Author's Note: Here comes chapter two for you.

Chapter Two: On to Duelist Academy!

"Please move along, there's nothing to see at all." The crowd refused to actually listen to the officer's words, all of them gathering around to see the crater in the middle of the street. Nobody knew what had caused it, but they did know it wasn't an explosion. Just a hemisphere about fifteen feet across in the street had vanished over the space of a night.

Mizuki looked over her shoulder at the crowd, wondering what they were looking at. They seemed really interested, so maybe she should investigate. Turning towards them she started walking, trying to push past the crowd to get a closer look. 'This could be exciting. Maybe it's a duel!'

She stopped after getting to the front of the crowd, staring down at the crater. It was as smooth as glass, as if the street had never been there in the first place. As if the matter had been there one moment, and gone the next. 'Matter cannot be created or destroyed…but it can be moved. Could this have been…'

"The end has come! The Darkness Games will return, and the world will fall forever into chaos!" The crowd's attention was jerked to the other side of the crater, where a man had already jumped over the barrier and was sliding down into the bottom of the crater.

He had long brown hair, and crazed black eyes, making him look odd in his business suit. But there, attached to his arm, was a royal blue DD5, sleek and small, with auto-holo projectors. "Repent for your sins or be cast into the darkness!"

The police began shoving the crowd backwards, while another officer descended into the crater, a standard Police Issue Duel Disk-Proteus Class attached to his arm. It expanded from a mere brace on his arm to a full-sized disk, with the plate already active. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The other man, his eyes still crazed, whirled to face the officer, and slammed a deck into his now active duel disk. "Repent and be saved from the darkness!" And instantly a black sphere of energy erupted around the two, hiding them from the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Everyone who had been watching almost immediately panicked, turning tail and fleeing. Those that were old enough remembered the Twilight of Man, while those who were younger had seen the looks of terror on their elder's faces when they spoke about it. But they all knew a Darkness Game was a bad thing.

The one person from the crowd who didn't flee besides the police was Mizuki, who found herself staring at the sphere of darkness. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, but she couldn't take her eyes off of it. Slowly she reached her hand up, extending it towards the darkness. 'It's calling out to me…'

She was jerked out of her near trance by an officer, who snagged her arm and began herding her away. "This is no place for a little girl! Now get out of here while the police handle this!"

Mizuki did as she was told, leaving the area completely at a stately pace. But for some reason she couldn't place, she wanted to go back. She wanted to touch that tell-tale sign of the Darkness Game. Perhaps even see just what it was like to step into one, even if you were transported back to the exact same spot. 'I wonder…just what a Darkness Game is like.'

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Just the next day, the news had a brief mention of the incident on it. According to police reports a drug addict had initiated a Darkness Game with a police officer, but had been succinctly dispatched. That was essentially all there was to the report, leaving everything else to the imagination. 'Was it a hard duel? Are Darkness Games more difficult than regular duels?'

Mizuki sighed, realizing she was going off on a tangent. It wasn't a good thing to be thinking about, because everybody knew, or at least said, that Darkenss Games were bad news. But as long as she could remember she'd had a strange fascination with Darkness Games that nobody could understand, and that she never expressed to anyone but her mother. 'People would think I was crazy, but there's just something…special about them.'

She sighed again, leaning back against the seat of the bus. Once again she found herself using a form of public transport to get where she wanted to go. After witnessing the start of the Darkness Game the other day she had gone to the post office and picked up a package for her, which contained the letter of congratulations, saying she was accepted to Duelist Academy.

Already she had packed up her things, knowing that on off time she was allowed to wear whatever she wished. Of course she had also packed more personal items, as well as her DD2 and her card collection. While the school provided DD5s for personal use by students, she didn't intend to trade her older model in for a new one.

Now here she was, on a bus, heading to the location where a special boat was waiting. Then she would get on the boat, and they would go to Duelist Academy. She had already said her goodbyes, so she didn't feel remorse. All she felt was excitement, knowing that in about five hours she would be at the most prestigious Duel Monsters School in the world. The very first one ever, established dozens of years ago.

