Both Slifer Red students, ZK Richards and Steve Tyler, were heading towards their first class of the day. It was the Alternative Strategies class being taught by Professor Ellen Baker.

"Can you believe your old man is the head of our dorm?" ZK asked.

"I'm just surprised to see him again," Steve shrugged. "Say are you still going to keep staring at that card or what?"

In ZK's hand was the Elemental Hero Avian card that Victor had given him. It was a weak monster in terms of ATK and DEF points and didn't seem to fit ZK's deck style at all.

"Stat wise, it's a pretty weak monster compared to your other ones," Steve remarked.

"I don't think weak is the right word, Stevie," ZK said, slipping the card into his deck case. "I was taught by my sis that all cards, no matter what level or how many points they have, are valuable. They all have great potential if used right."

"Well, your sis did win every tournament she entered for the last 3 years. Say, she's in the Pro-Circuit, isn't she?"

ZK nodded. Both of them then entered the classroom. It looked like a university lecture hall. Looking at their seat assignments, noting they were next to each other, the two students in red sat down on their assigned seats. They didn't notice another pair of Slifers eyeing them in keen interest before Professor Baker entered to start the class. Like they had seen her before, she was quite lovely and most of the boys, and a number of the girls, couldn't help but stare.

"Now, class, as you are well aware or may not, there are several ways to win a duel. Of course, the most common way is to decrease your opponent's life points to 0. Now, can anyone tell me how else you can win without targeting the life points?" A few of the students muttered amongst themselves. "Come on," she encouraged. "It's not that hard."

Steve raised his hand and Professor Baker noted, "Yes, Mr. Tyler?"

Steve rolled his eyes. He preferred to be called Steve but she did call on him after he raised his hand. He stood up and answered, "By using Exodia the Forbidden One. When a player holds all the 5 cards that form Exodia, they automatically win the duel."

Professor Baker smiled, "Very good, Mr. Tyler." Steve sat down and the teacher continued, "Now, class, the purpose of this class is for you to learn alternative strategies in winning duels. I will teach you about monster effects, spells, traps and combos that will allow you to attain victory in a variety of unconventional means. Now, does anyone know what the term 'milling' means?" She scanned the room. "How about you, Mr. Hasuma?"

A young man looked up. He had long braided auburn hair and emerald green eyes. He wore his Slifer Red jacket over a red Chinese shirt and black slacks. He stood up, "Um… A Mill Deck centers around getting through the contents of your opponent's deck very rapidly. Using cards such as Needle Worm, Card Destruction, Morphing Jar, and Cyber Jar," answered the boy.

"Excellent," said Prof. Baker. "Now, as you all know, I specialize in a burn deck. Can anyone tell me what the point of a burn deck is?" The girl sitting next to Leonard raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Hasuma?" The girl stood up. She had long black hair with a bow on top and storm blue eyes. She wore a black tank top under her Slifer Red jacket and a red mini-skirt.

"A burn deck focuses on dealing damage to your opponent's life points without having to attack," answered the girl.

"Very good," Prof. Baker acknowledged. "Burning is a way of targeting your opponent's life points without the need of attacking. There are several ways of burning your opponent's life points, either using monster effects, spells, or traps. Today's lesson will cover the burn strategy."


"Now, for homework, I'd like a one page essay on an effect monster, spell, or trap card that can be used in a burn strategy. Now, class dismissed."

The students began to shuffle out of their seats. Steve was keeping his paper in his bag as ZK pocketed his tape recorder.

"Wow, never thought burning was so…interesting," ZK said.

"Burn only works as well if you can stall, it seems," Steve said.

"True."

"Hey," a female voice called and the two Slifers looked to see the boy and the girl from earlier.

"Um…can we help you?" Steve asked.

"I think you can," the girl, Kat, grinned, "Word on the street is that you two beat that jerk Adam, true?"

"You bet we did!" ZK boasted. Steve shook his head at his friend.

"Yeah, so?" Steve asked.

"My bro and I want to challenge you two to a couple of duels." Kat pointed to ZK, "I wanna duel him."

"Me?" ZK blinked. "Why?"

"We each tossed a coin to see who got to duel who," Kat replied.

"It was the only way to decide," the boy, Leo, added. "That means, Steve Tyler, that I am your opponent."

"Okay, but where do we duel and when?" ZK asked.

"After all classes are done for the day, meet us up at the Slifer Dorm," Kat said. "Don't be late, boys."

The two twin Slifers then walked out of class. "Am I the only one confused by what just happened?" asked Steve.

