Man…I'm really confused…

I mean, after all the stuff I had to deal with Kurochin, this stuff happens! I don't even understand it!

And for now, I've been charged with a tedious task…one that I'm really not sure why I even was given it.

I didn't even expect to see this many people either, right now, I see an airhead…

a space cadet (or that's what Mustang is calling him, does anyone know what a space cadet is?)…

a person who reminds me of someone else (I can't really put my finger on whom though)…

two of them are goofballs…

and the last two I'm supposed to help, well, one has a funny name and the other one just seems really cold for some reason…

When compared to me, the number one ninja duelist extraordinaire…these people are freaks!

And now, I've got this weirdo popping out of no where to duel me. He may have a weird fashion sense, a whacked out sense of fate, but…at least I'll be able to show the new duelists that I rock!

/-/---/-/--/-/-/-/

Chapter 29

Blank Slate

/--//---//-//--/-/-/-/-

The moon gleamed over the academy, a cool breeze lofting over the terrain. And standing before the academy, allowing his weird clothes to blow in the breeze, stood a single soul who looked up towards the moon with a slightly depressed look on his face…

"Never forget your first dream…" The individual hummed loudly lifting his arms up into the air, holding up a deck of blue backed cards towards the moon. "Continue the chase! Keep holding on!"

Fanning the cards into the air, the breeze stole all of the cards, sending them scattering into the sky. And yet, on the young man's face, wasn't a look of worry, rather a look of confidence. "Broken dreams I couldn't reach and almost gave up on, a promise deserted."

As soon as he lowered his arm with the cards disappearing into the night sky, the young man walked away from the school, many black feathers floating past him. "Your words that are stuck in my heart and can't pull out; I've been repeating them over and over."

The many feathers covered the young man's entire body, making him disappear into the darkness. "And, now, the wind is pushing at my back."

The feathers all scattered, showing that the young man had disappeared into the night, yet his voice still echoed through the night's sky. "Get up! My burning heart is about to explode!"

///--/-/--//-//-/-/

It was the early morning, even before the sun had risen, and standing in the infirmary, Daigo and Mustang stood at the bed where Kurro had been placed in the previous night…

…only to see that bed was empty, no Kurro, no Kuchin, no Kurochin!

"Wow…I didn't think this was possible," Mustang whistled adjusting the scarf around his neck. "…so, did he just run out last night?"

"…highly doubtful," Daigo stated with his arms crossed over his chest. "In the condition he was in, it would've been dangerous to move him."

"What about Team Legendz?" Mustang suggested looking out the window, the sun still was no where to be seen. And with a large yawn, Mustang turned back to Daigo. "They could've come in last night and pulled him out. Probably took his medicines with him to keep him stabilized…"

"Good theory, Mustang," Daigo admitted turning towards the stand next to the bed, pointing towards it. Set atop the stand, were many bottles, ranging from different sizes and colors. "Unfortunately, all of Kurro's medicine is still here…"

"…I don't suppose you have any cameras in here then?" Mustang questioned, a small blood vessel appearing on top of his head. "Maybe one of them caught something that could give us a little hint?"

"Actually we do have a camera stationed in here…" Daigo stated turning away with a slight blush on his face. Mustang could only guess why the blush there, but he'd rather not ask.

"…so, why exactly did you need to wake me up this early for this?" Mustang asked rubbing his eyes. "Just check the tapes and you'll find your answer…"

"…I would, but the camera was on the fritz last night," Daigo answered.

SMACK!

"…and that brings me back to why you woke me up for this?!?" Mustang growled glaring rusty daggers at Daigo, while he lowered his hand from his now red forehead. "And if you think the shorty is the only one with an anger problem when he's called short, you haven't seen me when I don't get enough sleep."

"I just thought that since you were the Kaiser…" Daigo stated scratching the back of his neck. "Ya know, you'd probably have some extrasensory for these kinds of things…"

"Sir…I'm not a detective yet," Mustang growled rubbing his temples, trying to ease his anger. That's the last thing he needed this morning, to have an anger issue like a certain alchemic duelist. "And the only detective I know of is the Die Hard Detective in my deck."

"I didn't know you wanted to be a detective," Daigo stated trying to calm down Mustang.

"Well, gotta have something left over if the duelist league isn't my thing," Mustang replied with a large smile gracing his face, until the reality struck him. "Waitwaitwaitwait! Don't try changing the subject! What the hell did you want from me?"

"Actually, there was another reason I wanted to see you," Daigo stated combing his hair with his hand. "You see since Kurro is missing, I legally have control of the academy…again."

"Great…why not give it back to the guy who wagered the fate of the academy on a duel…twice!" Mustang chuckled.

Coughing a few times with a slight blush on his face, Daigo slowly continued. "Ahem…a-anyway, you see, apparently, according to Kurro's duel out program, we're low on students, so I've managed to convince some students from different academies to transfer over here. And to get to the point, I want you to find a Ra Yellow student and Slifer Red student to help show a few of these students around the academy…"

"… … I'm going to get you for this…" Mustang growled lowering his head, allowing his hair to cover his eyes as he slowly headed for the door. "I'm going back to bed…"

"I'll transfer some money to your account," Daigo stated making Mustang freeze in his tracks. "So…you've got a couple of hours before the rest of the students arrive at the docks."

"…the rest? Did some more arrive earlier?" Mustang yawned stretching his arms in the air.

"…only two, but they're still going to given the tour," Daigo replied waving towards Mustang. "So, now, you better figure out who you want to help you with the tour, because we've got a lot of students."

"Well, why can't you do it?" Mustang asked, this wasn't the normal job that the Kaiser of the academy was charged with…but then again, Mustang didn't know what his title entitled him except a few people just willing to try to beat him down.

"I've got too much paperwork," Daigo replied with a large smile on his face.

"I am so going to get you back for this," Mustang growled slamming his foot into the ground.

//--/--//--/-/-/-//-/

Meanwhile, on the roof of the Slifer Red dorm, a familiar blue haired, red student sat on the roof, watching the sun beginning to rise over the watery horizon. His mind still wrapped around the duel that had occurred yesterday…

…although, he was glad that he managed to take down that large dragon…the look on Kurochin's face was priceless… "Wait…wasn't he wearing a mask?"

Shaking that thought from his head, Garu just stood up on the roof stretching his arms into the sky, completely oblivious of the fact that there was a gray haired young man crouching down behind him. 'Maybe…just maybe, I can get this over with, without having to cause a large commotion…the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can get off this island…'

Without a sound, the mysterious gray haired man slowly crept up behind the unsuspecting Garu. Then as he was only a step away from Garu, the gray haired man raised his arms up to grab the ninja duelist…

"Hey! Garu!"

"Hmm?" Garu questioned looking down to see Mustang as the young gray haired man tried to grab him. "Hey Mustang!"

With a great jump, Garu leapt off of the roof to land on the second floor railing. Unfortunately, the gray haired young man lost his balance slipped backwards, trying his hardest not to scream when he fell off the roof.

Back with Garu who just leapt again to the ground in front of Mustang. "What's up Kaiser?"

"Hey, who was that on the roof with you?" Mustang asked raising an eyebrow.

"What? I was alone up there," Garu replied looking towards the roof, seeing that there was no one up there. "Anyway, I hope you didn't just come here to check out the roofing…"

"Heh…its weird seeing you serious like this," Mustang chuckled crossing his arms.

"Eh, I just haven't had breakfast yet, so I'm a little tired," Garu yawned throwing his arms behind his head. "So, what brings ya to the Red dorm?"

"Well, I've got a little job for ya," Mustang chuckled with a gleeful look on his face. "Daigo asked me to find a Yellow and Red student to help me with something, and I've already got a certain little yellow waiting at the docks for us."

"Daigo? Who's that again?" Garu asked blinking a few times.

