A/N: Hello there, dear reader!

Before we jump into this chapter, I just wanted to clarify that all of the Duels for this story will be following the rules of the card game prior to Master Rules 3 coming out, which means that the player who goes first will still be conducting their Draw Phase. That was the way things were set up during the first four anime series anyway, so it hopefully should not be too hard to remember that little detail.

Something else to note is that I will occasionally be using cards that came out after the GX era, but all ones that could still fit in during this timeline, if that makes sense.

Also, like I mentioned in the previous chapter's author's note, there will also be a handful of fan-made cards included in this story. Sorry in advance but I did try my best to make them as balanced as I could.

Anyway, please enjoy.

Chapter 2

"Shining, Shimmering, Splendid"

So, despite a less than stellar first encounter and my pathetic lack of social skills, I still had somehow managed to convince this Obelisk Blue guy to have a Duel with me. (Yay!?)

Was he doing it out of pity on his end, perhaps? Curiosity? Boredom?

Well, whatever the real answer may be, he had miraculously said yes, and it was for that reason that I soon found myself staring down the aforementioned young man, ready to engage him in card-based combat. Since he conveniently already happened to have one of those fancy Academy-issued Duel Disks with him, we didn't even need to leave the harbor and instead just moved a little further down the strip of concrete near the lighthouse so that we could have more space for our Duel.

"Are you ready?" the teal-haired male asked, inserting his deck into his Duel Disk. He then activated it, causing the perimeters of the device's body and curved blade to glow a brilliant royal blue color.

I gave a nod in the affirmative before mimicking his actions, my far less impressive hand-me-down Dueling contraption buzzing to life after a bit of a delay.

"Um… Since I was the one who challenged you, I think it would only be fair to let you decide who goes first," I offered in an attempt to be polite.

"In that case, it's ladies first," he replied without hesitation.

"Okay, then…" I agreed with another nod as we both each then drew our opening hands of five cards and started out with the standard 4000 Life Points a piece. I then went ahead and plucked out a sixth card from the top of my deck.

"Hey, that looks like a really good hand you have there, treasure," Akame remarked as she appeared beside me, the two of us now looking over the cards I was currently holding.

"You're not just saying that because I happened to draw your card on the first turn, are you?" I hummed quietly, my thumb gently grazing over the surface of her glossy, well-preserved card.

She chuckled. "Well, while I do like to think that I'm pretty useful to you, I was actually referring to our dear Red."

"Heh. Of course..." I gave a small smile down at the spectacularly painted artwork of the dragon in question before looking back up and realizing that teal eyes were studying me. I felt my face heat up, embarrassed that I had most likely been caught seemingly talking to myself yet again, but I tried my best to shake it off as I picked out a different card from my hand. "I summon Maiden with Eyes of Red in Attack Position."

In a fountain of red light, a young girl with crimson eyes, dark skin, and long hair as black as night appeared on the field. She was barefoot and wore a knee-length vermillion-colored dress with the image of two black dragons embroidered on the skirt (✩ x 1/ATK 0/DEF 0).

"Next, I activate the effect of Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon in my hand," I went on. "By revealing the Red-Eyes Black Dragon that I also hold, I can Special Summon Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon to the field."

Once I was done showing off Red's card to my opponent, I slapped the other aforementioned card down on my Duel Disk, prompting the dragon to appear before me.

As the name suggested, Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon very much resembled the original Red-Eyes, though this dragon's scales were an even darker shade of black and perpetually emitted shadowy wisps of darkness, while his eyes glowed a bright scarlet hue (✩ x 7/ATK 2400/DEF 2000).

The dragon let out a mighty roar, which somehow sounded much more lively than the typical Solid Vision-produced hologram usually did… Then, as if to confirm my suspicions, he turned his head back to look at me before giving another blithesome cry.

Huh… It looked like Red was really excited about this Duel, seeing how he apparently couldn't even wait for me to play his actual card before deciding to jump into battle. How the Duel Spirit was able to inhabit a card that wasn't technically his own had always been a bit of a mystery to me, though. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon was treated as Red-Eyes Black Dragon while on the field or in Graveyard? But then again, maybe that wasn't exactly it, since he had always been able to do the same thing with some of the other versions of himself I managed to summon…

I shook my head to dismiss those thoughts, remembering that I had other things I needed to focus on at the moment.

