"It was a good duel, Daniel." Jean said with an innocent smirk. Daniel's face was sullen. If he had just drawn the right card he could have won the duel. He voiced this point repeatedly.

"The game is about luck, yes, but it also is about using your card combinations efficiently. Having faith in the Heart of the Cards helps, too." She grinned.

"That nonsense?" Daniel gave Jean a disheveled look.

"It isn't just about having blind faith; it's also about knowing your Deck inside and out, or by Heart. And by the way, it isn't nonsense. How do you think Yugi Mutou won all of his duels?" She preached, but Daniel turned a deaf ear.

"He has like the rarest cards in the world. Him and Seto Kaiba."

"Rare cards don't matter. Even the rarest of cards can be beaten with the best of strategies. Didn't you learn anything from Joey?"

"I guess you're right. I just get frustrated when I lose." He admitted. "But tell me… how did you get so good at Duel Monsters?"

Jean winked. "We both have our teachers!" She said.

The bell rang and they both cleaned up their cards. Daniel had work after school, so he went straight home to change into his uniform. Jean was walking home when she heard a girl's scream. It came from a back alleyway, which Jean came running towards.

It was a girl in Jean's class. She was bent over, crying. There were hologram projectors perched on the wall like bats, ready to echolocate monsters out of its mouth.

A man wearing the most realistic Dracula costume ever was looking through what Jean assumed was the girl's deck, picking out cards he liked and stowing them in his pockets.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" She called out.

"What does it look like? I'm taking my prize from beating this bitch fair and square in a duel." He answered. When he opened his mouth, Jean saw that he was wearing fake fangs.

"Fair and square? Give me a break! You have cards stashed in the sleeves of your shirt!" The girl shouted, getting to her feet. Her face was red with rage and tears flowed down her face.

"I did no such thing! You'd better shut your mouth before I take more than just your cards!" The man pointed at the girl as he said this, which the girl swatted aside as if it were something filthy attacking her. "Oh you little-"

"I'll duel you for the cards." Jean interrupted. The man was taken aback.

"That's fine with me." He said. "Two decks in one day is more than I usually get."

"At least tell me your name." Jean said.

"Byron. The vampire. My life-point sucking strategies will leave you shriveled and shrunken in defeat!"

"Not you." Jean said, her lips pouting.

"It's Ami."

"Can I borrow this Ami?" She asked, pointing to the Duel Disk. Ami nodded and handed it over. It was a snug fit, as if it was meant for Jean all along. Something about it just felt right.

She placed her deck in the slot, activated the disk, drew her five cards, and announced that she was ready to begin the duel.

"I'm feeling merciful today so I'll let you go first." She said with the corners of her lips curled into an arrogant smile.

"You'll regret crossing me, girl!" He said, drawing his own five cards, and the one for his turn. He took a moment to look over his hand before making his move.

"I summon Gearfried the Iron Knight in Attack Mode!" The hologram projectors kicked to life, and Gearfreid was spawn into existence. He held his weapons at the ready. With 2000 Attack points, he wasn't a bad first monster to summon. "I'll also lay two cards face down. Your turn."

"Nice moves." She looked over her own hand.

"I'll summon Kuriboh in defense position and lay 1 card face-down." She did, much to Byron's amusement.

"Kuriboh? That little thing is so weak! The only good thing about it is its effect, and you wasted that by summoning it!" He ranted and raved.

"Shut up and take your turn." Jean snapped. Byron drew his card.

"I activate Just Desserts! It takes 500 of your life points away!" The monkey reached its arm right out of the card and slashed at Jean, who did not even flinch. It was just a hologram, after all. There was nothing to be scared about. It's not like it was a Shadow Game.

Jean: 8000 7500

"Then I'll have my Gearfreid attack your Kuriboh!"

The metal man swung his sword down on the fuzz ball, cleaving him in two and sending him to the graveyard.

"What a useless little dust bunny. I'll lay one card face down and end my turn. And please, make this a challenge at least." He laughed.

"You want a challenge, I'll give you one!" She summoned Roulette Barrel in Defense mode. "I'm still feeling merciful, so I'll ignore Roulette Barrel's effect. Besides, we don't have any dice."

"The disk has a feature for that built-in." Ami said.

"Oh. Well, that's my turn."

"Time to crush that pathetic excuse for a defense. I sacrifice my Knight to summon my Magical Marionette!" The Marionette came forth, its puppets on their strings and its knives pointed at Jean's Barrel. "And I'll equip it with Fairy Meteor Crush, allowing me to deal battle damage against your defense-position monsters!"

"That won't do you much good. Your Marionette doesn't have enough attack points." Jean said.

"My Marionette gains attack points every time you play a spell card, and any monsters you play that are too weak will end up only hurting you in return. I've limited you to only your Barrel and Trap Cards with just two cards!" He explained, following it up with a fit of laughter.