She looked around at the other people on the bus, but didn't recognize anyone. None of them were teenagers either, which meant nobody from her area of Tokyo would be going to Duelist Academy. That was okay; she wanted to make some new friends. 'And this time, maybe people won't be scared off by my name and what it implies.'

The ride seemed longer than it actually was, but eventually she reached her exit, and was almost immediately bustled onto the boat without preamble. She didn't even get to really chat with anyone before being forced on. 'Guess they're in a hurry. My area is probably the last pick-up.'

It turned out that she was right, because almost immediately the boat started off, heading towards the small island in the Pacific that housed the legendary Duelist Academy. Even it's sister schools, North, South, East, and West didn't hold as legendary a name as the original thing.

Since the boat trip was going to be a long one, it seemed like a good idea to look around. The other people on the boat appeared just as excited as she was, and they were all her age as well, exploring the nooks and crannies of their travel arrangement. And, just as she had expected, there were people talking about the Darkness Game.

Somehow, telling people that she had been right there when it happened didn't seem like a good idea. She didn't want to be hounded by questions, and it would make her look a lot more like her father than she wanted right now. 'Sometime that damn name is too much of a burden, and other times it's a boon.'

What really excited her was at the bow of the boat there was a miniature dueling arena, and two people had already started up. Both were boys her age, and one had a DD3, while the other had a DD4. She looked over at one of the girls watching, a pretty blonde girl. "How's the duel going?"

She pointed to the boy with the DD3, who had red hair down to his back. "That's Paul Emerson, he says he's probably going to Obelisk Blue right away, but nobody believes him. Right now he's just that one face down card, and a set monster. His life points are looking good though." Mizuki saw what the girl meant. (PLP: 6100)

Next the blonde girl motioned to the other duelist, who had a single towering monster on the field, no cards in hand, and one face-down card. "That's Natori Yusumi, and he's not a bragger so far. He doesn't have the life point lead, but his Fusilier Dragon(2800/2000) looks like it has the advantage." (NLP: 1600)

Mizuki leaned against a rail to watch the duel progressing. It was quite obviously Paul's turn, because he had just snapped a card off his duel disk. He held it up to his eyes, and then added it to the other three cards in his hand. "Reverse card open, Poison of the Old Man! I'll use it to deal you eight hundred damage." (NLP: 800)

Natori didn't look bothered at all, instead he just shrugged. Paul growled in irritation and slammed a card onto his duel disk. "Heaven Glow grants me a thousand life points!" (PLP: 7100)

Natori just chuckled. "Life points won't do a thing, unless you think you're going to whip out Sanctuary of the Sky and Saturn, Angel of Judgment(2400/0) in this turn. Well, are you?"

Paul didn't respond, but it was obvious by the lack of response that Natori was right. "Even if I can't use that combo, I'll show you that my Sanctuary of the Sky Deck is strong enough to send me straight to the top! Activate Cost Down, discard Repayment of Losses!" He drew another card from the effect of his discarded magic card.

Finally he took the card he had drawn previously and slammed it onto his duel disk. "I sacrifice my set Holy Shine Sphere(500/500) for Jupiter, Angel of Life(2400/2400) in attack mode!"

Paul's grin of satisfaction faded when his monster vanished almost immediately, falling into a deep hole. Natori jerked a thumb at his set card, which was revealing itself. "Bottomless Trap Hole gets around your monster's effect, removing it from the game."

The red haired boy look briefly panicked as he looked at his field, but finally made a decision and placed his last card into his duel disk. "I'll just set one card face down and end my turn. See if you can even touch me."

Natori raised his drawn card, looking confident. "I'll do more than touch you; my monsters will burn you to ash. Pot of Greed. Next, Research on the Pot of Greed to draw two more!" The crowd watched, impressed as Natori quickly ended up with three cards in his hand.

He tossed a card onto his field, and another Fusilier Dragon the Dual Mode Beast(1400/1000) appeared on the field. "I can summon him without tribute as you know by cutting his stats in half. But, the magic card Magic Purge returns him to normal."