"The principal? Headmaster of the school," Mustang answered bluntly.

"…you lost me," Garu replied making Mustang fall backwards with a loud crash.

"The old guy who had you dueling against Kurro yesterday!" Mustang shouted almost making Garu fall backwards.

"…oh yeah," Garu gasped popping his fist into his open palm. "Daigo's his name? That's weird…but then again people have weird names here…"

"You're one to talk," Mustang chuckled shaking his head. "Anyway, you up for this little job?"

"I don't know," Garu replied rubbing his chin. "I mean, couldn't you ask Yae? Or how about Ayame? Maybe even Takashi?"

"…first, I'd rather not burden such lovely ladies," Mustang stated with that glowing smirk on his face. "And second, Takashi is a Ra Yellow."

"I won't do it," Garu stated with a dulled look on his face.

"You'll get out of classes today," Mustang stated.

"…what exactly did you want me to do again?" Garu asked.

'Hook, line and sucker!' Mustang thought skidding next to Garu, to throw his arm around Garu's neck. "So glad you asked my friend!"

/--/--////--/-/-/

Through the halls of the lavish Obelisk dorm, adorned with many blue carpets, fancy murals and other expensive luxuries lining the walls and ceilings, the cloaked Lucian slowly walked through the hallowed hallways. In any crowd, Lucian would be spotted in a mere second; thankfully it was still the early morning…

…he didn't need to be seen by anyone that he didn't want to see him…

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Lowering his hand at the star adorned door, Lucian stood still before the door opened up to reveal Fomalhaut standing in the doorway…only dressed in dark blue pajamas with many silver stars in the fabric that seemed to reflect light…he even had a night cap on. "…oh, its you…"

"…nice look Fomalhaut," Lucian bluntly said in a monotone voice walking into the room past the recently woken up Fomalhaut.

"I didn't say you could come in," Fomalhaut growled shutting the door behind him.

Standing in the middle of the room, Lucian turned his head left and right, looking at all of the posters in the Star Duelist's room. "…Yeesh, you trying to become the Saint of Wrath or maybe even Lust here…?"

Although the walls were painted blue, with all of the posters taped to the walls, all of them displaying many hand-drawn and colored young girls dressed in cute little costumes that just mad Lucian sweatdrop at the sight of them. Fomalhaut on the other hand, he just smacked Lucian square in the back of his head. "Next time you want to come here, let me know ahead of time, jackass."

"Er, ahem, s-sorry," Lucian coughed rubbing the back of his head because of the new bruise on his head.

"I assume you had something you wanted to talk about?" Fomalhaut growled whipping his night cap off his messy white hair. "Or did you just want to wake me up to mock me about my posters?"

"…" Lucian was considering that second offer, but with a few blinks, he was back to his serious self. "…yes, I waned to tell you that Mr. Legendz…he will no longer be an issue with us…"

"Why? Did the geezer croak or something?" Fomalhaut asked walking towards one of his dressers. Since he was up, he might as well get dressed…not that he went to his classes or anything.

"In a sense," Lucian replied walking up to one of the posters. "You have our employer to thank for that. But regardless, we can now proceed with our plans."

"Heh, now you're starting to speak my language," Fomalhaut laughed pulling out one of the many black and white T-Shirts he had in the dresser. "So, that means I can actually…"

"No…not yet…" Lucian interrupted, his eyes almost practically glued to the poster of the cute magical girl. 'Fomalhaut drew this? I didn't know he had any talent…'

"WHAT!?! THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU COME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!" Fomalhaut roared, almost shaking the very foundations of the room that the two were in…unfortunately, almost all of the lamps fell over and so did Lucian.

"Um…well, you see," Lucian stuttered, with a slight hint of fear in his voice. Unfortunately, even though he was the leader of the Saints of Sin…there was no way Lucian could stand up to a very mad Fomalhaut. "Ahem…as y-you are no doubt aware of this, even though there are seven main members of the Saints of Sin, each of us have at least one underling…"

"I know that!" Fomalhaut snarled crossing his arms over his chest. "After all, I am the Saint of Pride! And I don't need to be reminded of my stupid underling! Yeesh, you're talking like you're explaining how something works…like in a manga…"

"Ah, well yes," Lucian stated, back to his monotone voice. "Well, your underlings, as well as several others are coming today…I'd like you to keep an eye on them and see if we can use them to our advantage…"

"…you could've just called me, ya know," Fomalhaut growled slapping his forehead.

"True, but then I wouldn't have some blackmail material," Lucian stated lifting up his cell phone, immediately taking quite a few photos with the built in camera of Fomalhaut and his magical girl posters. "Ka-ching…"

"Grr…why you low-down…" Fomalhaut snarled, the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to rise up in anger.

"Oh yes, I've also forgot to mention that Saints Lust and Sloth will be in that group of duelists," Lucian stated, still taking many photos of the embarrassing room and not paying any mind to the fact that there was a bloody aura encircling his enraged comrade.

"Then why the hell do you need me to watch them?" Fomalhaut asked glaring icy daggers at Lucian who hid his phone away.

"…those two…well, I don't need to explain that those two are always at each others' throats," Lucian stated turning around. "Plus…there's another reason. The…D. MAN experiment…its first phase begun at long last…"

Fomalhaut smiled brightly, but it was a dark smile that exposed his true colors. "Finally…so the effects should already be taking effect here on the island?"

Lucian nodded at the star duelist who just slammed his fists together a few times in joy. "Before you have your fun, I'll expect to see my underling and your report of what happens…and make sure you don't boss your underling into submission…again…"

"Yeah, yeah…now…Get…the…hell…out…" Fomalhaut roared lifting his arms up to the same level as Lucian's neck. "Or…get STRANGLED!"

/-/---/-/-//-//-

The crashing waves slammed up against the docks and the large ship that was docked at the port, many new students standing in front of the large ship, talking amongst themselves as Mustang and Garu had reached the area. "Wow…I thought you said that there would only be a few students coming here."

"I never said that," Mustang replied walking up to a familiar Ra Yellow duelist with white hair. "Hey! Ami!"

"Great timing Mustang!" Ami announced spinning on her heel to wave at the Die Hard duelist before noticing Garu. "And I see you brought Garu to help show these students around!"

"…I thought you didn't want to burden ladies with this task," Garu whispered to Mustang, all the while waving to Ami.

"…she insisted," Mustang muttered back before walking away from Garu. With a clap of his hands, Mustang managed to grab the attention of all of the new students. "Ahem…greetings everyone, and welcome to the Pacific Duelist Academia. Allow me to introduce myself; I am the Die Hard Kaiser of his academy, Mustang! If you've heard of me, well, I assume that you know of my reputation…and for those of you who don't, nice to meet you all!"

Lifting his arms towards Ami and Garu, Mustang continued with a smile on his face. "This is your welcoming party, consisting of myself, the lovely Ami Sonryu and the lucky Garu Honzou…"

"Hi!" Ami greeted waving her hand.

"Nice to meet ya!" Garu added a lot louder than everyone else was, making almost everyone cover his or her ears in pain.

Removing his hands from his ears, Mustang raised his hand into the air. "Don't worry everyone; we're lowering his sugar intake! Anyway, all of you have already been given your uniforms based on what dorm you ranked in the transfer exams, or if you had connections, whatever dorms you had chosen. Some of you have gotten here earlier, but just for the sake of others, we're going to be putting with one of us with the same color as what uniform you had!"

Getting the hint, Garu and Ami slowly took at least six feet away from Mustang. "We will be your tour guides for the island, and if you have any questions feel free to ask any questions…"

A few minutes later…

With Ami and Mustang's groups already gone, Garu was left with seven Slifer Red duelists each of them were very strange.

