Chazz barely even glanced at the frighteningly low number that the life point counter on his duel disk displayed. It mattered not. That ritual monster that Phil had spent multiple turns building up to? It mattered not. The face down card that was likely some idiotic stall card, or even worse, another fucking Gravity Bind? It mattered not. Chazz's head snapped up from looking at the cards in his hand as his turn began.

"Draw card!" He shouted in a voice laced in pride won from hundreds of duels. "I activate my second Dragon Shrine! From my deck, I send Hunter Dragon to the grave! Then, since Hunter Dragon is a normal monster, I send an additional dragon-type to the grave. I send the Totem Dragon!

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

In the stands above, Alexis looked over to Bastion, who appeared to be counting to himself and was becoming visibly paler with every number he ticked out on his fingers.

"Bastion? Are you seeing something we aren't?" Alexis immediately questioned, already curious as to what the analytical mind of her friend could have figured out.

"It's three." Bastion absentmindedly answered.

Alexis responded in kind by lightly punching him on the shoulder to break Bastion out of his trance. "Details, Bastion. I don't know what you mean by three."

Bastion simply sighed and looked towards her, appearing at least somewhat apologetic for his initial short answer. "Axe Dragonute. Divine Dragon Apocralyph. Hunter Dragon. Alexis, Chazz has exactly three dark attribute monsters resting in his graveyard. Two were sent there last turn due to Phil's ritual monster, and the third was sent just now through Dragon Shrine. Alexis, do you remember when Phil gave you those Cyber Angel cards he found?"

Alexis frowned, still not seeing Bastion's point. "Of course. I've already been working on adjusting my strategies to fit those cards in. Why do you ask?"

Bastion turned his head back to the duel in progress, simply pointing to the monster Chazz was in the middle of summoning instead of giving a complete answer. It was clear even to Alexis that Bastion's mind wasn't all there as his thoughts whirred with possible counter strategies should Chazz ever summon that monster against him.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I have three dark monsters in my graveyard, Phil." Chazz curtly revealed. Phil nodded glumly in response. He knew exactly what was coming next, and faint PTSD-riddled memories of the Tele-DaD format back on Earth were already beginning to rush through his brain.

"Three dark monsters means I can meet the summoning condition for the very same card you gave me last weekend. Phil, you only have yourself to blame for this. I summon the alternative version of my Armed Dragon, the creature wreathed in darkness, Dark Armed Dragon (2800/1000)!

On the other side of the arena, Phil slowly blinked in sheer annoyance as an evil, twisted mockery of Armed Dragon LV7 crashed onto the field, its pitch-black skin covered in an impressive arsenal of axes, drills, and spikes. Yup. Shoulda' waited to give him that fucking card. Now dad's got the belt and he's gonna take me behind the woodshed.

But, Chazz wasn't done quite yet. "Now I activate my Dark Armed Dragon's effect! By banishing one of my dark monsters in my graveyard, Hunter Dragon, I target your face-down card to be destroyed! I'll follow that play up by activating Dark Armed Dragon's effect again, banishing my Axe Dragonute to destroy your Demise!"

Chazz's scowl gradually morphed into an evil grin as Phil begrudgingly sent his face-down Gravity Bind and his Demise, King of Armageddon to the graveyard.

"Then, I'll summon Troop Dragon in defense position, and place one card face down. Battle phase! Dark Armed Dragon, show Phil the meaning of true power!" Chazz ordered triumphantly as his opponent's life points were dropped from 5000 to 2200 with a single brutal swipe of Dark Armed Dragon's claws.

Phil grimaced in annoyance once more as he drew a card to start his turn and began to consider his options. Righty-o. DaD's got one more pop in the bank since that Divine Dragon's still in the grave, and knowing my luck, The Chazz is going to draw a third fucking Dragon Shrine next turn, which could potentially give him a total of three cards on the field he can destroy. Fucking hell, Konami. Why did you have to learn so late that a lot of cards out there need 'once per turn' clauses in their text so they ain't broken as hell. Still, that motherfucker. If it weren't for the card advantage I got with my poor camels, may they rest in peace, I would be screwed right now.