"Okay, Red, if you're ready to go, then let's do this." I gave him a soft smile before we both looked back over at our opponent. "I activate my dragon's effect. Once per turn, I can target one Red-Eyes monster, or a Fusion Monster that lists a Red-Eyes monster as a Fusion Material, that I control and inflict half of its original Attack Points to the opponent as damage. Since he's currently the only monster to fit the requirements, I'll go ahead and pick him, naturally."

Suddenly surrounded by a pitch-black aura, Red eagerly threw his head back and unleashed a blast of dark fire from his jowls and hurled it straight at his target.

The Obelisk merely watched with his arms crossed as the inferno quickly closed in on him. With a bang, he was then engulfed in a plume of ebony flames that burned away 1200 of his Life Points.

As a force of habit, I bundled my left hand into a tight fist that made my knuckles turn even whiter and held my breath for several seconds, silently praying that my powers hadn't somehow activated after all and ended up hurting this guy.

When the flames died down and the smoke finally cleared, I was relieved and honestly quite surprised to see that not only was my opponent just fine after taking that hit, but he seemed totally unfazed by it, not appearing to have moved a single muscle. Now that was something I had never seen before.

Putting my awe aside, I carried on with my turn. "My dragon can't attack the same turn I activate his damage effect, but since we can't enter the Battle Phase on the first turn anyway, that doesn't really matter," I said before removing two more cards from my hand and inserting them into my Duel Disk. "Finally, I'll set two cards and end my turn. Thank you for your patience."

The image of two cards laying vertically facedown appeared at my feet as my turn came to a close.

"It's my turn, then," the young man coolly remarked as he began his turn by drawing his sixth card. He then took a card from his hand and placed it on his Duel Disk. "I call forth Cyber Dragon in Attack Position."

At that moment, a large metal serpentine dragon with glistening fangs and glowing yellow eyes sprang from the ground and coiled behind the Duelist that summoned it as it let out a metallic growl (✩ x 5/ATK 2100/DEF 1600).

"Cyber Dragon can be Special Summoned from my hand when my opponent is the only one that controls a monster," the Duel Academy student explained, answering my unspoken question of how a Level 5 monster was brought out in such a way. Special Summoning definitely made the most sense… I suppose that was why he had wanted to go second, though.

"Ah… That's pretty cool," I acknowledged with a nod.

But Cyber Dragon… Why did that sound kind of familiar? I racked my brain for a few moments, until the answer finally came to me.

Oh, that's right! In one of my brother's letters, he had mentioned something about getting the chance to Duel the school's top student—the "Kaiser", as he was apparently called—who used, as Jaden had worded it, "awesomely powerful and cool Cyber Dragon monsters."

Could this guy be the same person? If that was the case, then maybe I was a little bit over my head here, since Jaden said that this Kaiser guy had totally owned him in the end. But then again, he also did admit that it was one of the best Duels he had at this place so far...

"Next, I'll Normal Summon Cyber Komainu."

The introduction of my opponent's new monster finally snapped me out of my thoughts. This one turned out to be a mechanical lion-dog with a golden-colored mane and tail and glowing red markings decorating its silver body (✩ x 1/ATK 400/DEF 2000).

I stared intently at both of his monsters, now trying to guess what he was going to do with them. Neither one was strong enough to overcome Red in terms of Attack Points, so maybe one of them had some kind of special effect to compensate? Or perhaps he was just going to focus on my Maiden instead? That would certainly be convenient…

"I now activate the effect of Cyber Komainu," he went on, pulling me out of my musings once more. "Once per turn, I can target one Light-Attribute Machine-Type monster I control and equip it with this card."

With Cyber Dragon currently being the only viable target, he naturally chose it for Cyber Komainu's effect. The lion-dog suddenly morphed into a bright golden light that surrounded Cyber Dragon, soon rematerializing as futuristic red and gold armor plating that now adorned the chrome serpent's upper body.

"While a monster is equipped with Cyber Komainu, not only does it gain 400 additional Attack Points, but now it can't be targeted by my opponent's card effects."

I arched an eyebrow as Cyber Dragon's Attack climbed to 2500. Huh… So, now it was stronger than Red and I wouldn't be able to use one of my face-downs, Magic Cylinder, on it. Well, okay then…

"Battle. I attack Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon with Cyber Dragon. Strident Blast!" the Obelisk Blue student declared.