The first one was a young girl that had long spiky black hair that seemed wild in the back, and yet had a pair of goggles in her hair that was used to keep her hair out of her strangely familiar face. And underneath the ripped, red skirt she was wearing, the girl was wearing a pair of baggy black pants. "Hello…"

The next duelist…well, it was hard for Garu not to stare at the guy, with a visor covering his eyes that matched well with the guy's slicked back blue hair, it was hard to see if the guy was awake or not. His red jacket was hanging off his shoulders with a black muscle shirt underneath it. Next to his baggy blue pants was a long chain that seemed to attach to a wallet. "I come in peace!"

Standing a few feet from the others, the third duelist, had a dark glare to his light brown eyes. His long, tamed, suave, brown hair was combed back behind his ears, and his overcoat like uniform covered his slightly tanned and muscular body while he had his arms crossed over his chest. "…hmm…"

Strangely enough, there was something oddly familiar about this guy…but he couldn't tell what it was…

"Hey! When we going to eat?" The next transfer student asked waving his large arms in the air. Wearing a vest version of the red uniform over his bare chest (he could've used a shirt, mainly because his body was big, but was muscular too). His tan skin and head was covered with short dark brown hair that seemed to curl at the end of it.

"Will you just shut up, you fat ass?!?!" A strangely short student snarled glaring daggers up at the big student. With fiery red hair that was bushy up front, yet strangely short in the back. Wearing the standard uniform, this duelist had large eyebrows and looked to have a dark dragon tattoo on their neck. "You never stop talking!"

The last two…well, they were quiet and seemed rather strange looking (but we know them both as Densui and Talo…)

Standing in front of this weird group, Garu was rather dumbstruck …how about by all of the new faces (even if a couple of them did look rather familiar). But then with a meek smile on his face. "Okay, uh, since you already know who I am, perhaps maybe you should all introduce yourselves…"

"Aw, that just annoying!" The fiery red duelist shouted, making Garu take a step backwards. "What's the point in that?! Its not like we're all going to become buddy-buddy after this!"

"Well, perhaps, but still," Talo interrupted wagging his finger. "But still, it's common courtesy…I am Talo Krys, coming from the Atlantic Duel academy…"

"Same here," Densui yawned weakly raising his hand up. "But, my name is Den Iwa…"

"I hail from the Edo Academy," the suave, tamed haired teenaged man stated, his eyes now crossed and his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm known as Turner, Rae Turner."

'Where have I heard that name before?' Garu thought with a few question marks appearing over his head.

"Heh, you guys call that an intro?" The visor wearing guy laughed tapping his fist against his chest a few times. "Cause I'm from the Indian Academy, and people call me Zemnos Kurt!"

"Duh…is it my turn?" The big guy asked pointing towards himself with a large smile on his face. "Um, my name is…my name is…what's my name again?"

"Don't ask me you idiot!" The fiery kid spat out with a blood vessel appearing on their head. "I don't feel like saying where I'm from, and my name…well, you can settle with Satsuki…"

"Oh, is that my name?" the big guy asked kneeling down to be eye level with the fiery haired youth name Satsuki. "Wow! We have the same name!"

"No you moron!" Satsuki shouted, making the big guy fall backwards. "That's my name!"

"…right!" The big guy laughed jumping to his feet, with surprising agility. "They call me…they call me…oh, now I remember! They call me Nikolai…I think…"

The girl of the group just smiled brightly. "And I'm Sora; I'm not from any current academy…"

"Wow…" Garu muttered his eyes starting to become dizzy marks from all of the new information just added to his mind. "Um…well, how about I take us to the Red Dorm first? Maybe grab some breakfast?"

Quite a few yards away, Fomalhaut was watching the group through a large pair of binoculars, keeping his gaze on a certain few of the group. "Damn it…why do our group members always have to stick out?"

"Perhaps it's just because we're better than everyone else?" A suave, yet familiar voice sounded behind Fomalhaut.

Unfortunately, Fomalhaut didn't get scared as often like regular people. So with an exasperated sigh, Fomalhaut lowered the binoculars to turn around. "…if you're trying to scare me pretty boy, its not going to work."

"Nuts," The Saint of Gluttony cursed under his breath while snapping his fingers. "Anyway…what are you doing?"

"Following Lucian's orders," Fomalhaut answered turning back to watch the group of reds following Garu. "I have to watch a few of our underlings…"

"Oh, I see," The Saint of Gluttony muttered looking over Fomalhaut's shoulder.

"…why the hell are you here though?" Fomalhaut asked not taking his eyes away from the binoculars.

"You know, it's boring to hide alone," The Saint of Gluttony sighed loudly, shaking his head. "So, when I saw you…"

"…wrong person to be social with," Fomalhaut growled.

/-/-/--/-///-/-/-/

"And here's the cafeteria!" Garu announced slamming the doors open to the cafeteria with a large smile. "I know it's not much…"

"It's a piece of crap," Satsuki growled walking past a sweat dropping Garu to sit at a nearby table.

"I smell something good," Nikolai chuckled licking his lips jumping into one of the empty seats.

"Well, yeah, the food's actually pretty good here," Garu added as the other transfer red students walked past him to take their seats. "But…unless the waitress is here, it's mostly self served."

"Most cafeterias are like that," Rae remarked standing up to get some food. "And unless the aroma is fabricated, the meals might be satisfactory."

As Rae slowly walked away from his seat, Garu had a few question marks popping over his head. "…fabricated?"

Meanwhile, standing outside one of the windows…

"…I can't believe Lucian even bothered dealing with that idiot," Fomalhaut spat out, his tongue hanging out as well.

"True," The Saint of Gluttony agreed nodding his head. "There are so many different and better targets for Lucian's experiments."

"…why are you still near me?" Fomalhaut asked raising his brow at the sparkling Saint.

"You look like you could use the company," The Saint of Gluttony replied brushing some of his glorious hair from his face.

"…you know, I'd rather not pick up a newspaper five years later," Fomalhaut growled with a large blood vessel popping out on the side of his head. "And be reminded of good times when they find a skeleton here that has many glowing white sparkles around it."

"Hey, hey, that's no way to talk to someone," The Saint of Gluttony chuckled waving his arms in front of his face. "Especially if that someone knows that you like drawing cute little magical girls…"

"…how the hell…" Fomalhaut began with a look that had a mixture of surprise and disgust.

"…do I know?" The Saint of Gluttony finished raising a small white rose in his fingers. "I got an e-mail from Lucian this morning…I must say, you never struck me as the young artistic pedophile…"

"…and people wonder why I'm anti-social," Fomalhaut sighed slapping his forehead.

Back in the cafeteria…

SLURP!!

"You're eating Ramen Noodles for breakfast?" Zemnos asked blinking a few times behind his visor.

After gulping the noodles he had in his mouth, Garu just smirked widely. "Of course! They're delicious and they're fast!"

"And here I thought you had weird taste," Talo snickered earning himself a death glare from Densui.

"Look, just because I like Tabasco sauce on my waffles," Densui retorted with a narrowed brow. "Doesn't mean that I have weird taste!"

"Yeah, it's actually pretty good!" Nikolai backed up with a mouth full of random breakfast, brunch and lunch food. "Don't knock it till you try it!"

"Heh, highly unlikely that you'd even turn down dirt if we told you it tasted like chocolate," Satsuki scoff lowering the bowl of cereal to the table.

"Huh? That's not true!" Nikolai stated loudly.

"Oh, is that were you draw the line?" Satsuki asked.

"No, is it true dirt tastes like chocolate?" Nikolai asked licking his tongue while a loud slap to Satsuki's forehead echoed through out the cafeteria.

"…just what we need," Garu sighed lowering his head. "More characters…"

"Hey, it's not like it's a bad thing," Sora stated tilting her head to the side.