Paul kept a confident look on his face, but it was obvious he was sweating it. After all, if they connected it'd be a big chunk of life points. "You really think you'll survive? Activate magic card, Trinity Pattern! When I have two monsters of the same name in play I can special summon the final one from my deck to the field!"

The final Fusilier emerged, looking just as deadly as its brethren. Now Paul was really sweating, but he pointed to his face down card anyways, a slight smirk on his face. "Just try and attack, I dare you! My face down card will obliterate you completely!"

Natori shook his head, and then raised one hand, pointing a finger at Paul. "Let me give you a tip American. You're headed straight for Osiris Red, drop-out trash! Triple Smog Blast!"

Paul was tossed backwards over the railing by the combined attack, which quickly reduced his life points to nothing. Mizuki leaned over, looking down at the dizzy and confused boy. She smiled brightly and patted him on the head like a dog. "Sorry guy, but that was just a really bad bluff. But me…I think I'll give this a try!"

She hopped over the railing, her DD2 already activated. He looked her up and down, obviously checking her out, and then his eyes settled on her DD2 and he laughed. "So, we've got a drop-out girl to go along with the drop-out boy. If that pathetic DD2 is all you can afford, you don't even belong here at Duelist Academy." (NLP: 4000)

Mizuki's smile faded instantly, replaced by a serious look. Her green eyes smoldered with an inner fire, and Natori had to force himself not to take a step back. "Don't insult this duel disk, it belonged to my father. And let me give you a piece of advice you rich snob. You're not even in the same class of person as me!" (MLP: 4000)

Natori gulped, not able to take his eyes off those burning green eyes. 'What have I gotten myself into? This girl…she's not normal is she?'

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Mizuki sighed, walking down the ramp, taking her first steps onto the island that housed Duelist Academy. She was finally here, and yet she was still bothered. She had soundly beaten Natori in that duel, and the rest of the trip people had been clambering to talk to her, or to duel her.

In the five hours that the trip took she defeated seventeen of the forty-two students that had come on the boat. Most of the others didn't challenge her, or just plain didn't know about what had been going on. She was glad for that, because all that dueling in one day was a little bit much. 'Sheesh, beat one guy and everybody is aching to take a stab at you.'

Although somehow she had gotten the impression a few of the guys who had dueled her had been hoping just to impress her, in order to increase their chances with her. 'If a guy thinks he can impress me by dueling and losing, he's got another thing coming. Unless he can beat me, I doubt I'll be impressed. At least he could put up a good fight; most of those guys weren't even a challenge.'

Following the rest of the students, who seemed to be following somehow up ahead that she couldn't see, Mizuki made her way to the Grand Hall. It was a big place, which seated at least a thousand people, which was roughly the number of students at the school. It had expanded from shy of a hundred at its inception to having a maximum occupancy of one thousand students to the school.

At the very bottom of the room, surrounded by all the seats and gathered students, was a huge dueling arena. It was obvious that the holographic projectors linked up there would make the holograms even more realistic than normal. 'Okay, so what are we doing here anyways?'

She and most of the other new students yelped in fright when the holographic projectors lit up, displaying a very detailed holographic image of an older man's face. No matter which side of the Hall you were on, it looked like it was staring at you. And it was so large and realistic that Mizuki could swear she saw a stray hair the man had missed while shaving.

He had his hair cut short, and it was mostly gray, showing him to be around his fifties. His face was still fairly youthful looking though, and he had a sparkle in his gray eyes that portrayed a great deal of exuberance for life. "Ah! Welcome back young duelists to Duelist Academy. And to you new students, I must say congratulations to you all on making it here. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but you're the cream of the crop, just for making it in. So, welcome all to Duelist Academy!"

Mizuki and some others watched raptly as the older man, who introduced himself as Principal Tantei, spoke about aspects of the school and congratulated them all several more times. Most of the students either didn't pay attention or had already heard it and didn't care.

