as it fell towards the ground, slowing down its descent. When it reached the other side of the clearing, it then released the parachutes and slammed onto the ground. A moment later the resulting cloud of dust dispersed, allowing them to see a large machine with four spider like legs, holding up a very large tube. Inside was an old man floating in some kind of fluid, hooked up to a dozen wires and wearing an oxygen mask. "**The cards belong to me,**" a synthesized voice came from the machine.

"Wait a moment…" Sheppard said, frowning. "I know that man."

"**I'm so glad you recognize me Sheppard,**" the old man replied. "**Even though the years have not been kind.**"

"It's Kagemaru! Our superintendent!"

Jaden looked back at Sheppard. "Superintendent?"

"**I built this school!**" Kagemaru's voice boomed, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "**And now I've returned for my Sacred Beast cards.**"

"Wait just a sec there, test tubey!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Is that right?" Ryan asked.

"You want em? You gotta go through us!" Chazz declared. "That's how this works!"

"**Fools! I am Kagemaru, Master of the shadow games. It was I who first sealed the cards here. It was I who gave Sheppard the spirit keys.**"

Sheppard frowned in discontent at this revelation.

"Alone, they are worthless." Kagemaru said as his life-support module stepped forward. "To unlock the spirit gates, all that is required is dueling energy. Energy you expend trying to protect those keys."

Chazz sighed in relief. "See? This isn't the Chazz's fault."

"He's right. Kagemaru played us all for fools." Arisa said.

"This is why I arranged for the best duelists in the world to come here**.**" The old man continued. "I hoped year after year, class after class, a student would arrive with enough dueling spirit to unlock the power of the cards. My Shadow Riders were sent to test you. And to my surprise, one passed. He is the one with the potential to finally unlock the Sacred Beasts, and give me the strength to rule the world!"

"Cute story." Alexis said, dismissively. "So why all the tricks? Were you too weak to get the cards yourself?"

"Alexis…?" Syrus squeaked. "Please don't make the scary man mad."

"He doesn't look so tough." Chumley remarked. "More like some kind of reject science project."

"Listen up!" Zane spoke firmly. "There's no way you're getting those beast cards! Not so long as I'm here! Got that, Kagemaru? You'll have to duel me first!"

"Zane as much as I would love to agree with you I'm afraid Kagemaru would rather face somebody else." Arisa said.

"Jaden." Ryan added.

"I would've stepped up, but I lost to the final Shadow Rider." Kaoru said.

"Back off!" Chazz called out. "It's my duel! And I'll Chazz you up big time! So let's go!"

"He's mine!" Atticus declared. "After all… he and I are old friends. He transformed me into one of his Shadow Riders!"

"Stay back!" Ryan snapped, his Dragon Birthmark glowing. "Leave this to Jaden."

"I suggest we do as Ryan says." Davis added.

"He's right. My opponent will be Jaden Yuki."

Jaden blinked. "Uh, excuse me, what?"

**"You have proven to be the only duelist with the power to unlock the Sacred Beast cards.**" An electrical field spread from one of the pillars to the two on either side of it, and kept extending until the whole area was surrounded, keeping everyone trapped. "**And if you refuse… I will see to it that this island and everyone on it sinks to the depths of the ocean deep.**"

"Jaden, I suggest you agree to Kagemaru's demands." Arisa said.

"You can't!" Jaden exclaimed.

The large metal brace wrapped around the front of the tube retracted, exposing more of Kagemaru's withered old body, as well as revealing a pair of mechanical arms attached to the machine, one of which carried a duel disk. "**I can do anything… with these…**" The empty arm reached forward and snagged the three Sacred Beasts. "**Let the Shadow Game begin!**"

"Listen guys…" Chazz spoke up. "If you need any advice, don't ask." Chazz turned around and began to walk away.

"Where're you going?" Jaden asked.

"To find a boat."

"Giving up already?" Davis asked.

"Jaden, catch!" Syrus called out, throwing a backpack that Chazz unwittingly intercepted with his face, falling back down into the clearing. Jaden caught the backpack as it bounced off Chazz's head.