"Ah, I see you've met Katherine and Leonard Hasuma," said a voice behind the two. Steve and ZK turned around to see two people, both male. One had silver hair and blue eyes. He wore his Slifer red blazer closed and kaki pants and brown shoes. He has a pair of safety goggles around his neck. The other had spiky brown hair, with the spikes dyed green and blue eyes. He wore his red blazer closed with black pants and shoes. "My name is Nathaniel Williams, but you can call me Nate. And this is my associate Clint Batson," said Nate, the one with silver hair, motioning toward Clint.

Clint stood there for a few moments before saying "I could really use some tacos," he then walked away. ZK and Steve looked at Clint's retreating form with confused looks.

"Don't mind him," said Nate. "He's well… weird."


Classes ended later that afternoon and, as promised, ZK and Steve showed up at the dorm.

"Glad you two made it," said Kat.

"I never turn down a duel," said ZK as he activated his duel disk.


ZK: 4000 LP

Kat: 4000 LP


"I'll go first," said Kat as she drew her card. "I summon my Enraged Battle Ox!" A large humanoid ox clad in red armor appeared on the field, brandishing an axe.

(Enraged Battle Ox: 1700 ATK/ 1000 DEF)

"Then I'll set these two cards and end my turn." The facedown cards appeared on the field.

"I draw. I set this card and activate Heart of the Underdog," said ZK as he set his monster and activated his spell card. "I end my turn."

"Okay then," said Kat as she drew her card. "I sacrifice my Enraged Battle Ox to summon my Manticore of Darkness!" The Ox vanished in swirling energy, only to be replaced by a very menacing monster. It had the body and head of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and black wings.

(Manticore of Darkness: 2300 ATK/ 1000 DEF)

"Woah," ZK's eyes widened.

"Now I activate the spell card, Wild Nature's Release!" The Manticore let out a powerful roar. "This increases my Manticore's attack by its defense points!"

(Manticore of Darkness: 3300 ATK/ 1000 DEF)

"Next I activate my Monster Reborn to bring back my Enraged Battle Ox!" The armor-clad monster returned to the field with a roar. "Now, Manticore of Darkness attack his facedown monster with Bestial Roar!" The monster let out a powerful roar, causing Steve's facedown to shatter. It flipped over briefly to reveal a tiger made of blue flames.

(Soul Tiger: 0 ATK/ 2100 DEF)

The roar echoed past the creature and slammed into ZK, knocking him backwards.


ZK: 2800 LP


"How did that happen?!" exclaimed ZK.

"Thanks to my Enraged Battle Ox, my Manticore deals piercing damage," explained Kat. "Now, Enraged Battle Ox, attack him directly with Raging Axe Slam!" The best-warrior roared and slammed his axe across ZK's chest, causing him to stagger back.


ZK: 1100 LP


"Now I activate my facedown card, Ultimate Offering. I pay 500 lifepoints to bring out my Thousand Needles."


Kat: 3500 LP


A monster that looked like a spiky haired orange rodent appeared on the field.

(Thousand Needles: 1000 ATK/ 1800 DEF)

"Attack him with Needle Shot!" The small monster shot several of its needles at ZK.


ZK: 100


"Now I end my turn. Because of my Wild Nature's Release, my Manticore is sent to the grave. But I can discard a beast type monster to bring him back to the field." The Manticore vanished, only to come back to the field after Kat discarded her card.

"I draw!" declared ZK. "Now, my Heart of the Underdog activates. If I draw a normal monster during my Draw Phase I can draw again. So, I just drew Giant Soldier of Stone, so I draw again." ZK did just that. "I drew another Giant Soldier of Stone, so I draw again. I drew Elemental Hero Avian, so I draw once more." ZK now held 7 cards in hand. He scanned his cards. "Okay, now how am I gonna make this work… I'll start by activating my Monster Reborn to bring back my Soul Tiger!" The monster made of blue flames appeared on ZK's field. "Next I activate my Enemy Controller, sacrificing my Soul Tiger to gain control of your Manticore!" Kat's monster flapped its wings and flew over to ZK's side of the field as the flames that made up the Soul Tiger's body dispersed. "Then I activate Snatch Steal to take control of your Enraged Battle Ox!" The monster turned around and let out a snort before storming over to ZK's side. ZK looked over his remaining cards. He looked at Elemental Hero Avian. 'I don't know why… but I feel like I need this card.' "I summon my Elemental Hero Avian!"

(Elemental Hero Avian: 1000 ATK/1000 DEF)

"Elemental Hero…Avian?" Kat repeated. "Okay, are you really that ZK guy I heard about?"

"Yeah, why?" ZK questioned.

