Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

"Ah, the Midnight Guardian: Alpha," Yugi smiled. "Such a magnificent sight. It has been so long since I have seen it."

At the glorious wonder of the warrior, the students could now understand why Jaden was a professional.

"How did he get his hands on that monster?" Chazz was intrigued. "I wonder how much he would be willing to part from it. One phone call to my brothers and I'm sure they can give him some incentive."

"Midnight Guardian: Alpha," Bastion whispered in awe. "I have heard stories about this monster. None of which really do it justice. They say it gets its power from the Gods themselves."

"Which Gods?" asked Syrus, who was only a seat away from the Ra's and right next to Bastion. "The Egyptian ones?"

"That's the thing, they are unlike any of the Gods ever heard of in our stories. These Gods come from legends of old. They were part of an ancient religion whose members formed a secret group that was said to covert the power of Darkness against the Light. I thought it was just a fairy-tale."

"If they were so secret," Chumley raised one brow. "How do you know about them?

"My parents are scientists and they are friends with a fellow who studies the occult. He once showed us a tapestry that had a small mention of this group and said that these people were who he was currently studying. Unfortunately, he disappeared a month after showing us the script."

"What!" Syrus became frightened. "B-b-bu-but, that would mean that his studies were haunted or something! Maybe these monsters are cursed, and we should all run and hide. Maybe the people who he was studying were monsters themselves and ate him or something. Or maybe, the Gods were angry and insulted that he was studying them and decided to hurt him or something."

Okay, this was getting out of hand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Syrus," Jaden looked up at the stands and smiled at his new friend. "I'm sure that Bastion's friend is fine. He's probably deep in his studies or something."

"How would you know?" Syrus exclaimed.

"Because I tend not to look at the negatives, it makes for a very unappealing view on life."

"Oh," Syrus finally calmed down and the duel could then continue.

"With the Midnight Guardian: Alpha finally on my field, I activate one of its special abilities," Jaden looked up at his monster with a bright smile. He was always excited to see his monsters in action. They just looked so magnificent when they had their spot on-stage.

"I'm sure you will remember this great beast, Yugi, for many more years to come!" Jaden spread his arms wide. "Midnight Guardian: Alpha has four special abilities, ones that need special circumstances in order to activate them."

The beautiful creature swung a great sword from the scabbard on its side. Gems glittered from the hilt, the blade was etched in some sort of ancient language. The language's calligraphy began to glow and shift, producing a different text. The ground below the monster began to swirl into a blue typhoon, rising until it swallowed the monster whole.

When the typhoon finally dispersed after a few seconds, all of the original guardians were gone and there was another monster standing next to the Alpha.

"This is one of Midnight Guardian's loyal subjects," Jaden said proudly. "Midnight Guardian: Knight. Unfortunately, summoning her requires me to rid the field of all my monsters other than the Alpha. But not to worry, I have a feeling they will be making an appearance soon."

The Knight was dressed in silver and gold knight's armour. Intricate patterns and details swirled around the monster's breastplate. Another fine sword was attached to its hip and a bow and quiver filled with feathered arrows were swung onto its back. A small, feminine face looked out at the field from the Knight's helmet. She then glanced at Jaden, a small smile forming on her face as she bowed to the students after being introduced. It was clear she commanded great respect and treated others with such.

Midnight Guardian: Knight

Attribute: Light

Type: Warrior

Level: 7

ATK / DEF: 2000/2000

Can only be summoned when there is a Midnight Guardian: Alpha on the field.

Effect 1: Monsters from opposing field/s can only attack this monster.

Effect 2: When attacked in battle, this monster cannot be destroyed and the holder takes no damage.

"This monster and I go way back. It was one of the first Midnight Guardians I received from my mother when I was just starting out in the pros," proclaimed Jaden proudly. "She's a big part of my monster family and has sworn an oath to the Alpha to keep her safe from all dangers. Because of this, she is the only one that can be attacked by monsters from the other side."

"Won't that be a bad thing, considering she only has 2000 attack points?" pointed out Yugi.

But Jaden shook his head. "Midnight Guardian: Knight has two special abilities. The other one is that she cannot be destroyed while her holder takes no damage from any attacks."

"Interesting," Yugi smiled, but he had known all too well the effects of the Midnight Guardian. He was just speaking out loud for the benefit of their audience.