All of that changed when something a disturbing shade of green seemed to bob around the principal's nose. Since he was speaking into an imager and couldn't actually see them, he was unaware of what appeared to be a giant booger on his nose. The crowd burst out laughing as it hung directly beneath his left nostril, looking exactly like a trail of snot.

Looking closer Mizuki could tell that it was a balloon tied to the stage, aimed perfectly up at the nose. Her close inspection noticed that off to one side, at the bottom of the Hall, were a bunch of teenage boys, all giving high fives to one of their number. 'Well, at least I know some people at this school have a good sense of humor. But I bet that guy gets in serious trouble.'

The rest of the speech passed quickly, very little attention going to the holographic face after the disturbance of the balloon booger, which was still hanging there. Instead students took to joking amongst themselves, and occasionally hurling paper airplanes.

Finally they were dismissed to go meet a teacher that had been assigned to them on a piece of paper. Or at least so it seemed, because all of the returning students were leaving, while the new students were going to the three teachers who were standing separate from each other. 'Okay, so my little notice says I go to Professor Yamato Gorishi'.

Following the paper's advice, she located the table that had a sign under it with the name of that professor. She got in line, waiting, and finally reached the table. Professor Yamato turned out to be a stern looking man with a crew cut, muscular, and in a fancy yellow uniform. "Mizuki Mitsuhiro right? Welcome to Ra Yellow, here's your uniform, your room assignment, and a map of the school. Any other special items will be located in your dorm room. Thank you."

She yelped as she was quickly forced to move along, getting only a brief chance to grab the items he pressed at her. With those in arm, she walked away, pulling out the map and the room assignment card. 'I wonder if I'm rooming with someone fun. But hey, I got into Ra Yellow, that's the best start a person can have straight into Duelist Academy. That bodes well for me.'

It occurred to her that she probably would have been more excited if everything wasn't so rushed. But she figured that they had a lot of students to deal with before the day was over, and they wanted to get it done with. 'After all, they have to eat as well don't they?'

Giggling to herself she followed the directions of the map, finally coming to a large steel building, with a yellow crest with a phoenix on it stood. According to the map this was the Ra Yellow Girl's Dormitory #2. "It's not coed? Oh well, it probably would have been annoying if it was coed anyways."

She entered the dorm, greeted briefly by a couple of older girls standing at the door, and then bustled along. According to the card she had been given she was in room 213A, which meant the second floor for her. 'Up I go!'

When she finally reached the room, she opened up the door and was pleasantly surprised. It was sparsely furnished, with desks, beds, and closets, leaving quite a bit of room for personalized decoration. It was also a pretty big room, but then again the number of beds told her she would have two other roommates. 'I hear the Osiris Red guys have triple bunks in small room, so I've got it good by comparison.'

Since there was nobody else around it felt like a good time to play model, and see just what the Ra Yellow Girl's uniform would be like. 'If it's like my junior high uniform at all I think I'll scream.'

Slipping out of her regular clothes, she placed them carefully on the bed closest to the window, and then grabbed the provided uniform. Apparently it only consisted of a jacket and a skirt, so she would provide the shirt. Happily she pulled her blue shirt back on, and then buttoned up the top.

Once everything was in place she took a look at herself in the mirror, and her green eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. The top itself was white primarily, with a yellow ring that clasped around the neck and buttoned up, and the upturned color was also yellow. Her skirt was yellow as well, but it wasn't the color that made her freak out, it was how it fit.

"What the hell is this! Is this standard uniform? It's too damned tight, and the skirt is too short! I feel like the buttons on this top are going to snap, and I'm gonna have guys ogling me in all my classes! Auuuu…." She started dancing around, running her hands through her black hair, panicking at the thought of guys staring at her in drooling in her super tight white uniform top.

It was Mizuki running around shaking her head frantically that greeted two girls as they walked in the door to the room. The first to walk in was talking to the girl behind her, and she was already wearing her Ra Yellow uniform, looking perfectly comfortable with it. She was dark skinned with pitch black hair that hung to her back, and a DD5 was on her arm.