"I'll let you have that handicap, then. But don't get too cocky cause that just might still be enough to beat you."

"Not if I do this! I activate my Gift of the Magical Elf, increasing my life points by 300 per monster on the field! That's 600 points!"

"Hehehe." Jean laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" He cried angrily.

"Check the score."

Byron: 8000 7400

"My life points… they're falling?"

"I activated my Bad Reaction to Simochi, reversing your increase. Plus, the card is continuous, so you can't increase your life points anymore. And if my hunch is right, most of your strategies revolve around just that."

Byron ended his turn without a word. Jean passed, as she was unable to do anything. Byron passed, too. They were both waiting for the right card to be drawn.

Heart of the cards, don't fail me now! She thought as she drew the card. It was a risky maneuver, but if it worked it would give her the advantage. And she would have the Heart of the Cards to thank for the card she just drew being the lynchpin in this plan.

"I summon Sonic Bird!" She said as she summoned the winged monster with a goofy-looking jet-pack.

"Are you slow? My Marionette will destroy that bird and take a nice delicious chunk out of your life points!"

"My turn isn't over yet. I play Two-Pronged Attack, sacrificing my Sonic Bird and my Roulette Barrel to take out your Marionette!" The three monsters shattered into glass, and were monsters no more. Behind the falling shards Byron saw nothing but Jean's smile, and her shining eyes.

"And now that I'm free to play spell cards I think I'll play Factory of Mass Production, which allows me to move two monster cards from the graveyard to my hand." She chose Kuriboh and Roulette Barrel. And thanks to Sonic Birds effect, she was allowed to put a Ritual Summon card in her hand. "I think that about does it. I didn't take any life points this turn, but it'll do for now."

Ami reveled in amazement. With one card she made this duel do a complete 180.

Byron now wore a snarl on his face. He drew his card.

"I'll make you eat those words as I play Dark Snake Syndrome!" Dark shadowy arms reached out from the walls of the alley and wrapped themselves around Jean.

Jean: 7500 7300

"The damage starts out at 200 but doubles every turn. Pretty soon that damage will be hefty, and you won't be able to keep up!" Byron laughed.

"I'll just have to beat you before my life points run out." She said simply as she drew her card.

"I'll summon Roulette Barrel in Attack mode and attack your Life Points directly!" She commanded. But Byron's life points didn't change.

"I activate Waboku, bringing the damage to 0!" Jena clenched her teeth. It was Byron's turn now. Hopefully he wouldn't be able to take more chunks out of her life points.

"I'll play Ominous Fortune Telling! Thus card allows me to pick a card out of your hand once per turn and guess what type it is. If I guess right, you take 700 points of damage. I'll pick the middle card and declare it as a trap!" He was right. Crap.

Jean: 7300 6600

"There's nothing more I can do so I'll end my turn here."

Jean drew her card.

Jean: 6600 6200

And took damage from Byron's trap card.

"I'll summon Pixie Knight in defense mode and have my Barrel attack your life points directly!"

Byron: 7400 6400

It was Byron's turn then.

"Again I can't do anything. But I'll pick the far right card and call it a monster card."

"You're wrong."

"Then my turn is over." He shrugged. "It seems we're at a stalemate here."

"Not for long." Jean replied.

Jean: 6200 5400

"You say that but your Life Points are running out rather quickly."

"Shut up. I'll lay one monster in face-down defense position and equip my Barrel with Megamorph, doubling its attack. Then I'll attack you directly again!"

Byron: 6400 4400

"It won't make much of a difference." He said, drawing his card. "I'll activate my Shadow Spell! This will make it so that your barrel can no longer attack, and even lowers its attack points by 700! With that I'll end my turn."

"You're just trying to run out the clock."

"You got me."

Jean: 5400 3800

It was time to put that Ritual card to good use.

"Since you've crippled my Barrel I think I'll have to trade up. I play Black Luster Ritual, sacrificing my three monsters to summon… Black Luster Soldier!" The warrior emerged with a battle cry. His sword looked eager to collide with others of its kind in battle.

"Now, attack his Life Points directly!" She bellowed as the soldier drove his blade right through the fou-vampire's torso.

Byron: 4400 1400

"Let's see you come back from that!" Jean smirked. Ami once again was shocked by Jean's skill and luck. And by her confidence. Not once did she seem afraid of failure, and not once did she let herself become unnerved despite how badly she had been losing. It was something Ami admired in this girl. And that card… didn't the Black Luster Soldier belong to…

"I'll summon Cure Mermaid in defense mode and take my guess that the second card from the right is a trap card." He guessed wrong. "I end my turn."

Jean: 3800 600

This is it. If I don't draw the right card here, I'll lose by the time it's my turn again. Heart of the Cards… Heart of the Cards…

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths with her hand resting on the top of her deck.