"Well, word has it that you use powerful normal monsters in terms of ATK or DEF stats. Avian doesn't seem to cut it."

ZK eyes narrowed as he replied calmly, "He may not have that much power, but he's full of surprises."

"Thank you for the compliment, Master Ezekiel," ZK heard a voice and he looked around in bewilderment.

"Huh?" Where had the voice come from?

"Look in front of you," the voice said again and ZK followed it towards…

"Avian?" ZK gaped. The Elemental Hero nodded. ZK smiled. "Okay, I may not know what's going to happen, but I'm gonna finish this! Manticore of Darkness, attack Thousand Needle with Bestial Roar!" The Manticore roared and it smashed the rodent to pieces.


Kat: 2200 LP


"Oh, crud," Kat gulped. Her facedown, Bottomless Pit Trap, wouldn't do any good at this point.

"Now, Enraged Battle Ox, attack directly with Raging Ax Slam!" the Minotaur warrior charged and swiped at Kat, causing her to stagger.


Kat: 500 LP


"Now, Avian, attack…with Feather Hailstorm!" The Elemental Hero nodded in acknowledgement before flapping his wings and taking flight. Kat looked up and uttered two words.

"Oh…crap," she moaned as Avian fired a rain of his feathers directly at her, cutting her life points down to nothing.


Kat: 0 LP


Leo rushed over to his sister and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, wiping her brow. "Many, you're good," she said to ZK. "But I was hoping you would've used one of your bigger monsters to beat me instead of that weak Avian thing."

ZK frowned, "Never insult my cards." He then turned and slapped Steve's shoulder. "You're up, Steve." Steve stepped forward and so did Leo. They faced each other and activated their duel disks.

Leo smiled and bowed, "Please, give me your all. I hate it when people forfeit."

Steve snorted, "You think I'm gonna forfeit?"

"Oh, let's just say when you see what you'll be facing, you'll understand," Leo said as he drew his cards. "Now, then, I think I'll start off with summoning my Cave Dragon in attack mode!" the large wingless green dragon appeared on the field. It gave out a grunt.

(Cave Dragon: 2000 ATK/100 DEF)

"2000 attack points!?" ZK shouted, shocked. None of his friend's Gravekeepers had that kind of power without Necrovalley.

"Next I shall place two spell or trap cards down to the field and then I will end my turn." Leo set his two cards down on the field. "Now, it's your move."

"Okay," Steve declared, "I draw and summon one monster facedown to the field and set one card facedown!" He then snapped his fingers. "Your move."

Leo drew and after inspecting his card, he said. "I summon Masked Dragon, in attack mode!" a red and white dragon wearing a white mask over its face appeared on the field.

(Masked Dragon: 1400 ATK/1100 DEF)

"Next I activate one of my facedown cards, Stamping Destruction," the card flipped up, "Now, this card will destroy one of your facedown spell or trap cards, but only if I have a dragon on the field, and I have two." Masked Dragon flew over to Steve's side of the field and smashed his facedown card, Mirror Force, before flying back to Leo's side of the field. Steve grimaced. "Also, it will deal you 500 points of damage."


Steve: 3500 LP


"Next, I activate my second facedown card, a trap called Dragon's Rage. This card allows my dragons to deal piercing damage, but I suspect your monster has a high defense so I think I'll boost my dragons with this card; the Field Spell known as Mountain!"

As he activated the card, the entire field changed and they looked like they were on top of a mountain. ZK looked around.

"Wow, these holograms are so realistic," ZK admired.

"My brother loves the scenery," Kat shrugged.

"Now, my dragons both receive a 200 attack and defense point boost," Leo added.

(Cave Dragon: 2200 ATK/ 300 DEF)

(Masked Dragon: 1600 ATK/ 1200 DEF)


"Cave Dragon, attack with Cave Dragon Typhoon!" Leo declared and the dragon drew in its breath and blasted Steve's facedown monster, Gravekeeper's Spy.

"My Spy flipped up so now I can summon another monster with Gravekeeper in its name so I summon a second Gravekeeper's Spy!" Steve said and another Spy appeared, kneeling defensively.

Gravekeeper's Spy: 1200 ATK/ 2000 DEF

"Well, interesting, but well I think I'll end my turn by setting this card facedown," Leo said. "Oh, and don't forget, my Cave Dragon has dealt you 200 points of damage thanks to Dragon's Rage."


Steve: 3300 LP


Steve drew his card and set it before setting another monster facedown. "I end my turn."

Leo drew his card and stared at Steve coldly, "I am seeing less and less that you are even truly able to defeat an Obelisk."

"It's still early in the duel, pal," Steve retorted.