Syrus, meanwhile, was peering at the Knight with much curiosity and awe. He had never had as much reverence for a monster since his days on the playground watching his brother summon Cyber End Dragon. This monster made him remember those days in detail. He would stand there in wonder, watching the mighty beast slay any opponent it came across. At least, that was how he felt it could react with his brother in possession.

Here, however, he could see a beast of mighty strength yet with a subtle hint of regal poise. One who's master had a complete understanding of it and its abilities. Very rare, but special, in a duellist, for it gave them more insight and power in their duelling.

Watching a master at work gave some of the Slifer Reds a sense of great comfort that this one was on their side and could teach them to rise and be great amongst the ranks of the dorms. There was finally an opportunity for them to thrive; not drop out like many of their predecessors did due to lack of confidence and pressure from the higher-ranking students. This was their time to shine and to finally see the spotlight of their own talents. They were finally proud to be who they were, not what others expected them to be.

Jaden smiled as he looked to his Knight and gave her a slight nod of his head in command. The Knight looked towards Yugi and held her sword over her head. With a sharp cry, she brought the sword down on the King who threw his arms up in defence. A large puff of smoke covered the field, but Jaden made no moves as if the large puff of air didn't affect him.

When the smoke cleared, the students could finally get a look at the damage. Both Jaden and Yugi were staring each other down with small smiles upon their faces. They were both clearly impressed by each other duelling-styles. There was little left of the field, just a barrage of smoke that covered the monsters and face-down cards. Still the rolling waves of smoke couldn't last forever and Jaden nodded to the cloud for his monster to clear it. The knight cut threw the smoke and blasted it away with the swiftness of her sword swing. Now the students could finally see what was going on.

The Knight was still standing, as were the King's monster and cards. It had been Midnight Guardian: Alpha who had activated itself. The Guardian wings were glowing elegantly, while her sword was high in the air. She appeared to have slight grin as she looked to the King of Duelling. He kept smiling, not at all worried about what she might do, instead he was fascinated. This was the kind of duelling Yugi looked forward to. The kind of duelling he had long missed since he stopped taking on challenges for anything less than what his agent told him to take.

Yugi had not wanted to take on an agency, but the amount of duelling requests were just too much for one person to handle and even Seto argued that he needed some help with them. So he went to a small and family-run agency in the hope that they would be thoughtful in their spacing out his times so that he could still have more freedom that most professionals, so he could divert his time to other pursuits.

Still, this was no time to be praising his opponents. He had a title to hold after all.

"Even with you most powerful monster, there are still entities you must endure as a duellist," he announced to the school. "Duelling is about more than just monsters. It is the correct combination of traps, spells and monsters all working together as a team. You are merely the coach, guiding the cards to their full potential."

Chazz snorted at this. "Ah, come on! They're just cards. There's no potential to them. We are their masters and they have to do everything we say."

Yugi shook his head and sighed. "I see that I still need to keep repeating myself in the teachings of the ancients. You really need to pay close attention to your history and then maybe you will understand. Duel monsters are not just ink and paper, nor are they the figment of one man's imagination a few years back. They are thinking, breathing creatures, whose souls exist in another realm. The cards are just a portal for them to use."

"Hmph," Crowler huffed. "I see no evidence to state this."

Yugi sighed once again. "Let's just get back to the duel."

Jaden nodded and looked to his monsters, then to the audience. "I reveal my another of my Midnight Guardian: Alpha's special ability: when she summons her loyal knight to the field in attack mode, her attack points increase by 400."

Just then, Syrus noticed something as the attack points were added. "Hey, that Midnight Guardian has no attack points."

It was true, but Jaden just smiled, looked down and closed his eyes, before bringing them up again to look at his Midnight Guardians in admiration. "The Midnight Guardians are powerful creatures indeed. But their power doesn't reside in their attack points. It resides in their special abilities."

He then reached out to his Alpha, a golden aura appearing around her.

"When Midnight Guardian: Alpha is on the field, all face down cards are negated. You cannot activate any spells or traps unless they are directly from your hand. So that means that most of your defences against my Knight are now null and void!"

The face down cards on Yugi's side of the field suddenly froze, but Yugi himself didn't look phased. In fact, he was as calm as can be, which made Jaden slightly concerned. Yugi was not the type to pull any punches, so Jaden would soon know why he was smiling.

And boy, was it a smile.

I am so sorry that this took so long. I am really bad at writing duels and the explanation of all this needed some serious editing. Took months just to get the outlook right. Sorry for the wait, once again.

May your souls remain in your hearts,

AspieWriter