It had been one year ago. Yugi Mutou had organized a tournament with the help of Seto Kaiba, whose company had long since bought Industrial Illusions. The winner of the tournament would receive a lump sum of cash and two rare cards.

She had dueled a man named Jaden. He had many cards that went by the name of Elemental Hero. He had given Jean a run for her money, and she had beaten him with her Dice Jar, rolling a six and winning out of pure luck. As a show of good faith, he had given her the Kuriboh card.

Jean went on to win the tournament and those two rare cards, which turned out to be Yugi's own Black Luster Soldier, along with the ritual needed to summon it. Not too shabby of a reward. She had turned down the cash prize, telling the tournament officials to give it to charity.

With that fond memory bolstering her faith in her cards, she drew.

"I play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and discard two!" The first card was a Metal Scorpion. No help there. The second card was another Trap Master. But the third card was just what she needed.

"I'll play Magic Jammer, allowing me to discard 1 card in order to destroy your Black Snake Syndrome. I just saved what was left of my life points. Then I'll summon Moryokutai and have it attack your mermaid, destroying it." The mermaid squealed in pain as the skull bit into its neck. "And now my Soldier will attack your points once more!" His sword came down upon Byron, who yelled as if he was actually stabbed.

Byron: 1400 0

His cards dropped out of his hands and scattered around him and he collapsed to his knees. Black Luster Soldier sheathed his blade before dispersing. The bat-like projectors returned to the old-school Duel Disk. Jean approached the defeated man.

"You spend so much time on your own strategies that you ignore you opponent's. You're nothing more than a power-hungry fool." She told him.

He looked up at her, his eyes burning with fury, his breathing rapid and shallow, and his cheeks turning red. He reached inside of his coat for something, but Jean brought her leg to the side of his head, knocking him to the floor.

"I can't banish you to the shadow realm, nor can I hurt you anymore than I already have." She said as she tucked the pocketknife into her back pocket. "I could call the police but I have something better in mind." She searched the man's coat and found Ami's deck. She pocketed it before gathering up all of Byron's cards back into a deck.

"I'm going to take these cards from you. Someone who uses them for something like this doesn't deserve them. And think of this as a little Poetic Justice. You go around taking what doesn't belong to you, and now you're going to have something stolen from you in return. Hehehe." She said. "Well what are you still doing here? Get out of my sight!" She ordered. Byron ran away and was gone before Jean could even blink. That kick was Mantis-style kung fu and without a weapon Byron knew he stood no chance. But he wouldn't let this defeat slide. He'd be back and Jean knew it. He was just another corrupt duelist out for revenge against her. It was nothing new. Ever since…

"You're the Luster Tournament winner, right? Jean Wheeler!" Ami asked. She did not wait for a reply and instead went on a fangirl-fueled rant. "I knew you kinda looked like her but I never thought you'd BE her! Who'd have thought a champion was in our class! I'm gonna have to tell everyone! Imagine how popular you'd be!"

"No, don't tell anyone. The less people that want to duel me the better."

"Why would you want that? Don't you love dueling?" Ami asked. It was a good question.

"Of course I do. But you win one tournament and suddenly dueling stops being about having fun and becomes defending some meaningless title from the parasitic hordes of amateurs and scum like that guy." She motioned behind her, which was the direction that Byron had run off to.

"I get it. I won't tell anyone then. But promise me one thing: That you'll teach me to be as good as you at Duel Monsters!" She didn't wait for a reply for the second time. "Imagine how much better I'll get! Studying under Joey Wheeler's daughter!"

"He's my uncle." Jean replied. It was true, she was Serenity's daughter. Ami enveloped her in a best friends forever hug and started bouncing up and down right as Jean was about to hand the girl her deck. The deck fanned out in her hand as she gripped the cards, and she got a good look at most of the deck. It seemed to contain almost no effect monsters, very few trap cards, and the rest was an even mix of regular monsters and spell cards. The majority of the spell cards were equip cards anyway.

Ami finally stopped, and Jean handed the easily excitable girl her cards. She handed her Byron's deck too.

"Your deck needs work. Pick your most powerful cards from your own deck and put them into this one. See if that helps." She offered those words of advice before beginning to depart. Ami began to walk beside her while humming.

"What are you doing?" Jean stopped walking. Ami took a few steps before realizing that Jean had both said something and had stopped walking.

"What?" She said stupidly.

"You're following me. Why?"

"I thought you were going to teach me more. So I was going with you." Jean thought about this for a while. This could be a great opportunity to breed a duelist who could actually challenge her.

"I guess. Just be nice to my mom. Her eyes are going early." Ami nodded in response.

"Oh and you can have that Duel Disk. I'll have my dad buy me a new one."

"You sure? It's a really old model, which means it must hold some sentimental value for you."

"It's okay. It's something I needed to get rid of for a while now anyway…" She said. Her name was Ami Kaiba, daughter of Mokuba Kaiba. She was Jean's new student, and her new friend.