"Well, very well," Leo then activated a spell card, "My second Stamping Destruction comes into effect!"

"I don't think so!" Steve declared, "I chain using the Rite of Spirits, and thus revive one of my Gravekeepers, so Gravekeeper's Spy returns to the field!"

The previous Spy returned and kneeled next to its double in a defensive pose.

"Clever," Leo said as he watched Steve's monster reappear on the field. "Now my spell is nullified. But I can still attack so Cave Dragon, attack the facedown monster! Cave Dragon Typhoon!" the blast of wind blasted the facedown monster, revealing a large bald man in robes.

"You just activated the effect of my Gravekeeper's Guard!" Steve proclaimed, "When he gets flipped, I get to return one of your monsters to your hand, so that means your Cave Dragon bounces right back!"

The Cave Dragon vanished.

"But you still receive damage from the difference of my dragon's attack and your monster's defense," Leo remarked.


Steve: 3000 LP


"I end my turn," Leo said.

"Well, here I go!" Steve drew his card. "Okay, I first use the card, my Gravekeeper's Commandant, discarding it take a field spell card from my deck!" Steve grinned, "And now I activate the Field Spell Necrovalley and-"

"Will do nothing!" Leo exclaimed, flipping his facedown card, "Activate Counter Trap, Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell! By discarding a spell card, namely my Dragon's Gunfire, I can negate the activation of a spell card and destroy it!" Steve gritted his teeth as he was forced to send his Necrovalley to the graveyard, "And as an added bonus, the card negated by this trap can no longer be used in the duel, so any copies you have are now useless!"

"Oh, man!" ZK gaped.

"Way to go, bro!" Kat cheered.

"I've heard about you, Steve Tyler. Your Necrovalley card is like the heart of your deck, the thing that makes your deck work," Leo narrowed his eyes, "But reliance on one card will be your downfall."

"I can still duel!" Steve shouted out, "So, now I sacrifice my Gravekeeper's Spy for Gravekeeper's Chief!" the Spy vanished, and was replaced by the more powerful Chief.

(Gravekeeper's Chief: 1900 ATK/1200 DEF)

"And because I special summoned him, I can summon my Gravekeeper's Guard back in defense mode!"

The Guard appeared with its stats displayed, kneeling defensively.

(Gravekeeper's Guard: 1000 ATK/1900)

"Now, my Chief, attack the Masked Dragon!" the Chief chanted and let loose a magical blast that shattered the Masked Dragon apart.


Leo: 3700 LP


"Did you forget my monster had a special ability? Now it activates!" Leo announced and a new dragon appeared to the field. It was a light brown and orange dragon with its hands gripped into fists. "My Armed Dragon LV 3, summoned from my deck due to the effect of my Masked Dragon!"

(Armed Dragon LV3: 1200 ATK/ 900 DEF)

Attack and Defense stats due to Mountain: (1400 ATK/ 1100 DEF)

"I end my turn," Steve said.

"An Armed Dragon LV3," ZK stared, "Oh, no!"

"I draw and now my dragon grows up!" Leo said and the dragon began to glow and GROW! "Meet Armed Dragon LV5!"

This dragon was bigger and its scales had turns black and red. It spikes were more pronounced and its knuckles had sharp spikes as well.

(Armed Dragon LV5: 2400 ATK/1700 DEF)

"And because Mountain is in play, it receives a power boost," Leo said.

(Armed Dragon LV5: 2600 ATK/1900 DEF)

"Now, Armed Dragon, attack…the Gravekeeper's Spy!"

The dragon roared and threw its fist straight at the Spy. It was destroyed and shattered, taking more of Steve's life points.


Steve: 2400 LP


"Now, I end my turn," Leo said. "And thus my dragon grow even bigger, becoming Armed Dragon LV7!" the dragon roared and increased in size, becoming even more menacing.

(Armed Dragon LV7: 2800 ATK/ 1000 DEF)

"And it grows stronger because of Mountain," Steve said dryly. Leo nodded.

"Correct," Leo nodded

(Armed Dragon LV7: 3000 ATK/ 1200 DEF)

ZK was nervous. Steve was about to lose and his defenses were being trampled over. What could his friend do?

"I draw…" said Steve. He looked at the card he just drew, his Gravekeeper's Assailant. He looked in his hand and noticed that he had a second one in his hand. He looked over his entire hand, hoping for some kind of strategy. His hand contained two Gravekeeper's Assailant, Terraforming, and Pot of Greed. "I activate my Terraforming! So I grab a field spell, my Temple of Anubis!" Steve then activated his card. The mountains fell to the ground as a temple appeared behind Steve, statues of Anubis, the Jackal God of Judgment, guarding the gate.