The girl behind her nearly bumped into her when she stopped. She too was already wearing her Ra Yellow uniform and didn't seem bothered by it. Unlike the first girl she was obviously Asian, like most of the school's students, but she had platinum blonde hair which hung about her shoulders, a bit of it tied up like a garland around her head. "Why'd you…oh."

Together they watched Mizuki run around the dorm room, practically having a mental breakdown. The two girls exchanged a glance at each other, and then burst out laughing. Noticing the girls at last, Mizuki calmed down partially, looking their way. "What!"

The dark skinned took a deep breath to silence her laughter, and then looked up at Mizuki. "What's wrong with you? Why were you running around like that?"

Mizuki looked completely flummoxed. After several second's pause she reached up and grabbed her breasts, glaring at the other girls. "This is what! These uniforms are freaking skin tight! I signed up for Duelist Academy, not for Hooters!"

This sent her roomies into another pearl of laughter, and Mizuki just threw her hands into the air and threw herself down onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling. "This is seriously not what I had expected. I just need to get my mind off it somehow…"

Seconds later she had crossed the room to the laughing girls, her duel disk almost magically placed on her arm. "So, since we're roomies, how about we get to know each other in a nice three-way duel?"

The platinum blonde haired girl straightened, and shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry; I was going to visit my brother. He's been attending here since last semester, and I wanted to pop in and say hello. Oh, and I'm Aya, Aya Yukio."

The other girl extended her hand and Mizuki gladly took it, shaking it enthusiastically. Around other girls she could relax, despite the fact that her top made her feel sleazy. "And I'm Mizuki Mitsuhiro, nice to meet you."

Both of them looked at her strangely for a second, so Mizuki sighed and nodded once. "Yes, my father is exactly who you think he is."

Aya looked a bit shocked, but the dark skinned girl just seemed to think carefully about it for a moment before finally extending her own hand in greeting. "I'm Janice Matthias, and this is my second year at Duelist Academy. Nice to meet you Mitsuhiro."

Mizuki smiled back at the older girl, happy to know that her two roommates weren't really bothered knowing who her father was. "Please, call me Mizuki. Calling me Mitsuhiro makes us sound cold and distant, so Mizuki is better."

Janice smiled, her bright white teeth glinting. Their attention returned to Aya, who was offering them a small bow. "I'm sorry, but I really do have to go meet my brother, he's expecting me. It was a pleasure to meet you both, and I'm sure we can all get acquainted better letter on."

With that she was out the door, leaving the other two girls alone. Finally Janice spoke, smiling slightly. "I believe you mentioned something about a duel?"

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They now stood on opposite ends of the Ra Yellow Dueling Arena, which was a raised white platform surrounded by seats for an audience. Currently they were the only people there, and each of them had their duel disks active. Janice was the first to start drawing. "Feel free to take the first turn. I like being generous to first years." (JLP: 4000)

Mizuki smiled and slid six cards off her duel disk. Now her uniform predicament was completely forgotten, because this was her eliminate. A duel was all she needed to relax. "It'll be my pleasure Janice, and I won't go easy on you just because you're a second year student and relaxed in your old age." (MLP: 4000)

Janice rolled her eyes, the joke had barely gotten a laugh out of her. Mizuki narrowed her eyes, realizing that what she had guessed was true. Janice was tougher than her friendly exterior made her seem. 'Good, because I'm a lot tougher than I appear at first glance as well. Wouldn't want this to be a cake walk.'

She spun the cards around her fingers a few times for good measure, and then snapped them up, giving them a good once over. It only took a little bit of studying before she decided on her move. "I set one monster in defense mode and one card face down. End turn!"

Janice drew, her previous bright smiles gone, replaced by a confident but calm exterior. "I'm not the best duelist in the school, or even in Ra Yellow, but I'm strong enough. Let me teach you a lesson in why conservative tactics don't work. Go, Fusion Gathering!"

Mizuki frowned, familiar with the card. By discarding a 'Polymerization' from her hand, Janice would be able to search her deck for two fusion component monsters and add them to her hand. "I've got the Polymerization, so there it goes, and here come my two chosen monsters."