"You cheeky motherfucker you." Phil shook his head with a bitter laugh towards Chazz. "Nice setup with the Dark Armed Dragon, I admit. But, it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings, and I sure don't see any around here! I summon, from my hand, the monster I added off of Sangan last turn. Manju Of The Ten Thousand Hands 1400/1000, in defense position!"

Where Senju Of The Thousand Hands had merely looked angry, Manju looked positively wrathful. Ten thousand hands exploded from the monster's pale green flesh from every angle imaginable, with some hands even protruding from his ears as the creature 'thudded' onto the field with a strangled cry of sheer agony.

"Manju's effect activates! While Senju only allowed me to grab a ritual monster from my deck, Manju gives me the ability to choose. And I choose to add another copy of End Of The World from my deck to my hand! Then, with my deck one card thinner than it was before, I activate my own Pot Of Greed! What does it do? It gives me a shit ton of card advantage, boyo!"

Chazz's face paled as, appearing almost completely undaunted by the presence of Dark Armed Dragon, Phil continued to restructure the field that Chazz had spent an irritating amount of effort to break the turn prior.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"That really is absolutely vexing." Bastion muttered to himself as similar thoughts as Chazz's raced through his own head. "But, it also proves quite interesting. The Des Lacoodas, the Hand monsters, the Gravity Binds… I see. His style is different than all of us. Different than Jaden's absurd luck, my thoroughly-researched formulas, Chazz's dragonic aggression, or Alexis's graceful flourishes. He builds up resources from even the smallest of exchanges in a bid to move every card from his deck to his hand as fast as possible, building up steam by controlling the flow with such cards as Gravity Bind, until the steam reaches the point that it turns into a single, decapitating strike. Yet, if the opponent manages to block it, defend from it, or recover, he simply repeats the process over, and over, and over again. Until his repeated, measured strikes find purchase and end the game.

Bastion swiveled his head to the side upon hearing a shocked intake of breath coming from Syrus, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"Y-you mean Phil's going for yet another insane move? Didn't he use up a crazy amount of cards in order to summon his ritual monster earlier?"

Bastion nodded gravely in response. "At least that is what my hypothesis is. It might not be this turn, but another strike will come soon."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back in the arena Phil continued with his turn, oblivious to Bastion's words. "Sorry Chazz, but even though I drew me some nice cards, I can't quite get rid of your dragon quite yet. So, I'll try and satisfy you by throwing down a face-down and ending my turn."

Chazz wrinkled his nose in disgust. Even more stall tactics. I still can't decide if this is Phil taking me as a serious threat, or him mocking me. If it was the former, Chazz could feel some measure of satisfaction, for he always hungered to fight his opponents when they were at their best. If it was the latter, though… well, he would have reckoning if that was the case.

"Fine. If you don't want to strike, then I'll break your defenses once more!" Chazz shouted. "In my draw phase, I activate my trap card, Call Of The Haunted! My target is the Armed Dragon LV3 (1200/900) in my graveyard. Rise once more to serve me!"

Phil's brows furrowed as the skinny, orange dragon once more took the field. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"Now, in my standby phase, I activate my Armed Dragon LV3's effect! Level up and become Armed Dragon LV5 (2400/1700)!"

The orange dragon shuddered and groaned as its body began to bubble, twisting and churning as it grew larger and larger by the second. Several spikes and drills pushed their way out from under its skin, dying the creature's leathery body all over with the deep, dark red of its own blood, save only for the parts that were covered by steely-gray armor.

"Damn boy, that dragon sure looks like he eats his Wheaties." Phil whistled from where he stood opposite of the creature. Still, annoyingly enough to Chazz, the Ra Yellow student seemed not even a little bit concerned in the face of yet another powerful monster joining Chazz's Dark Armed Dragon on the field.