(Armed Dragon LV7: 2800 ATK/ 1200 DEF)

"Now I'm going to show you something amazing. I activate Pot of Greed to draw two new cards. Now for one of the cards I drew with my Pot of Greed, my Graceful Charity! I now get to draw three cards and then I discard two cards." He showed Leo his two Gravekeeper's Assailant, and then slid them into his deck box. The spectral forms appeared on the field then flew into the temple. "One of my Temple's effects is that when a Gravekeeper monster would be sent to the grave, it's removed from the game instead. Now I activate the card Foolish Burial, this makes me choose a monster from my deck and send it to the grave, but because of my Temple, it's removed from the game instead. I choose my Gravekeeper's Curse." The monster's spectral form appeared on the field before entering the temple. "Now I discard my second Gravekeeper's Commandant to search out Necrovalley!"

"I think you may have lost it. You can't use Necrovalley," pointed out Leo.

"I'm not gonna use it, I just needed my Commandant removed from the game. Because now I'm gonna summon my third Gravekeeper's Spy!" The female monster appeared on the field.

"Oh, yeah, he's definitely lost it," said Kat.

"Then why is he smiling so widely?" questioned ZK with a smirk.

"I'm smiling because of this, my Heavy Storm!" Steve activated his card. Leo's trap was blown away. "And now my Temple's second effect activates!" The Temple began to rumble. The statues collapsed sending a shockwave throughout the field. Leo's dragon roared as it exploded. Steve's Gravekeepers screamed in pain as they exploded. "When my Temple is destroyed, it destroys all cards on the field equal to the amount of Gravekeeper's sacrificed to it. And now its final effect activates!" Three coffins rose from the ground. They opened and revealed Steve's Gravekeeper's Commandant, Gravekeeper's Curse and Gravekeeper's Assailant.

"How?!" exclaimed Leo. He was now defenseless and Steve just brought out three monsters.

"It was my Temple. When it is sent to the grave it allows me to special summon as many Gravekeeper's equal to the number of cards destroyed." The Curse activated his ability, draining Leo of his life points.


Leo: 3200 LP


"Just so you know, Leo, the heart of my deck isn't Necrovalley, but my Gravekeepers themselves! Now Curse, attack with Doomsday Purge!" Green energy shot at Leo, knocking his life points even lower.


Leo: 2400 LP


"Commandant attack with Ancient Impalement!" The monster charged at Leo and slashed through him.


Leo: 800 LP


"Master, allow me to finish this," said a gruff male voice in front of Steve.

Steve looked in front of him to see his Assailant nodding at him. "No idea what's going on but, okay! Assailant finish this with Stealth Strike!" The Assailant vanished from view and appeared right in front of Leo. He then slashed both his weapons across Leo's chest before leaping back to Steve's side.


Leo: 0 LP


Steve looked at his monsters as the Curse and Commandant vanished. He then noticed that his Assailant was more see through. "It is an honor to serve you," said the Assailant before it vanished.

Steve looked at the Assailant intently. 'Okay, I might be losing it. I could've sworn that my Assailant just talked to me…'

"That… was amazing," Leo commented.

"Hey, you weren't so bad yourselves. Wonder why neither of you are in Ra," Steve replied.

"Oh, we both qualified, but we wanted to go from the bottom up," Kat said.

"Wait," ZK paused, "Let me get this straight; you actually applied to get into Slifer Red when you could've gone to Ra Yellow?"

"That's right," Leo nodded. "Plus, we both like the color red."

"Oh," Steve and ZK blinked in confusion.

"Thank you two for the duels, but now we wish to rest," Leo yawned. "See you two later."

"See ya!" Kat waved before both of them walked off and into the dorm.

"Weird twins," Steve commented.

"Very weird," ZK agreed.


Later that night, both Leo and Kat were in a clearing meeting up with two male students. One was a Ra Yellow student who had his brown hair spiked up. Another was an Obelisk Blue student who wore glasses and had shoulder length black hair.

"So, they were able to defeat you two?" the Obelisk asked the twins.

"That's right," Kat replied. "That ZK really knows how to use his Normal Monsters."

"And Steve was able to utilize his Gravekeepers well, even when I had my Armed Dragon at Level 7," Leo added.

"What do you think, Desmond?" the Ra asked the Obelisk.

The Obelisk, Desmond, went into a thinking pose and then said, "Let's continue to watch them. I want to see how far they can go."

"Why are you so interested in them, Desmond?" the Ra asked again.

"I have my reasons, Takada. If they have the potential, then maybe they can join us."