"No sweat." Jaden reassured him, then turned towards Kagemaru as he opened up the backpack. "I hope that you brought your A-game, Kagemaru." Jaden pulled out his duel disk, pulling out Banner's tome in the process, which fell to the ground, with a duel monster's card sticking out from its pages. "Professor Banner's tome…" Jaden leaned down and grabbed the card, which turned out to be a spell with an image of a swirling blue orb. Jaden frowned a little as he felt the back of the card.

"Come on!" Chumley called out. "Rock his world."

"Thanks. Will do." Jaden shot back, then turned around to throw the backpack. Unfortunately for Chazz, he once again got his head up at the wrong time, resulting in him getting nailed in the back of the head. "Sorry Chazz!" Jaden apologized. "My bad."

"That does it! I'm outta here!"

"Come on Chazz." Jaden protested. "We need you."

"You need a big kick in the-!"

"**SILENCE!**" Kagemaru shouted as he stepped away from the pedestal, which sunk back into the ground. "**This is why I hate teenagers.**"

Ryan and the Shiba siblings had no comment for that.

"You're on!" Jaden declared.

Jaden: 4000

Kagemaru: 4000

"My turn." Jaden declared. "I summon Elemental Hero Burstinatrix in defense mode."

Elemental Hero Burstinatrix: 1200/800

"Then I place a card face down."

Kagemaru chuckled as his mechanical arm drew his next card. "**Yes, let's. I shall begin with Spell Absorption, which grants me 500 life points every time a spell card is played, like Pot of Greed.**"

Kagemaru: 4500

"Then I'll place three trap cards face-down."

Chazz frowned in confusion. "Three trap cards? I think this guy's got his circuits crossed."

"Huh? Wadda you mean?" Syrus inquired.

"When you lay face down cards, you never have to say whether or not they're trap cards or spell cards." Bastion explained.

"Oh, yeah, right."

"**Unless you happen to be summoning a Sacred Beast.**"

"Good." Jaden said. "You know, I've always wanted to see one up close."

"A decent start." Davis said. "Considering the circumstances."

"**You should be more careful what you wish for. I sacrifice my three trap cards to summon the first Sacred Beast. Uria, Lord of Searing Flames.**" Kagemaru's three traps flipped up and dissolved into a golden light that flew towards the base of one of the stone pillars, and then a massive, writhing column of fire erupted from the ground.

"What is this?" Alexis wondered.

"Something very bad." Syrus moaned.

The flames split apart to take the shape of a creature, and when they died down everyone could see a colossal red serpent like beast with wings that looked like a darker version of Slifer the Sky Dragon with a blue jewel in its forehead. The fearsome beast let out a such a loud roar that it shook the trees around them.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: 0/0

"On second thought…" Jaden said as he stared up at the Sacred Beast. "Maybe I don't need to see it up close."

"*Boss!*" At the sound of his duel spirit's voice, Chazz pulled his deck out of his pocket and looked at Ojama Yellow. Instead of the usually cheerful creature, the image showed the yellow duel monster on his knees, with a distressed expression. "*Help me, boss! That thing… it's doing something to us!*"

"Suck it up." Chazz shot back. "I'm sure you're fine."

"Now I activate Uria's special ability, trap destruction." Uria let out another roar, revealing Jaden's face-down Mirror Gate, which then shattered into pixels. "All traps are useless agains my Sacred Beasts, and are destroyed. And if you were curious as to Uria's attack points, he receives 1000 per trap card in my graveyard. And as last count, I have three, for a total of 3000 attack points."

**"**Now, Uria, turn Burstinatrix into slag! Hyper Blaze!**"**

Uria opened his mouth again, but this time, a stream of extremely hot fire shot out from between his jaws and collided with Burstinatrix, burning her to a crisp.

Kagemaru chuckled at his monsters attack, "Your turn, Jaden..."

"His turn to do *what*?" Zane scowled, "That monster's too powerful! What can Jaden do?"