She slid the named card into her grave, and then two more cards popped out of her duel disk and into her hand. "Next up, I play Fusion Return! This card isn't as effective as, oh say, Fusion Recovery, but it is useful. I can now take one 'Polymerization' from the grave and add it to my hand."

Janice held up the recovered fusion card, and then grabbed the two fusion components she had previously searched for. "Now, I'll show you why the power of the rush can defeat even the strongest of opponent's. Polymerization activates!"

An energy vortex appeared in front of her, and slowly a creature emerged from it. It was huge, extending out past where the arena went, and its twin heads snarled as it stared down at Mizuki, its metallic body ready to strike. "Meet the fusion of my two Cyber Dragons(2100/1600). Cyber Twin Dragon(2800/2100)!"

Mizuki gulped, realizing that this monster meant business. She had heard about the Cyber Dragons, and knew they were dangerous cards to play against, and potentially very powerful. This was the first time she had faced them though. "I'm not afraid."

Janice held up another card from her hand, revealing a swirl of wind with a lightning bolt in the center. "Cyclone is a quick-play magic card any duelist should know, as it destroys one magic or trap card in play. Namely your set card."

Mizuki's primary defense exploded into tiny pieces, leaving only her defense monster between her and the deadly Cyber Twin Dragon. "Cyber Twin Dragon, attack with Twin Hyper Evolution Burst!"

The dark haired girl slid her monster into the cemetery, and was about to ask if that was it when a second stream of flame descended on her, nearly knocking her off her feet. Janice looked smug as it happened. "I told you it was rush power. Cyber Twin Dragon can attack twice in the battle phase." (MLP: 1200)

Finally Janice finished up her turn, sliding one of the last two cards she held onto her duel disk. Not that Cyber Twin Dragon needed much protection with that sort of attack power. "You're good Janice, but with a rush deck it's a mistake not to finish the opponent off all at once. That'll cost you."

Mizuki held up her drawn card, revealing it to be a magic card. On it was a picture of a complex looking symbol, like a letter of some kind. "I play the quick-play magic card Rune Symbol-Thurisaz! This card's activated effect destroys one monster in play, so say goodbye to Cyber Twin Dragon!"

Janice didn't even blink, despite the fact that her deadly fusion monster had just faded away. She had honestly expected something like that, and wasn't bothered. "Now I summon Rune Caster(800/1400) in attack mode and attack you directly!"

The new monster, a small handsome man in robes like Rune Soldier's appeared, and cast his hands out, sending waves of energy at Janice. The older girl grimaced, but since it was only a weak monster, the damage wasn't great. "That weakling will take a while to finish me off if that's all you've got." (JLP: 3200)

Mizuki shrugged as if she wasn't worried at all. Then she grabbed one of her other cards and slid it onto her duel disk, causing it to appear behind Rune Caster. "Okay, that'll be it for me."

Janice drew, and instantly flipped the card over. "I mentioned this card earlier, so I'll play it now. Fusion Recovery returns a Polymerization and a fusion material monster used in fusion to my hand." She held up her fusion card and a Cyber Dragon.

"Since you've got a monster and I don't, I special summon Cyber Dragon(2100/1600) to the field at no cost!" A serpentine machine dragon emerged, looking like the singular head of the previous fusion monster.

Although a powerful monster was in play, Mizuki was obviously unworried. Janice wondered if it had to do with her monster's unknown effect, or her set card. "I'll see what you've got waiting. Hyper Evolution Burst!"

Mizuki pointed to her face down card, and it flipped up, revealing itself as a quick-play magic card. "Rune Symbol-Raidho! This card lets me negate one attack by the opponent and end the battle phase!"

The burst of flame fizzled out, and Cyber Dragon settled back to wait for another chance to attack. "My turn is over Mizuki. But pretty soon your little caster will be lunch for Cyber Dragon."

The younger girl winked as she drew her next card, offhandedly making a comment. "Pity it's a machine, or otherwise that villain threat would do something."