Upon its master's command, the metal dragon prepared to launch its attack towards Red, but I was actually ready for that.

"Well, it was pretty smart of you not to go for my Maiden outright, but, unfortunately for you, I'm not going to give you a choice in the matter," I spoke up, pushing a button on my Duel Disk to set off one of my facedown cards. "Since you declared an attack, I now activate my Trap Card, Staunch Defender. With this, I can select a monster that I control—like Maiden with Eyes of Red—and force all of your monsters to attack only her this turn."

Under the influence of my Trap, Cyber Dragon had no choice but to target my Maiden for its attack. It released a blast of blue energy from its now gaping maw, though I'd make sure that it would never reach us.

"I activate the effect of Maiden with Eyes of Red," I announced. "Once per turn, when she's targeted for an attack, I can negate the attack and change her battle position."

The photon beam shooting in the direction of the red-eyed girl suddenly dispersed and vanished as she dropped to her knees, her eyes closed while she clasped her hands together, as if she was praying.

"Not only that, but now I can Special Summon one Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand, deck, or Graveyard."

An aura of black then surrounded my Maiden, her power activating to help me call forth my one and only Red-Eyes Black Dragon waiting in my hand (✩ x 7/ATK 2400/DEF 2000).

"Heh… Not bad," the older Duelist remarked, and as offhand as that compliment was (if you could honestly even call it that), I still felt my face burn slightly all the same. "I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Um, so that means it's my turn again, I suppose," I remarked before drawing a card. I then looked down at it. Fusion Recovery... Well, that wasn't helpful in the slightest right now, I realized with a frown. I had kind of been hoping for something to help me deal with those face-down cards my opponent had just set, but no such luck…

"You're going to give yourself a headache if you keep glaring off into space like that, dear treasure. Or worse—premature wrinkles!" Akame jokingly warned.

"I'm just thinking…" I muttered under my breath.

"More like overthinking, as usual," she sassily retorted but then gave me a smile and an encouraging pat on the back. "Just try to lighten up a little, for once, Shion. Dueling is supposed to be fun, after all."

Fun… That was still a word I found pretty difficult to associate with Dueling, to be honest. After all, it was all but impossible for me to enjoy participating in any real Duels in the past since they always ended with someone getting hurt because of me… And even though I hadn't had an incident like that ever since Akame helped seal off my power, a small part of me still always just seemed to be waiting for something to eventually go wrong and blow up in my face.

Stop that already… Nothing bad like that ever has to happen again, I had to remind myself with a shake of my head, praying that that would always be true.

With one last deep breath, I decided to finally cut myself loose from those negative thoughts for the time being and throw caution to the wind to see just how far a mindset like that would end up taking me.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, both as a verbal agreement to follow Akame's advice and as an official kickoff to my turn. "I'll start off by once again activating Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon's effect. By targeting him, he can hit you with another 1200 points of damage."

"It was pretty obvious that you would try to pull that stunt again, but, unfortunately for you, it isn't going to work this time," the teal-haired Duelist suddenly proclaimed, catching me off guard. "I activate the Trap Card, Damage Polarizer. When an effect that inflicts damage is activated, this card negates its activation and lets us each draw one card."

An orange electrical current surrounded Red at that moment, causing him to growl in disappointment when he was forced to stand down.

Meanwhile, I let out a quiet sigh of relief as my opponent and I each drew a card, counting my blessings that his Trap wasn't anything that had the ability to destroy my dragon. I gazed upon the new addition to my hand. Knight with Eyes of Red… Pretty good, honestly, but I hopefully wouldn't be needing him since I still had Plan B to try out.

"You may have stopped us from dealing you damage in that instance, but believe me when I say that we still have plenty more in store for you this turn," I promised in a tone I hoped sounded confident.

"Then go right ahead and bring it," my opponent challenged calmly, his eyes narrowed and arms once again crossed over his chest.

"If you insist. Just don't forget that you asked for it~" I sang, managing a little smirk as I went on with my move. "One other thing about Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon that you should know, if you don't already, is that his name is treated as 'Red-Eyes Black Dragon' while he's on the field or in the Graveyard. With that being the case, I now Tribute both him and my Red-Eyes Black Dragon in order to Special Summon Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon from my Extra Deck!"

My dragons both suddenly transformed into several glowing particles of crimson and black light, all of which then swirled together, soon creating a dark vortex that gave rise to a new creature.