Jaden grit his teeth and looked from Kagemaru, to straight up at Uria, *'This is it. I've waited my whole life to duel the best, and here I am! That's the reason I came to this school, anyway. Now, I **am'*** **facing down the best in a duel to take over the world! What more can a kid want!?**

"Let's do this!" Jaden drew his card, "I summon Elemental Hero Bubbleman in attack mode!" He cried as his caped Hero appeared.

Elemental Hero Bubbleman: 800/1200

Atticus shook his head, "Not like it's gonna make any difference, dude...,"

"What's Jaden *thinking*?" Chazz scowled, "With Bubbleman out on the field, he's got no defense!"

"I can't watch this." Crowler whispered fearfully.

"Why not?" Zane crossed his arms, "After all, this duel may be the last thing we all see..."

"C'mon, don't give up on him, yet, you guys!" Syrus pleaded.

Jaden looked at the cards in his hand, "Alright...I play Polymerization to fuse my Elemental Hero Sparkman with Avian and Bubbleman to create the Elemental Hero Tempest."

Elemental Hero Tempest: 2800/2800

Kagemaru watched as Jaden's futuristic, blaster-wielding Hero appeared on the field, "As strong as he is, he still doesn't have the points to destroy Uria...,"

"Maybe not now, but that's why I got this to help level the playing field." Jaden grinned as he slid a card into his end tray, "I play the Field Spell card known as Skyscraper!"

Seconds later, tall buildings shot out of the earth and surrounded the duelists and their monsters. Uria now looked like something from a Godzilla movie, attacking a city.

"With this, my Hero gains a one-up on ya! If he has less attack points than your monster while this is out, he gains 1000 extra attack points!"

"Tempest..." Jaden pointed upward at the Demon, "Show 'em whose boss!" he ordered.

Tempest lifted his arm blaster and fired a powerful burst of blue energy that struck Uria right in the face. The Demon roared in pain before exploding and sending a shockwave throughout the field, making Kagemaru's walking tube scuttle a little bit.

Kagemaru: 3200

Jaden: 4000

"YEAH!" Jaden pumped his arm, "That's a hit!"

"He did it!" Syrus whooped.

Chumley grinned, "Yeah...but *I* would've gotten rid of it last round, Sy."

"Impressive. It seems I made the right choice as to make you my opponent, Jaden Yuki. Your dueling spirit will serve me well as I rip it from your body and use it to call upon the power of the Sacred Beast cards."

Jaden slipped a card into his disk as Kagemaru laughed coldly, "I kinda like where my dueling spirit is right now...let's see how you handle a face down!"

Again, Kagemaru laughed, "Let's see how *you* handle *this!*" He drew his card, "I activate Uria's special ability! By sending a lowly Trap card from my hand to the Graveyard..." He trailed off as a very familiar pillar of fire erupted behind him.

"Oh no!" Zane stared at the pillar.

"Don't tell me." Chazz gasped.

"It *can't* be!" Bastion shook his head.

Once again, Uria burst forth from the pillar of fire and roared, shaking the windows of the holographic buildings around him.

"As Lord of Searing Flames, one of Uria's abilities allows him to be resurrected from the flames, should I discard a Trap card to the Graveyard." Kagemaru explained smugly.

"What's worse..." Zane grit his teeth, "With another Trap card in the Graveyard, Uria's power increase by another 1000 points!"

Alexis nodded, "If Jaden doesn't do something, *he'll* be the one in the Graveyard!"

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: 4000/4000

**"**Now, say goodbye to your feathered friend, Jaden!**"**

Jaden covered his eyes from the flames of Uria's power as the Sacred Beast's fire engulfed Tempest.

Kagemaru: 3200

Jaden: 3800

"Hold on!" he looked up, "I got tricks, too! By sending a card from the field," Jaden paused as his facedown card disappeared, "Tempest isn't destroyed!" he explained as his Hero came back to him.

"We'll follow up on that act with our next performer." Jaden drew his card, "I play Pot of Greed!" He drew two more cards, "Two cards for me, whole lotta pain for you, 'cuz I play H - Heated Heart! This Spell card gives Tempest 500 more attack points, which gives him just enough fire power to take out Uria one more time!"