Quickly her flippant manner snapped back to her confident dueling demeanor. "Rune Caster during my standby phase lets me pick up one 'Rune Symbol' from my grave and add it to my hand. So I'll grab and reactive Rune Symbol-Thurisaz!"

Cyber Dragon faded just like its evolved form had, leaving Janice fairly defenseless. "Even though it doesn't accomplish a whole lot, I'll chip away at your life points a little bit more with a direct attack from caster!" The strike dipped Janice down even farther. (JLP: 2400)

Finally Mizuki seemed about settled with her move, just raising one of the cards she was holding up. "Rune Chant lets me do just like Rune Caster does, and pick up a Rune Symbol from the grave. So I pick up and set a card. End turn."

Janice looked over her drawn card, and then slid two of her cards onto her duel disk, causing them to appear next to her first set card. "Now that I've done that I summon Cyber Demon(1000/2000) in attack mode."

A monster that looked like a mechanized version of Summoned Skull appeared, glaring at Rune Caster. "This should get rid of your set card. Attack!"

The face down card flipped up, revealing Rune Symbol-Raidho, halting the attack. "I get it, you just wanted me to use it so I'd have to pick between Raidho and Thurisaz next turn. Good plan."

Janice smiled, despite knowing the praise wasn't important. It was just good to know that her roommate would be appreciate and not bratty about duels. "I end my turn!"

Mizuki drew, and then grabbed a card from her cemetery. "Rune Symbol-Thurisaz blows away Cyber Demon!"

"This time I was ready. Cyber Barrier negates an effect that would destroy one monster with 'Cyber' in its name during this turn." The energy from the Rune faded away, leaving the mechanized demon perfectly intact.

Despite the fact that her next chance at a direct attack had been halted, Mizuki still wasn't worried. She had other ways of working things out. "I play Rune Symbol-Ingwas, which prevents you from attacking me for three turns. Think of it as a Swords of Revealing Light that you can't blow up."

Cyber Demon seemed to freeze in place, indicating that it couldn't attack at all. With that done, it was now Janice's turn, and she drew two cards off her deck. "When I have zero cards in hand during your end phase, Cyber Demon lets me draw an extra card during my standby phase."

Next she pointed to one of her face down cards, which revealed itself to be a distorted looking version of Monster Reborn. "By discarding one of my drawn cards to Monster Reincarnation I'll pick up a monster from the grave."

Cyber Demon faded away, and it was replaced by Cyber Dragon(2100/1600). "Cyber Demon was around just long enough to give me a chance to bring back Cyber Dragon for some more fun."

Janice flipped over the other card she had drawn that turn, showing a picture of a Cyber Dragon roasting a human alive in its flames. "Evolution Burst lets me destroy one monster on the field if I have a Cyber Dragon in play."

A spurt of flame swept over Rune Caster, and it screamed briefly before being completely melted away. Then, since Janice had no more cards in her hand and couldn't attack, her turn was over.

Mizuki drew, and smiled as a plan took shape. Just like in her duel against the professor, she knew just what she had to do. "I set a monster in defense mode and one card face down. End turn."

Now it was Janice's turn to draw, and by the looks of it she was happy by the draw. "Different Dimension Capsule activates. I remove a card from the game and in my second standby phase from now it goes into my hand."

A sarcophagus appeared in front of her, and a card slid into it before it closed. Now in just two turns time Janice would get whatever card she had chosen. "End!"

Mizuki slid a card off her deck and into her hand, and then smiled brightly. "Okay Janice, your turn. Let's speed things along shall we, I heard there was a banquet later tonight."

The older girl frowned; surprised that Mizuki had so casually ended her turn without doing anything else. "I can't do anything either. So I end my turn."

Once again Mizuki drew, and then smiled oddly. "Okay, still not much from this end. I guess it's up to you to bring this duel to its close. Oh well."

Janice grimaced, feeling like she was being disrespected. "If you're so casual about it, let's see how you like this. Now, my capsule breaks, giving me the card I wanted. Then I play Silent Dead!"