About twice the size as his previous incarnations, Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon possessed two sets of black and crimson wings alight with dark searing flames, glowing red markings over his jet-black body, and two heads, each with a pair of blazing eyes the most beautiful shade of scarlet. He swooped onto the field, roaring in stereo (✩ x 9/ATK 2800/DEF 2400).

"A Fusion Monster that can be summoned without the use of a Fusion card, huh?" the older boy mused as he stared up at my dragon. "Interesting…"

"Yeah~" I agreed dreamily, taking a moment to admire Red's current form as well. "And he's also super cute, don't you think? But then again, all of his forms are adorable, honestly."

"They sure are!" Akame agreed with a grin while Red let out a growl of amusement from his two throats. The Spellcaster then turned to me, radiating excitement now. "I'm up next, right?"

I nodded, already picking out her card. To our adversary, I announced, "Next, I Tribute my Maiden with Eyes of Red to summon Red-Eyes Sorceress to the field."

In a flash of light, the red-clad girl vanished and was soon replaced by Akame. Her flawless dark-skinned complexion, long ebony hair with crimson accents, and brilliant scarlet eyes were all much more prominent now that she was being materialized through the help of Solid Vision.

Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless black turtleneck dress that had a skirt that only reached her upper thighs in the front while the back extended all the way down to her ankles, had a dark red lining, and was tattered at the ends. She also wore two dark red belts around her waist, thigh-high black boots with dark red soles and trim, and black sleeves that were strapped to her upper arms by thin dark red belts.

She then briefly turned around to look my way, giving me a wink and a peace sign to let me know she was good to go (✩ x 6/ATK 2000/DEF 1600).

"Due to Aka–I mean, Red-Eyes Sorceress's effect, she gains 300 Attack Points for each Red-Eyes monster resting in our Graveyards. At last count, there are currently two," I explained as a dark red aura briefly surrounded my Spellcaster friend, her Attack climbing to 2600.

"Now, we'll battle," I declared, jumping right into the Battle Phase. "Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon, please attack Cyber Dragon with your Double Fire Blast!"

Letting out a duo of thundering roars, my dragon unleashed a blast of dark fire from each of his mouths, both of which nailed their target, lighting the mechanical serpent up in flames. Surprisingly, even though its Duelist lost 300 Life Points from the attack, Cyber Dragon was somehow not destroyed, but the fancy armor it had been sporting did end up succumbing to the heat and shattered, dropping its Attack Points back to 2100.

"Due to the effect of Cyber Komainu, if the monster equipped with it would be destroyed, Cyber Komainu is destroyed instead," the Cyber Duelist elaborated as the aforementioned card was sent to his Graveyard. "And because it was destroyed this way, its last effect now allows me to draw one card."

"Well, what a helpful little monster," I commented breezily, watching as he drew his card, which brought his hand to four. "But my friend has a few cool effects of his own, you see. One of them allows him to make up to two attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase. That means he can attack your Cyber Dragon again."

Red wasted no time and fired off another set of fireballs at the opposing monster, this time successfully blasting it off the field and bringing our opponent's score down to 1800. Once again, the guy didn't even bat an eye, though. That was certainly still impressive, but I wondered how he would handle what was coming next… Only one way to find out!

"My dear dragon's other effect activates," I went on. "Since he destroyed a monster by battle, you now take damage equal to the original Level of your destroyed monster, multiplied by 200. Because Cyber Dragon was a Level 5 monster, that's 1000 points of damage!"

The dual-headed dragon let loose a volley of five smaller balls of fire from his jowls this time, each one hitting their target and bringing the Obelisk Blue's Life Points to 800.

"Finally, Red-Eyes Sorceress will attack you directly. Burning Scarlet!"

"Alright! Here we go!" Akame exclaimed as she snapped her fingers and magically materialized a long, ornate black metal staff with a top that resembled the head of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon holding a glowing red gem in its jaws. She twirled it around with a flourish before preparing her attack. Just when she was about to let our opponent have it, however, he decided to speak up.

"I activate my face-down, the Continuous Trap known as Cybernetic Rebirth," he declared, revealing his remaining set card. "Once per turn, if I control no monsters, I'm able to target one Cyber Dragon monster, or one Fusion Monster that lists Cyber Dragon as material, in my Graveyard and Special Summon it in Attack Position. I'll use its effect now. Be reborn, Cyber Dragon!"