Whatever. My next move will wipe all semblance of cheer from his face. Chazz darkly thought to himself. "Dark Armed Dragon, activate your effect once more! I banish my Divine Dragon Apocralyph in order to destroy your face down card!"

"Hah! I knew it!" Phil jeered in response. "I chain the activation of that very same trap card that you targeted, Threatening Roar, which will prevent any monster of yours from declaring an attack for the entire turn!"

Chazz's eyes narrowed. And that was the last dark monster in my graveyard. I'm already losing control of the tempo again. I could use my Armed Dragon LV5's effect, but that would mean discarding… oh that's right, I still have one of the two I added to my hand earlier. Well, I can't say it will be of much use for anything else… "Fine. Be that way, Phil. But, I'll deny you your face up monster. I activate Armed Dragon LV5's effect, discarding my Thunder Dragon (1600/1500) from my hand in order to destroy one of your face up monsters with lesser attack than my Thunder Dragon. Say goodbye to your Manju!"

The monster in question scowled heavily as Armed Dragon LV5 walked up and smacked the Manju so hard with the back of its armored hand that the many-handed creature evaporated with the force of the blow.

"I'll then summon Golem Dragon (200/2000) in defense mode, and I end my turn!"

All-in-all, not a completely fair trade of resources. Phil considered to himself as he looked at, and then ignored the clay dragon that was huddling off to the side and staring at Phil's face down monster with baleful, red eyes. Ah well. I managed to bait out the last dark monster in his grave, so I suppose it's still a little bit of a win for me.

"Draw card." Phil mumbled as he thought of his options. Hm. Well, if he gets another dark in his grave, I'm fucked. If not, this shit's gonna be funny as all hell. "I think I'll start off by setting a monster in face down defense position, along with setting another face down card in my backrow. I end my turn, your go Mr. Chazz."

Is that piece of shit mocking me? Chazz could feel his own rage building, a feeling that was swiftly accelerated by that damn boy's mouth opening to say the words Chazz had hoped he never would have to hear again: "Standby phase, I activate my trap card, Gravity Bind!"

For a moment Chazz considered the pros and cons of physically assaulting his opponent as he watched all of his monsters aside from the Troop Dragon be held to the ground by glowing, green nets. Yet, he forced his own feelings on the matter down to the darkest depths of his gut. It was better that he got used to cowardly tactics like field locks early on his road to become a top pro duelist, rather than seeing the strategy for the first time in an arena watched by thousands of spectators. It was still bloody annoying though.

"I draw." Chazz eventually forced out through gritted teeth. Absolutely ridiculous. I place one card face down and… I end my turn."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Wow, Sy check it out. Chazz is stuck staring down Phil's Gravity Bind again." Jaden commented with clear amusement in his voice.

"Yeah, bro! I've already lost track of how many turns have passed since the start, and Chazz is back to square one now!" Syrus, who was practically vibrating in his seat next to Jaden and a small pile of empty soda cans could hardly express his excitement on how back and forth the duel set before them was turning out to be.

"It's quite interesting indeed." Bastion cut in with a thoughtful tone. "Chazz was never truly able to destroy the first Gravity Bind through his own power. He had to wait for Phil to do it for him, though his two level three dragons served to force that action. And, if my calculations and memory of his previous duels serve me correctly, Chazz doesn't have a whole lot of cards that can destroy spells and traps in his deck. He's always favored the brute strength approach, after all. However, with how Phil's deck appears to work, Chazz will lose at this rate unless he has the heart of the cards with him, as Yugi Muto would say. And, even though I cannot say for sure if a force like that exists, if monsters like Jinzo can travel to the real world to duel in shadow games, then as a scientist I find it difficult to completely brush off that possibility."