Kagemaru: 2900

Jaden: 3800

**"**Waste of a turn, Jaden.**"** Kagemaru spat at him as he inserted a card in his Graveyard, **"**As long as I have Traps to dispose of, Uria can never truly be destroyed!**"**

For the third time, Uria climbed out of the pillar of fire, even stronger!

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames: 5000/5000

Kagemaru drew his card, **"**Now, I'll use *my* Pot of Greed and draw two more cards.**"** He cackled, drawing his new cards, then putting one into his end tray, **"**Now, I'll use the Field Spell known as Fallen Paradise!**"**

Jaden watched in silent dismay as his Skyscraper Field card disappeared, and with it, the power boost that it gave Tempest. The area now looked like a barren, rocky wasteland, the sky very dark and cloudy as mist crept along the ground.

"Oh...not good," the Slifer muttered, looking around.

**"**Not only is your Skyscraper obliterated, this new Field Spell card allows me to draw two additional cards every round!**"** Kagemaru laughed harshly as he drew more cards, then inserting a few into his disk, **"**Which gives me *just* enough to place down three Spell cards facedown on the field...**"**

"Huh? *Three* Spells?" Jaden stared at the holo-cards laying in front of his opponent, "Aw great...,"

**"**I see...despite your grades, you are a quick learner.**"** Kagemaru nodded as the cards were revealed, **"**I sacrifice my three Spell cards in order to summon the second Sacred Beast Hamon Lord of Striking Thunder!**"**

The three Spell cards turned into large ice shards and flew backward, creating three seperate ice trails before coming together and creating a large ice block behind Kagemaru. With a devastating roar, a horrible new beast emerged from the ice, lighting crackling around it's body. Like Uria, it had a great pair of wings. This new Sacred Beast had a golden body, lengthy limbs that ended up in slightly curved feet and hands, his huge claws glinting in the light as his bony tail swayed from side to side.

Hamon Lord of Striking Thunder: 4000/4000

"Look!" Atticus pointed at the new creature.

Chazz nodded slowly, "Yeah...we see it but..."

Bastion cleared his throat loudly, "Uhm, yes, about that boat?"

**"**Hamon, attack!**"** Kagemaru ordered his new Sacred Beast, **"**Let's show Tempest a *real* storm!**"**

Hamon lifted his mighty head to the sky and from his mouth, a bolt of blue lightning poured out into the clouds above. Soon, the whole sky was coursing with his power before it rained down onto Jaden's field.

"Tempest!" Jaden watched in horror as his Hero was destroyed, "NO!"

Kagemaru: 2900

Jaden: 2600

**"**That's not all, Jaden...**"** Kagemaru smirked under his mask, **"**Hamon has a little ability that activates whenever he destroys a monster. When this happens, you get dealt an extra 1000 points of direct damage! But don't worry, Jaden, it won't hurt...*me*!**"**

Jaden screamed in pain as more lightning bolts collided with his body and his field.

Kagemaru: 2900

Jaden: 1600

"JADEN!" Syrus screamed.

"Is he okay?!" Chumley shouted as Jaden fell to his knees.

Growling, Chazz looked at his monsters, ready to snap at them, but stopped at what he saw. Ojama Yellow looked *much* thinner, as if he were very sick.

"Help us, Boss...all of us," Yellow whimpered with pleading eyes.

"What's...going on?" Chazz looked at the others, "Guys, check your decks, now!"

Everyone quickly took out their decks and were horrified to see that their monster cards didn't look so well either. All of them looked like they were in the same boat as Ojama Yellow.

"What's happening?" The Shiba siblings asked.

*'It can't be.'* Ryan thought. His cards weren't affected. He quickly figured out what the problem was. "It's Uria and Hamon. They must draw energy from Duel Monsters spirits."

"This is probably why the Sacred Beasts were sealed away." Arisa said.

"And if these two drain power from Duel Monsters Spirits I don't want to know what the third one does." Kaoru said.

"All I know is that right now Jaden is our only hope to prevent the end of the world as we know it." Davis said.

"That's...impossible." Crowler shook his head in denial.

Chumley looked at his koala's, "Bummer..."

"This can't be happening." Syrus whimpered as his Vehicroids began to rust.