"…It really more depends on perspective," Rae sighed before lifting the cup of tea in his hands to his lips.

"Okay then," Garu replied turning back to his noodles. "After this we'll check out the main building…"

Meanwhile, outside the window…

"Look this is the last time I'm going to be nice," Fomalhaut growled, many veins beginning to pop out underneath his skin. "GO AWAY!"

"…no…" The Saint of Gluttony replied bluntly.

/--/-/-///--///---/-///-

"Heh, so this school actually has something good to it," Satsuki chuckled as the group of red duelists entered into the rather large duel arena that only yesterday had the duel to determine the fate of the academy…which was interrupted due to bad health.

"Even the Edo Academy didn't have equipment this good," Rae admitted, viewing a nearby wall computer that had been activated. "Mr. Honzou, can you access me the specs to this duel arena?"

"…um, sorry, but I'm technologically impaired," Garu admitted rubbing the back of his head. That was a problem he was going to have to get over eventually…

No one noticed that two certain members of the tour group had wandered off into the halls…where two certain people were having an argument.

"Stay away from me you freak!" Fomalhaut snarled, his hair standing on end.

"Oh, don't be like that, star boy," The Saint of Gluttony sighed with many floating white sparkles appearing all around his body. "You say hate, but I say love!"

"Are we interrupting something?"

The two arguing saints of sin turned to the right, seeing Densui and Talo standing before them with large smirks on their faces. After lowering his gourd of mysterious liquid, Densui just chuckled. "Is it a lover's spat or something?"

Before Densui could make another comment, a power kick delivered to his chest sent him crashing into the nearby wall…courtesy of a very pissed off Fomalhaut. "Shut up you idiot!"

Fomalhaut's glare then shifted to the oddly calm Talo. "You want to say something too?"

"Nah, I know you well Fomalhaut," Talo sighed crossing his arms. "There's no way that you're like that…unless you hid it well all these years…"

"Damn! I think I have a concussion…" Densui moaned slowly standing up rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, you had to push him when he was pissed off," Talo pointed out earning a glare from his counterpart, Densui. However, the glare wasn't enough to shake Talo even the slightest. "Anyway, what exactly are you two doing here?"

"Following star boy here," The Saint of Gluttony laughed crossing his arms. "Making him mad…"

"He just won't leave…" Fomalhaut growled with a glowing red aura surrounding his body.

"Fomalhaut, please calm down," Talo requested before turning towards the Saint of Gluttony. "And as for you…if you leave now, I give my word that I'll visit you after the tour and play a game of chess with you."

"Hmm…alright," The Saint of Gluttony replied with a large glistening smile as he spun on his heel and began to walk away.

"That's…all…it TOOK!?!" Fomalhaut roared making both Talo and Densui to step backwards.

"You know what they say; you catch more flies with…" Talo started with a shrug.

"With a fly catcher!" Densui interrupted pumping his fist into the air.

…Fomalhaut and Talo just starred at their comrade for a few seconds before turning back to each other. "Ahem…anyway, so what are you doing here again?"

Taking a deep breath, Fomalhaut still had his enraged look on his face (maybe he should take a few more deep breaths). "It was Lucian's orders…I was told specifically to watch you two and the three underlings that are in this crop."

"Does Lucian not trust us?" Talo asked crossing his arms. "Densui I can understand…"

"Yeah!" Densui shouted without realizing what he just agreed to. "Hey! I'm trustworthy!"

Too bad Densui's ramblings went ignored by Fomalhaut. "Don't ask me…I'm just following orders. Besides, I was able to get out of those repetitive classes."

"Ah, to get out of class, I should've known," Talo snickered.

Meanwhile…

"Hey stupid!" Satsuki shouted at Garu, getting the ninja duelist's attention. "What kind of duel academy is this if there aren't any duels going on?"

"Um, well, a lot of the students are in class," Garu answered rubbing his chin. "But, I could duel one of ya if you'd like…"

"An outstanding proposition," Rae muttered walking up the small group (no one noticed that Talo and Densui had walked away from the group). "But there's one problem…"

"Oh yeah?" Nikolai questioned blinking a few times. "What's that?"

"…no one here has a duel disk, let alone two," Rae stated bluntly making everyone sweatdrop. "And besides, as much as I like dueling, tabletop is not really an academy's forte."

"Will you stop using such confusing words?" Garu asked earning a cold glare from Rae.

"Perhaps I can help?" A new voice rang out getting the attention of the group to look at the duel platform. Only seconds ago, no one was on the platform, but there he stood…

…with calm smile of the young yet surprisingly tall teenaged man with wild gray haired to float in front of his eyes, even though his hair was covered with a white bandana, the mysterious man smiled and leaned over, making his dark blue short sleeved jacket float slightly over his yellow shirt with a blue and gold Ying-Yang symbol on the chest. From what they saw, his black pants flowed like a flag over his long blue shoes.

In the man's hands were crossed over his chest, while strapped to his back were a pair of duel disks. "Hello."

"…do you usually have freaks like this here?" Sora asked pointing towards the gray haired teen who stepped back.

"F-Freak?" the gray haired teen stuttered raising his arm up in a defensive stance.

"Eh, they're like the onions you find in the cup-o-ramen," Garu stated shrugging his shoulders.

'I really hate this guy…' The gray haired teen thought before recomposing himself with a loud cough. "Ahem…actually, I was walking by and overheard your little complaint. I had a couple disks with me, and would be willing to duel…"

"Heh, why didn't you say so?" Satsuki chuckled walking up to the duel platform. "I'll be more than glad to pummel ya to the ground!"

"Eh?" The gray haired teen gulped taking another step back with his arm in the air. "A-Actually…I was hoping to duel the guy with the goofy look on his face…"

"Me?" Nikolai asked pointing towards himself.

"N-No! Your tour guide!" The gray haired teen shouted slapping his forehead. 'People these days…oh…'

"You sure about that, buddy?" Garu asked placing his hands in his pockets. "I'm known for beating my opponent's down easily!"

"Yeah, you really showed that when you faced against the shorty, that lover boy and that Kaiser user," The gray haired teen retorted pulling a duel disk off from the strap from his back.

'What the? How'd he know that?!' Garu questioned taking a few steps towards the duelist platform, walking away from his group. "You a stalker?"

"Me? Nah," the gray haired teen stated waving his hands in front of his face as Garu immediately jumped up onto the platform. "I'm just a fortuneteller…and just looked into the past."

"I've got twenty on the fortuneteller guy," Satsuki chuckled to the remaining group members. "Any takers?"

"I'll put my money on the knucklehead," Zemnos snickered crossing his arms.

"Which one's the knucklehead?" Nikolai asked scratching the top of his head.

"We can hear you ya know!" Garu shouted back to the tour group.

"…well, its easy to see who commands respect here," the fortuneteller chuckled tossing one of the duel disks into the air towards Garu.

"Ha, ha, ha, you got a name wise guy?" Garu asked catching the duel disk and immediately slipping it onto his wrist. As he pulled out his deck, he immediately shuffled the cards and snapped them into his disk's deck slot. "Or should I just call you freak?"

"Nah…" The Fortuneteller stated elegantly shuffling his cards in his yellow paw-like gloves. "The name's Taikoubou…but please, you can refer me to as Tai."

"Whatever and I'm," Garu started lifting his hand to his chest.

"Garu Honzou, yes I know who you are," Tai sighed wagging his finger at Garu. "Seer of the future, remember?"

"Oh yeah?" Garu replied narrowing his eyes down at Tai's smug look on his face. "Well, think you're all that huh? Well, I'll expose you as a fraud!"

"Oh really? Well, then allow me to make a prediction then," Tai muttered lifting his hands up in front of him. Then after a few seconds with his eyes closed, Tai's eyes immediately shot open. "This duel…it shall be over in thirteen turns…"

"Sweet!" Satsuki laughed from the side. "I've got thirty on this guy's prediction coming true!"