"Or maybe Chazz just needs to have more than one or two weak monsters in his deck" Jaden joked back. In all reality, the heart of the cards favoring the Obelisk Blue sounded far more likely than that happening.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"I draw!" Phil lazily shouted. Yup, the ball is back in my side of the court. Sure feels good having the advantage again. Here's hoping that he doesn't draw that Wingbeat or another dragon-flavored backrow removal card. With how many of those fuckers Kaiba added to the game, it's only a matter of time. Unfortunately, I can't kick things into high gear quite yet…

"I think I'll start off by flip summoning my third Des Lacooda (500/600), who is the Larry to the Moe and Curly that you brutally and unjustifiably murdered all those turns ago. Larry, would you mind activating your effect to let me draw a card? Thanks, you're a true homie." Phil glanced at the new addition to his hand and hid a scowl of irritation. No finishers quite yet, at least nothing that can out that damn Dark Armed Dragon. Even though Chazz's field had nearly the maximum allowed number of five monsters, Phil knew at this point in time that the real problem was the Dark Armed Dragon, namely the 2800 attack points it had. Of course, there were ways around that issue. A Demise would do the trick, but Phil would have to see one in his hand first. There were a few equip spells that could also be possibilities to break the stalemate, but with Gravity Bind in play that avenue of thought was simply unattainable at the moment, as he would have to equip them to a higher-level monster for them to be successful.

"Alright, Des Lacooda, be a good lad and flip yourself back into face down defense position. Can't have my draw power get taken out by that big, scary Armed Dragon LV5, after all. And then, I'll set me up some insurance. I activate the continuous spell card Yellow Luster Shield! It'll boost the defense points of all my monsters by 300. I know, I know. It ain't much, but it's honest work. 300 can be a good amount in the grand scheme of things. Then, joining my face down Larry on the field, I set one monster in face down defense position, and end my turn!"

Chazz began his turn with a sour look on his face, one that swiftly turned into a peal of maniacal laughter as he looked at the card he drew at the start of his turn. "Ahahaha! Yes! I told you Phil, such cowardly tactics are worthless in the face of pure, undiluted power! I activate the spell card I just drew! A Wingbeat Of Giant Dragon! By returning my Dark Armed Dragon back to my hand, I can destroy every spell and trap card on the field! You annoying little runt, I have you now! I summon Mirage Dragon (1600/600) in attack mode, I switch my Troop Dragon to attack position, and I move to my battle phase!" Chazz waited a moment to see if Phil had any responses to that, and upon smugly noting that the boy had fallen silent, Chazz moved onto the offensive.

"My first attack! Since I know for fact that my Troop Dragon lacks the attack points to deal with your camel, I order my Mirage Dragon to destroy your Des Lacooda!"

The bright yellow dragon, its form shimmering through a heavy pink smoke, struck like a snake to devour the zombified camel in a single, satisfied gulp. But, Chazz wasn't even close to finished. "Now, Armed Dragon LV5, destroy Phil's other face down monster!"

The second, much larger dragon roared in defiance as it struck at Phil's face-down monster, which was revealed to be a Giant Soldier Of Stone (1300/2000). However, even with the staggering 2000 defense points the monster possessed, the creature's rocky body proved no match for the Armed Dragon's spiked gauntlets.

"Ha! Phil! It looks like you're open now! Troop Dragon, strike directly and remind that ingrate of that power of the dragons!"

Despite the tiny size of the two greenish dragons, the swords and spears they held struck true, lowering Phil's life points to 1500, an amount even lower than Chazz was left at after Demise's blow.

Then, Chazz ended his turn with another bout of maniacal laughter as Armed Dragon LV5 was transformed into Armed Dragon LV7 (2800/1000), clearly overjoyed that Phil's defense was finally broken into multiple microscopic shards. Yet, as Phil began his turn, he too let out peals of mad laughter.

"Chazzster! Looks like we're both popping off within a turn of each other again! Haha, this is absolutely fucking poetic! You got so damn overexcited about finally being able to attack, that you forgot how low your own life points are! Ha, what can I say? Pride before fall, motherfucker. I activate the spell card I searched many turns ago, one that you should be quite familiar with. Chazz! It's The End Of The World as we know it, part two: electric boogaloo!