A Cyber Dragon materialized, curled up into a ball in defense mode, according to the effect of Silent Dead. "Now, I've gathered them all together. Reveal face down card, Polymerization! I combine the two Cyber Dragons on the field with the one in my hand in order to create….Cyber End Dragon(4000/2800)!"

A giant behemoth of a monster was summoned, its silvery metallic body dominating the field. Three dragon heads stared down at Mizuki, and wide wings spread out from its back. "This monster can deal damage through defense. Ultimate Evolution Burst!"

A massive torrent of flame swallowed up Mizuki's set monster, and nearly blew her completely off the dueling arena. But when the fires faded, instead of being out for the count, Mizuki was still standing. "Sorry, but you destroy Rune Guardian (1000/2000) and I can remove it from play to reduce all damage to me by half. So right after it died I removed it to drop damage calculation by half." (MLP: 400)

Janice stared at the other girl, mouth agape with shock. It hardly seemed possible for her to have had the perfect monster for the situation and yet she had. In fact…she had seemed totally confident. 'She knew I was going to summon Cyber End Dragon all along, and she was ready for it! She's been waiting for it!'

With nothing worth playing, there was little Janice could do but end her turn and worry. If Mizuki had seen Cyber End Dragon coming, that meant she had a plan. But whatever it wasn't, it didn't bode well for her. "Time for this to end. Draw!"

She barely glanced at her drawn card before pointing to her face down card. "Rune Symbol-Kenaz activates! It now deals you eight hundred life points of damage!" A lick of flame struck Janice in the chest, but it wasn't significant damage. (JLP: 1600)

Janice was going to comment on how it was a meager attempt, but suddenly Mizuki had her eyes closed, and was humming. "What…what are you doing?"

"I'm letting the cards divine the path of your destiny for me. I'll go with a three card Rune Layout for this move." Janice had no idea what was going on, but three holographic cards appeared face down in front of her, and one by one they revealed themselves.

"Thurisaz of the standard fate of death, darkness is on your path. Raidho as it is normal, sacrifice to a greater cause, to protect one's ultimate fate. And lastly, in the final position is Kenaz in Merkstave, or reversed, means pain of the body. And now…my divination is complete, and your fate is set. Effect activates!" The three cards began to glow, and Cyber End Dragon shook violently before blowing apart.

"One monster on the field is now destroyed, and half its attack points are dealt to each of us. But we can negate that damage if we discard one monster from our hand whose attack strength is equal to or greater than the damage we would receive. Can you forestall that destiny?" Janice stared at the oncoming wave of flame, and shook her head. The only card in her hand wasn't even a monster at all.

Mizuki's eyes opened as she flipped around one of the cards she was holding. "Your destiny may be set, but I can defy mine by discarding Rune Paladin(2300/2300)! Now, it's finished!"

The flame swept over Janice, knocking her off her feet, but it swept harmlessly over Mizuki. Janice felt her back jar as she hit the ground, her pride injured at almost the same time as her butt was. 'She's amazing…she beat me just like that!' (JLP: 0)

She shook her head, looking up to find Mizuki staring down at her with a hand extended. "Come on Janice, we don't want to miss the food do we?"

Janice shook her head and used the offered aid to come to her feet. As the two walked back to the main hall of the Ra Yellow dorm, she could only think one thing. 'This girl, she's got a gift. And I bet she'll go far.'

Mizuki on the other hand finally had something else back on her mind. 'I wonder if I can exchange this top for something more loose fitting, even though it seems to be standard issue. Auuuu….'

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Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed it.

The first step is done, and now it's time for Mizuki to get used to the fact that this is a school, not a summer camp. School means classes, and it looks like she's about to meet an arrogant prick in one of them. But what's there to do about it….besides duel him?

See it all in, The Rivalry Sparking Incident!

Review Response

WolfGeneral: Here's a better taste of just what the Rune Deck is all about.

Time Mage: For Mizuki's nerve, you can probably see now that she's totally different when dueling than any other time.