"Quite the gambler I see," Rae muttered.

"DUEL!"

"Allow me to begin the countdown," Tai muttered pulling six cards from the top of his deck into his hand. "Hmm…which card? They're all so good…" (TLP: 8000)

"You already know the outcome of this duel," Garu stated crossing his arms, not looking at his five card hand. "Why are you even bothering making a decision like that?" (GLP: 8000)

"That matters not," Tai retorted with a smile on his face as a face down horizontal monster appeared before him. "I'll end my turn."

Pretty standard opening move, keeping his strategy a secret until he's good and ready…but that wasn't going through Garu's head when he drew his next card. 'I'll plow right through that defense!'

"I summon Shikoro-Ken Shinobi!"

In a cloud of smoke, the twig munching shinobi appeared on the field, raising his saw like sword into the air (1550/1300). This shinobi resemble more like a drifter than a ninja, his dark brown ninja suit had many leaves on it and has multiple rips at the chest. His dirty brown hair was somewhat tied back into a small ponytail. "And now…attack that defense monster!"

A smile appeared on Tai's face as the Shikoro-Ken Shinobi sliced right through the face down card, revealing a small black egg that cracked into many black feathers (0/1000). "Congratulations! You managed to destroy my Tengu Hatchling! And when destroyed, I can add a certain monster from my deck to my hand."

"Tengu?" Garu questioned with his Rai Tengu Shinobi appearing in his head. "I only thought there was only one card like that…"

"…if he's one of the best around here," Rae stated shaking his head. "Then I'd hate to see the worst."

"Is your turn over?" Tai asked curling the back of his hair with his gloved finger. "Cause there's only eleven turns to go…"

"Man, that seems to get really old," Garu growled fitting a card into his duel disk, creating a back card behind his shinobi. "Really fast!"

"Yeah, yeah, you're preaching to the choir," Tai snickered snapping his seventh card into his hand. But then, taking one card from his hand, Tai slipped it into his graveyard slot. "I activate the effect of Tengu Oni Samurai…by discarding it; I can add one field spell from my deck to my hand."

"Man aren't you going to make a decent move?" Garu asked crossing his arms, not really considering what Tai was having plans for.

"Sure, we've only got about ten more turns to go," Tai stated flipping a single card in his hand around. "I summon Tengu Oni in attack mode!"

Many black feathers flew over Tai's shoulders, merging into one large clump of feathers that sprouted into wings, revealing a large, man-shaped crow demon dressed in light silver armor (1400/1300 300/0).

"Hey! How'd your monster get stronger?" Garu asked as the Tengu floated in the air above Tai's hair.

"It's called a special ability," Tai sighed shaking his head to get some of the hair out of his face. "My Tengu Oni increases the attack of all dark monsters by three hundred points…and I'm not done yet! I activate the field spell card, Tengu Sanctuary!"

A large dark orb appeared over Tai's head, immediately bursting into hundreds and hundreds of feathers floating over the field. As the feathers landed on the ground, the ground began to shake, allowing many ancient ruins to emerge from the ground. The Tengu Oni (1700/1300 300/300) perched itself on the top of a ruined pillar, watching the surprised Shikoro-Ken Shinobi. "…as you can probably wonder, all winged-beast monsters gain three hundred attack and defense…and there's a secret behind these ruins…but you'll find out eventually…"

"Ya know, I'm getting really tired of all of these secrets that duelists have with their cards," Garu growled slapping his forehead.

"Well, then, I'll just reveal the surprise right now!" Tai stated fitting a card into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card, Cry of the Tengu!"

Lifting its black beak into the air, the Tengu Oni cried loudly into the air, making everyone in the arena to cover their ears in pain. That's when more black feathers floated down from the sky, allowing another Tengu Oni to float down onto the ruins…only this one held a bamboo sword in each of its two talons (1400/1300 600/300). "This spell card allows me to special summon one Tengu Oni from my deck…so I choose Tengu Oni – Kendo! And now – my field spell activates!"

Many of the floating feathers just stopped in mid-air, all of them aimed in the direction of Garu. Then, like arrows being shot from a bow, the many feathers struck the face down card Garu had set, surprising the Ninja duelist and his Shinobi. "My field spell forces me to destroy a spell or trap on the field…"

"Harpies!" Garu exclaimed making everyone sweatdrop, except Sora who seemed to smile.

"Huh?" Tai questioned blinking a few times at his opponent. "Excuse me?"

"Your cards are like carbon copies of some cards I faced against when I first got here," Garu explained with a toothy grin plastered on his face. "The only difference is their outside properties!"

"…damn it…" Tai muttered rolling his eyes. He didn't think this duelist was that smart to make a connection like that. Although, it wasn't going to stop Tai's onslaught. "Tengu Oni – Kendo! Take down that Shinobi! Tengu Kendo!"

Leaping from its perch on the ruins, the Tengu Oni – Kendo flew directly into the surprised Shikoro – Ken Shinobi, sending the ninja flying into the air. (GLP: 7550)

"And you know what?" Tai chuckled with a devious smile on his face. "…regular attacks won't cut it! You just annoy me! Tengu Oni! Get creative!"

Flying directly from its perch, the Tengu Oni floated in front of Garu for a few seconds…

WHAM!

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!" Garu yelped in pain in a higher voice. 'W-Why does it hurt?!?' (GLP: 5550)

"Poor guy," Zemnos sighed adjusting his visor.

"He seems committed to giving us a show though," Rae admitted blinking a few times as Garu slowly stood up, his legs shaking a little bit.

"What the hell was that?!?" Garu asked, his voice slowly returning to normal as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

"…" Tai had his eyes closed, ignoring Garu's ramblings. 'I see…I didn't think it would occur so soon. Well, at least I'll be able to see what's going on in this duel.'

Then, taking two of the remaining cards in his hand, Tai slipped them into his duel disk, making them appear in front of the ruins. "…your move…and nine more turns to go…"

"Damn it! Don't ignore me!" Garu shouted snapping his next card into his hand. "You can take your predictions and shove them up your as…"

Meanwhile…

"Ask me no more questions," Talo sighed shaking his head at Fomalhaut. "And you won't get stupid answers…"

"You're the one who was asking the questions," Fomalhaut growled rubbing his temples, some times he wondered why he even bothered. "But, back to what I was getting at…the D. MAN project…has begun…"

"What's the D. MAN project?" Densui asked blinking a few times.

"…hard of hearing are we?" Talo sighed shaking his head. "Lucian mentioned the project at the last meeting…"

"Well excuse me! We've got so many plans in the works that it's hard to remember a specific one," Densui huffed falling to the ground to sit down. "You think that Lucian would send us a memo or something about it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Saint of Sloth!" Talo laughed shaking his hair out of his eyes.

"Ha, ha, ha, what a cut up," Densui moaned lowering his head.

Back to the duel…

"I summon Tekagi Kunoichi!" Garu announced slapping the card onto his duel disk.

In a another puff of smoke, a young, beautiful kunoichi appeared in front of Garu, wearing a more soft combination of a blue ninja suit. Her long dark hair was tied back with a light blue headband with a few strands in front of her crystal blue eyes. On her hands, were pair of hand claws that gleamed in the light as she raised them up towards the Tengu Oni (1000/400). "And next, I'll outfit her with Ninja Firecracker!"

In many small puffs of smoke, a large vest covered with firecrackers appeared on the surprised Tekagi Kunoichi (1000/400 400/0). "And now…slice and dice that overgrown chicken!"

With a powerful jump, the Tekagi Kunoichi pulled her arms back, ready to clip the wings of the slightly surprised Tengu Oni. However, Tai…he just shook his head. "Go ahead…using an outdated technique…"

A coin appeared over Garu's head, immediately flipping into the air. "I see you know exactly what my Kunoichi can do…then I call heads!"