Chazz's face took on a confused look as a familiar scene from earlier in their duel replayed itself. A ghostly town appeared out of nowhere, with each building bathed in a cold blue fire. In the sky above, a complicated, swirling pattern obscured the faint light that had been streaming in through the windows of the duel arena. Yet, where there had once been a tyrannical fiend with the face of a grinning skeleton, there was now only a graceful woman with flowing white hair. All around her buildings crumbled under the weight of the ghostly flames, but not even one of them made a single sound.

Instead, all was consigned to the nothingness of oblivion.

"Yes! Feast your eyes upon the card that will shatter your so-called 'offensive'. Using my ritual spell, End Of The World, I summon Demise's counterpart, the queen of red and white that brings forth the end of all! Ruin, Queen Of Oblivion (2300/2000)!

Chazz coldly snorted. "Only 2300 attack? You must be mad if you think that can kill my Armed Dragon. Need I remind you that he has 2800 attack?"

"Too true." Phil answered with a mocking tone in his voice. "But, who said I needed to kill your Armed Dragon? See, there's something I find quite funny, and its the words 'I enter my battle phase'. Ruin, you lovely gal? Would you mind killing that Golem Dragon for me? After all, it would be quite nice to be able to attack his other monsters, too.

The white-haired queen nodded in agreement with Phil's order, before shooting a glare as cold as ice towards the earthy dragon monster and cutting it cleanly in half with her red battle-axe.

"Now, I activate Ruin's effect. When she kills something, she gets a second attack. Isn't that lovely?"

Chazz's face paled as he finally understood what Phil was going for. Yet, all he could do was watch as Ruin tore through the Troop Dragon that he had put into attack position the previous turn. The battle damage wasn't much, but it did prove to be exactly enough as precisely 1600 points of battle damage turned his life points to zero.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Bastion sighed as he observed the emotions on Chazz's distant face. Shock, mixed with a hint of resignation. Yet, as Bastion descended the stairs with his three companions to meet the duelists in the arena, he could also see one last emotion that eased his heart, the part of him that was truly beginning to see the arrogant boy as a friend: pride. While Chazz may have lost to Phil, there was no doubt in Bastion's mind that there would be a rematch later on, one that Chazz may very well win. Though, Bastion thought to himself with a grin, he'll have to get in line after me, of course.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

On the other side of the campus, Professors Crowler, Hibiki, and Bernardello crowded around the TV in Crowler's office, which all three watched with various levels of interest.

"Haha, truly an interesting battle!" Professor Bernardello broke the silence first as they watched Phil and Chazz shake hands. "It is as they say back at home. Ride Bene Chi Ride Ultimo! He who laughs last, laughs longest! That Princeton boy may have almost tasted victory, but the Jenson boy ended up laughing the longest for certain!"

Ms. Hibiki only spared the jubilant Italian man a single glance, who even now was still spurning the Ra Yellow jacket he was given on arrival in favor of, for some reason, a stained white undershirt. If it weren't for the ability Crowler swears that man has in dueling…

But, she did not voice those thoughts, instead choosing to diplomatically keep the topic of the conversation on the two back-to-back duels they had witnessed. "Perhaps. I am still of the opinion that Mr. Jenson could have been less… reckless in his usage of his ritual monster's effect to clear the field. Despite the effectiveness of that play, it left him with little to protect himself when that plan failed."

"Ah, yes. Still, it was a well-timed play of aggression." Professor Crowler responded, looking put-out that an Obelisk Blue student wouldn't be the captain of the team, despite his words of support for Phil's decision. Still, it's better than that Slifer Slacker. Crowler grumbled to himself. I still can't believe that Ms. Hibiki would let one of those people drag down out precious school team like that! However, just as Ms. Hibiki diplomatically avoided voicing her concerns over the professionalism of the new head of the Ra Yellow dorm, Professor Crowler valued his life too much to complain at the moment.