The coin immediately fell to the ground, showing that the coin was face up showing the golden eye that represented heads. At the same time, the Tengu Oni squawked loudly in pain as the Tekagi Kunoichi sliced right through the crow demon like a hot knife through butter. And without the original Tengu Oni, the Tengu Oni – Kendo lowered its head in shame of its loss (2000/1700 – 300/0) of a comrade.

"Of course, I don't take damage," Tai sighed shaking his head. "You should consider thinking about your moves Mr. Honzou…"

"Ah shut up," Garu muttered fitting the last two cards from his hand into his duel disk. "Turn end."

"And only eight more turns to go," Tai counted down casually lifting his next card up. "I hope you realize that your kunoichi's defense is admirable…but not only do you have her effect, should I destroy that monster, you'll destroy one monster on my field thanks to that equip spell…"

Garu stepped back, this guy knew almost all of his tricks…but could he really see the future? 'There's no way!'

Taking one card from his hand, Tai spun the card in his fingers before placing it onto his duel disk, making many more black feathers to float down from the ceiling. "But there's a way around it…I summon Tengu Oni – Archer!"

The feathers wrapped around in the air, immediately creating another crow demon, only this one wielding a bow in its talons that was immediately aimed at the Tekagi Kunoichi (1000/1300 300/300). "And now…Tengu Sanctuary! Destroy that equip spell!"

Once again, like arrows being fired at the vest of fire crackers, making them all ignite. Fearing for her life, the Tekagi Kunoichi ripped off the vest of explosives at the last second before they exploded in a flurry of lights (1400/400 – 400/0). "So? You've still got my Kunoichi's special ability to…"

"Please…fortuneteller remember?" Tai chuckled wagging his finger at Garu. "I was prepared for that, especially with my Tengu Oni – Kendo. You see…any monster he battles automatically loses its effect."

"You've got to admit that the fortuneteller is actually a pretty good duelist," Rae stated combing his hair back with his hand. "He thought this ahead in the duel…"

"That fifty is mine!" Satsuki shouted with arms being pumped into the air. "Prepare to pay up space man and fat ass!"

"I wouldn't count out ninja boy yet," Sora stated. "There's still eight more turns remember?"

"Tengu Oni – Kendo! Attack that kunoichi!" Tai commanded as the Tengu Oni jumped into the air, spinning both of the bamboo swords in its talons before swooping down towards the smirking Kunoichi.

"You should've blasted one of my face down cards!" Garu stated throwing his hand over his face down card that was immediately flipped up. "Trap card go! Two-K Shuriken! Kiss your monsters goodbye!"

With a snap of her fingers, the Tekagi Kunoichi leapt into the air just before hundreds upon hundreds of shuriken began rain down on the two Tengu Oni monsters, stabbing them all over their bodies till they fell from their perches, dead. Tai on the other hand just shook his head as the Tekagi Kunoichi floated to the ground. "…well, that was interesting…"

"Heh, looks like this duel will be done in eight turns," Garu chuckled rubbing the bridge of his nose with a goofy smile on his face.

SNAP!

A large shadow in the shape of a Tengu Oni erupted in front of Tai's body, squawking loudly into the air making Garu take a step back. "It will be, but, until then, I activate my trap, Tengu's Shadow. When two or more dark monsters are destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one Dark monster from my deck with a level six or lower."

The shadow shattered into three separate shadows that burst into feathers creating three large black crow demons dressed in silver armor on their bodies and wings (2100/1950 300/300). All three of the demons squawked loudly making everyone cover their ears in pain. "Meet my Tengu Oni – Squadron! And since a Tengu was summoned…kiss your last face down card goodbye!"

Garu just lifted his arm up as the many feathers pierced the card's back, shattering the card into digital pixels. "And now…Tengu Oni – Squadron! Finish what your comrades started!"

All three of the Tengu Demons flew straight into the air, shrill cries filling the air before they began to dive bomb towards the determined Tekagi Kunoichi. Garu just narrowed his eyes as the coin began to flip into the air. "Come on heads!"

'There's no way I'll lose to this pretender!' Garu thought as the coin bounced on the ground a few times…until rolling heads up. "Alright! Clip their wings!"

In a flurry of feathers, the three Tengu Oni monsters shattered while squawking in pain. The Tekagi Kunoichi smirked wildly while licking the gleaming claws on her knuckles. "Heh, all that work and nothing came out as you planned!"

"In a sense," Tai sigh shaking his head fitting the last card in his hand into his duel disk. "But…we'll see in the end now won't we? Seven turns to go."

"May, I can't wait to wipe that smug look off your face," Garu growled pulling his next card into his hand. "And it's going to get all the sweeter! I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two more cards!"

The large, green, giggling pot appeared before Garu, allowing the ninja duelist to draw his next two cards into his hand. But then, without a second thought, Garu immediately slapped one card onto his duel disk. "And now, I'll summon Nunchaku Kunoichi!"

Spinning the nunchaku in her hands, the green dressed kunoichi appeared on the field (1300/500), ready to strike. "And now, ladies, why not show these guys how we duel…Pacific Academy Style!"

Tai's eyes slightly widened as the two female ninja leapt towards him, smacking him with the nunchaku and cutting his arms with the claws, making him stagger backwards. "Urk!" (TLP: 5700)

"How do you like me now?" Garu asked as the two kunoichi leapt back to his side of the field, glaring daggers at Tai.

"Hmm…you'll have to do better than that if you want to win in seven turns," Tai sighed shaking his hair from his face. "If you think you can beat me…cast aside these times reborn…"

"Precious Time! Glory Days!" Satsuki, Zemnos, and Nikolai shouted along with Tai, making Rae, Sora and Garu sweatdrop at their words.

"You've only got one life to live," Tai snickered crossing. "And I'd like to get back to living mine, so please finish your turn…"

"Fine, I'll place one card face down, and end my turn," Garu replied a little bit confused. "And what was that little bit?"

"Oh, it looks like you don't really listen to music that much do you?" Tai asked pulling his next card into his hand, that was immediately slapped onto his duel disk. "I'll set this monster face down…and let you try to win in five turns."

'Huh? I was expecting something with a little more…oomph!' Garu thought snapping his next card off his duel disk. The sight of the card made his eyes widen slightly. "A-Anyway…Nunchaku Kunoichi! Attack that face down monster!"

Jumping towards the face down card, the rough kunoichi slammed the nunchaku into the back of the card, forcing the card to flip up showing a gray jar with a large eye and grinning smirk on its face (500/600). Garu just had a few question marks over his head. "What the heck was that?"

"That…my non-informed friend," Tai stated wagging his finger towards Garu. "Was a Morphing Jar, which when flipped we discard our entire hands, and then draw five cards…of course, since I don't have a hand, its five free cards."

Grimacing at his lone card in his hand, Garu sighed as he slipped the card into his duel disk graveyard. Then both duelists snapped off their next five cards from the top of their decks. "Too bad that you didn't consider this! Tekagi Kunoichi, do the honors will you?"

Returning a nod to her duelist, the kunoichi leapt towards Tai, slashing wildly at the fortuneteller…who only dodged the many attacks with a cool smile on his face. (TLP: 4700)

"Did you see that coming you fortuneteller?" Garu asked as the Tekagi Kunoichi leapt next to him, sticking her tongue out at Tai.

"…of course," Tai chuckled taking one of his newest cards and fitting it into his duel disk slot. "I activate the trap card, Damage Condenser! So, I toss a card and now I can summon a monster who has less than a thousand attack points…"

Tai's trap card shattered into black feathers that immediately floated back to the ground, forming into what appeared to be…a large, ebony colored egg with a fiery aura around it (0/2000 300/300). "…So my Tengu Oni Egg will work…and since a Tengu was summoned…"

Many feathers wrapped around Garu's face down card, shattering it into pixels, making Garu take a step backwards. "Dang it!"

"Still your turn…" Tai sighed crossing his arms looking at his hand.

"Fine, I'll set two cards face down," Garu muttered fitting the cards into his duel disk.

"I see…" Tai sighed shaking his head. "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah…" Garu growled as Tai drew his next card.

"Four turns remain…" Tai muttered spinning his next card into his hand. "Now then…I'll first activate the spell card, the Shallow Grave! Now, both of us can set one monster card from our graveyards. Think of it as a little thanks for allowing me to duel you…"

"Uh, you're welcome?" Garu replied setting his Shikoro-Ken Shinobi on the field.

"Yes…now then, first I'll set one card face down," Tai stated as the card appeared on the field behind his large Tengu Oni Egg. "And then activate the spell card, Book of Taiyou!"

A large burst of light flashed over the field, shinning down on Tai's face down monster, flipping it up to show the laughing Morphing Jar (500/600), laughing loudly. "This spell flips one monster on the field to attack mode, and since my Morphing Jar was just flipped…"

"We discard and draw," Garu finished placing the cards into his duel disk, and then both Tai and Garu drew their five cards each.

Crack! CRACK!

"Huh?" Garu questioned as two cracks began to line the Tengu Oni Egg's shell. "What's going on here?"

"Each time a winged-beast is sent to the graveyard, my Tengu are considered Winged-Beasts so when I discarded two of them from my hand with my Morphing Jar's effect…well, you get it," Tai explained fanning his five cards in front of him. "It begins to hatch…but don't worry, I need at least six more times before it hatches fully…"

That's when Tai's face down card immediately flipped up, creating a large amount of light to rain down on his body. "So to help speed up the miracle of life, my Graceful Charity allows me to draw three cards…and then discard two. And I know exactly what two cards to discard…"

As soon as the two cards were fitted into his duel disk, two more cracks emerged on the large black egg, creating a fiery dark aura around the creature. "Too bad you won't be able to get that egg hatched…I'll make that egg sunny side up!"

"…we'll see about that," Tai sighed fitting two cards into his duel disk. "First, I'll set one card face down, and activate the spell card, Card Destruction!"

"Quite impressive," Rae muttered rubbing his chin. "If it wasn't so outrageous, I'd believe that fortuneteller was the real deal…"

"What makes you say that?" Sora asked.

"It's almost as if he knew what was going on through this entire duel," Rae explained crossing his arms over his chest. "And calculate he would receive the cards needed to make that egg hatch…"

Four more cracks appeared on the shell of the large egg as both duelists drew their cards. But this time, Tai seemed to raise his eyebrow. "Odd…I only had three more Tengu in my hand when I discarded them…"

"Yeah…but I had my Rai Tengu Shinobi in my hand," Garu explained as the dark aura began to leak out from the cracks on the egg.

"Regardless, I now activate the effect of my Tengu Oni Egg!" Tai shouted throwing his arm into the air. Immediately the large black egg shattered into feathers, as a loud shrill cry filled the entire arena.

Many feathers floated from the sky, pushed by the powerful gusts of wind in the air caused by the wings of the large beast that was floating above Tai's head. With piercing red eyes, the extremely large demon crow flapped its many wings in the air, allowing the black flame chains around its body to jingle and light up the arena (2500/2500 300/300).

Garu didn't even notice that one of his face down cards shattered into a flurry of black feathers thanks to the field spell that managed to stay on the field all this time. "W-What is that thing?!?"

"…Paint this faded world red," Tai stated crossing his arms with his eyes closed. "Take a chance! Shout it loud! In a style all your own! Meet my Tengu Oni Suzaku!"

Three cards snapped out of Tai's graveyard, making him lift them up, their backs to Garu. "Now then, please take your pick. Depending on what you choose…well, my Suzaku's ability will be determined by it."

"Well, if I have to…" Garu stated lifting his hand up. "The middle one!"

Spinning all cards in his fingers, all of the cards were turned around, showing that the middle card was a monster card. "Thanks. Now, I activate my monster's effect, I'll remove my Tengu Oni – Squadron from play! This increases my Tengu Oni Suzaku attack by half of my removed from play monster (2800/2800 1050/0)."

"Uh oh…" Garu muttered as the large Tengu Oni monster flapped its wings a few times.

"And now…Suzaku! Attack his Tekagi Kunoichi!" Tai commanded as the large Tengu shot several black feathers from its wings towards the Tekagi Kunoichi, creating a large coin over Garu's head.

"Did you forget?" Garu asked as the coin flew into the air. "I call my kunoichi's special ability! And I'll call heads!"

The coin bounced on the ground a few times, before rolling on the ground landing…tails face up. Garu immediately fell face first into the ground as his kunoichi was stabbed with the quills of the feathers, destroying her. "Oh, come on!" (GLP: 2700)

"But, I'm not done!" Tai announced fitting a card into his duel disk, this one a spell card showing a Tengu Oni attacking a Marauding Captain. "I activate the spell card, Tengu Ariel Strike! This spell allows my Suzaku to attack once more!"

"Uh oh," Garu muttered lifting his head up.

"Attack Nunchaku Kunoichi!" Tai shouted throwing his hand up, allowing even more feathers crashing into the surprised Kunoichi, shattering her into black feathers. (GLP: 150)

"Ugh…not good…not good at all…" Garu spat as a card shot out of his deck. "Too bad for you that I've still got my Nunchaku Kunoichi's special ability, allowing me to special summon another one from my deck with five hundred more attack points!"

Leaping over Garu, a second Nunchaku Kunoichi appeared before Garu, spinning the nunchaku around her body (1300/500 500/0).

"I see…only three more turns…" Tai muttered fitting a card into his duel disk. "Turn end…"

'Hmm…did he forget about his Morphing Jar? Garu thought looking at his next card. 'Nah…he probably wants to bait me into an attack for that…will probably try to destroy my monsters…wait, I've got an idea!'

"First, I flip up my Shikoro-Ken Shinobi!" Garu announced as the saw-sword wielding Shinobi leapt from underneath the face down card, the twig in his mouth. "Next, I'll have him activate his special ability! Destroying your face down card on the right!"

Taking aim, the Shikoro-Ken Shinobi threw his saw like sword into Tai's face down card, destroying it into sparks, displaying many black feathers being swept up into the air. "What in the world was that anyway?"

"Oh, it was a trap called Dark Feather Storm," Tai sighed fitting the card into his duel disk's graveyard. "Since its destroyed, you don't need to worry about it."

"Fine, then I'll activate my own trap card!" Garu asked as a large round mirror appeared behind his Shikoro-Ken Shinobi. "Ninjitsu Art – Mirror Transformation!"

Performing many hand signs, the Shikoro-Ken Shinobi disappeared in a cloud of black feathers that flew up into the air, forming into an exact copy of the Oni Tengu Suzaku (2500/2500 300/300). "I bet you're guessing why my Ninja is like this…right?"

"Not really…I'm a fortuneteller remember?" Tai asked crossing his arms. "Your trap card makes a duplicate of one of my monsters on the field. Unfortunately, it only works one turn and you can't attack with it…"

"No…but I can sacrifice it!" Garu announced fitting a card into his duel disk, this one forming into the card, Monster Reincarnation. "I'll discard one card, and take back…Impact Shinobi!"

"…" Tai was just silent as the two monsters on Garu's field shattered into pixels that flew up into the air.

"And I sacrifice both of my monsters to summon…" Garu slapped the card onto his duel disk. "…THIS!"

The ground began to rumble violently, allowing a large robotic form to crash onto the ground. As the metallic being stood up straight, the monster appeared to be a much more cybernetic, skyscraper size, steel version of Ryu, complete with a white face mask and large metal staff in the shape of a pipe with a fox head at the end. With his steel blue hair spiking in air, his green crystal eyes shined brightly as it raised its hand towards Suzaku, spinning the metallic staff pipe behind it (0/0).

"Impact Shinobi!"

"I'd be more impressed if that thing actually had a point to its name," Tai admitted shaking his head, as if he knew what was going on.

"Oh yeah? Well, my shinobi gains attack points equal to the attack of the monster used for its tribute summon!" Garu announced as the large Impact Shinobi slammed its foot into the ground, its armor shinning in the light (4600/4600). "And now…attack Suzaku! Impact Slam!"

Spinning the large steel staff in the air, the Impact Shinobi slammed the staff into Suzaku's head, making a sickening crack echo through the Arena. Tai just turned his head to the side as his crow demon fell to the ground, dead. (TLP: 2900)

"And I'm not done! Impact has another ability!" Garu shouted throwing his arm to the side. "When Impact destroys a monster as a result of battle, you take damage equal to the defense of the destroyed monster!"

Tai merely looked up as two beams of green light slammed into the ground to both sides of him, exploding around him. (TLP: 100)

"Aw man! He's going to make me lose my bet!" Satsuki shouted lowering to the ground.

"Go for it! I've got twenty on ya ninja man!" Zemnos hollered into the air.

Impact slammed its staff into the ground and crossed its arms like its master. "So…still think this duel will be done in a few turns?"

"…yes…" Tai replied slowly reaching for his deck…

/--/--/-///---/-//-/

Tekagi Kunoichi / Wind / LV. 3 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 400 / Warrior/Effect: This monster is considered to have 'Ninja' in the card name. If this card battles a monster, flip a coin and heads or tails before damage calculation. If you call it right, destroy the opponent's monster with this effect.

Description: A young beautiful young kunoichi wearing a more soft combination of the blue ninja suit. Her long dark hair is tied back with a light blue headband with a few strands in front of her crystal blue eyes. On her hands, are pair of hand claws that gleamed in the light, as the warrior lifted her arms up.

Ninjitsu Art – Mirror Transform / Continuous Trap / Effect: This card can only be activated by selecting one monster on your side of the field with 'Ninja' in the card name and one monster your opponent's side of the field. As long as this card is face up, the selected 'Ninja' now has the same level, Type, Attribute, ATK, and DEF as the selected monster. During the end phase this card was activated, destroy this card.

Image: A ninja starting to transform into a familiar black scaled, red eyed dragon.

Shikoro-Ken Shinobi / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1550 / DEF: 1300 / Warrior/Effect: This monster is considered to have 'Ninja' in the card name. Once during your main phase, you may destroy one spell or trap card on the field. This monster cannot attack the turn this effect was used.

Description: A drifter like ninja with a small twig in his teeth, his dark brown ninja suit has many leaves on it and has multiple rips at the chest. His dirty brown hair is some what tied back into a small ponytail. On his back is a large saw like sword.

Impact Shinobi / Fire / LV. 9 / ATK/ DEF/ Machine/Effect: This card is considered to have 'Ninja' in its name. This card can only be tribute summoned by offering monsters with 'Ninja' in their name. This card's printed attack and defense points are the combined attack of the cards that were used for this card's tribute summon. When this card attacks and destroys a monster as a result of battle, inflict damage to your opponent's life points equal to the defense of the destroyed monster.

Description: A much more cybernetic, skyscraper size, steel version of Ryu, complete with a white face mask and large metal staff in the shape of a pipe with a kitsune head at the end. With his steel blue hair spiking in air, his green crystal eyes shine brightly.

Tengu Oni / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1300 / Winged-Beast/Effect: As long as this card remains face up on the field, increase the attack of all DARK monsters by 300 points

Description: A large black crow demon with silver armor

Tengu Oni – Kendo / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1400 / DEF: 1300 / Winged-Beast/Effect: Negate the effects of any Effect Monsters that this card battles.

Description: A large black crow demon with silver armor with a bamboo sword in its clawed hands.

Tengu Oni – Archer / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1000 / DEF: 1300 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card may attack twice during the battle phase.

Description: A large black crow demon with silver armor with a bow in its talons

Tengu Oni – Squadron / Dark / LV. 6 / ATK: 2100 / DEF: 1950 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card can only be special summoned by the effect of 'Illusion Formation'. When this card attacks, your opponent cannot chain trap cards.

Description: Three large black crow demons with silver armor on their wings and bodies.

Tengu Hatchling / Dark / LV. 2 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 1000 / Winged-Beast/Effect: When this card is destroyed, you may add one monster from your deck with 'Tengu Oni' from your deck to your hand with 1500 attack or less.

Description: A small crow demon popping out of its shell.

Tengu Oni Samurai / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 500 / Winged-Beast/Effect: You may discard this card from your hand to add one 'Tengu Sanctuary' from your deck to your hand.

Description: A large crow demon dressed in samurai armor.

Tengu Sanctuary / Field Spell / Effect: When a monster with 'Tengu' in its name is Normal or Special summoned to the field, destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field. Increase the attack and defense of all face-up Winged Beast-type Monsters on the field by 300 points.

Image: A set of dark ancient ruins with many black feathers falling to the ground.

Tengu Illusion Formation / Spell / Effect: When there are 1 or more 'Tengu Oni' cards on the field, you can special summon one level four or lower 'Tengu' or 'Tengu Oni – Squadron' from your hand or deck.

Image: Many afterimages of a charging Tengu Oni

Tengu's Shadow / Trap / Effect: You can only activate this card when two or more DARK monsters you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Special Summon 1 Level 6 or lower DARK monster from your hand, Deck, or Graveyard, ignoring any and all Summoning conditions. It is destroyed at the end of the turn.

Image: A pure shadowed version of the Tengu.

Tengu Oni Egg / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 0 / DEF: 2000 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card cannot be destroyed by a monster with level 5 or higher. Each time a Winged-Beast is sent to the graveyard, place one counter on this card. When this card has eight or more counters, send this card to the graveyard to special summon on 'Tengu Oni Suzaku' from your hand or graveyard.

Description: A large ebony colored egg with a fiery aura around it.

Tengu Oni Suzaku / Dark / LV. 8 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2500 / Winged-Beast/Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except by the effect of 'Tengu Oni Egg'. Once per turn, you may select one spell, trap and monster card from your graveyard. Your opponent randomly selects one of the three cards, and from that selection, this card gains the following effect.

- Monster: Once per turn, you can remove from play one 'Tengu Oni' from your graveyard. This card gains ATK equal to half of the removed monster until the end of your turn.

- Spell: This card can attack twice in the battle phase.

- Trap: Once per turn, you may destroy all spell and trap cards on your opponent's side of the field. When this effect is used, you must skip your next battle phase.

Description: A very large crow demon with many wings and black flame chains around its body.

Tengu Ariel Strike / Instant Spell / Effect: This card can only be activated when a face-up "Tengu Oni" has attacked and destroyed an opponent's monster as a result of battle. That monster can attack once more during this Battle Phase. If the attacking monster was a level four or lower, increase its attack strength by 600 points.

Image: A Tengu Oni attacking a Marauding Captain from above.

Dark Feather Storm / Trap / Effect: You can only activate this card when your opponent declares an attack. Remove 2 DARK monsters in your Graveyard from play to destroy the attacking monster and inflict damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to half the ATK strength of the destroyed monster.

Image: Many black feathers being swept up into the wind.

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Tai: The time has come…

Man this preview is dull…uh, I mean…next time on DOD! Chapter 30: Unraveling Destiny!

Garu: Hey wait! What about the duel?