The mechanical dragon returned to the field by bursting through the concrete below us.

I clicked my tongue in mild frustration at this new development, realizing that we wouldn't be able to win this turn now, but I quickly shrugged it off. At the very least, that meant I would now get a chance to see more of this guy's deck, which was admittedly pretty interesting. But first things first…

"Okay, so you saved yourself from a direct attack, but Red-Eyes Sorceress can still scrap that Cyber Dragon again, no problem. Show him, please!" I called out.

"With pleasure!" my friend laughed as she conjured up a sphere of blazing scarlet-colored energy from her staff and sent it flying towards Cyber Dragon.

It collided with the Machine monster with a resounding bang that sent vibrant red streams of fire flying everywhere, but the creature was quick to use its own body as a shield to block the Solid Vision-produced flames that would have otherwise hit its Duelist, protecting him until it couldn't take any more and finally burst into a thousand specks of pixelated light.

"Aww…" Akame and I both sighed dreamily, touched by Cyber Dragon's final act, not really paying attention as our opponent's Life Point meter dropped to 300.

"Holy cow!" I suddenly heard the echoing sound of someone loudly exclaiming.

Surprised, I looked around to try to find the origin of that unknown voice. My gaze turned to my right and then up towards the cliff that overlooked the harbor, though it didn't seem like anyone was there, unless they decided to suddenly hide, for some reason… I couldn't be sure, but I thought maybe I saw a blur of cyan duck behind a boulder…?

I tilted my head to the side in bewilderment. "Um, what was that?"

"Nothing important, I'm sure. Just ignore it," the older Duelist suggested with a nonchalant shrug, apparently not wanting to get off topic.

"R-right... Where were we, then…?" I muttered to myself and returned my attention back to my cards as I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling of possibly being watched. "Oh, um… That's actually all we have at the moment, so I'll just end this turn now. Please go right ahead and give us your best shot!"

"Heh, sure… Just don't forget that you asked for it," he replied, a slight smirk on his lips as he threw my words from earlier right back at me.

I found myself making a similar expression as I watched him begin his turn by drawing a card from his deck.

"I activate Pot of Greed." He drew the two cards the Spell allotted him before adding, "Next, as I control no monsters, I use the effect of Cybernetic Rebirth to Special Summon Cyber Dragon from my Graveyard."

"Back again, huh?" I muttered under my breath to the cybernetic monster after it appeared on the field for the third time, the two of us suddenly having a little staredown.

"And now, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card known as Power Bond!" the teal-haired male declared, bringing my attention back to him as he inserted the card into his Duel Disk with a flourish.

"Power Bond?" I echoed, my eyes going wide since I actually recognized that name. "That's a Fusion card, isn't it?"

"Correct. One that allows me to summon a Machine-Type Fusion Monster, to be more specific. I use its effect to fuse the Cyber Dragon on my field with the two other copies I have in my hand."

Cyber Dragon's two doppelgängers briefly appeared on the field alongside it before the trio transformed into streams of yellow, red, and green light and then twisted together as they were sucked into a lightning-filled portal that suddenly appeared above our heads.

As a general rule, three or more Fusion Materials typically yielded one powerful monster, so I figured that whatever was coming next would be impressive, and I found myself waiting for it with bated breath. But then the rest of the air in my lungs was just straight-up knocked out of me by a sudden and fierce lightning storm that erupted from the portal not long after.

Out of the rift emerged a massive three-headed mechanical dragon, its chrome exterior shimming from all of the blinding sparks of electricity its summoning had generated. Like Cyber Dragon, it had a serpentine-shaped body but this creature also had a pair of gigantic steel wings that it was proudly spreading out. It screeched harshly, though my ears hardly picked it up over the sound of my pulse rapidly coursing through them (✩ x 10/ATK 4000/DEF 2800).

"Behold the mighty Cyber End Dragon!" I somehow managed to hear my opponent call out. "And thanks to the effect of Power Bond, its Attack Points are doubled to 8000!"

The shining steel dragon let out another high-decibel roar from each of its three throats as its offensive power skyrocketed to exactly that.

"Whoa…" Akame breathed, looking and sounding completely awestruck.

While I held similar sentiments, what was really blowing my mind at that moment was the nearly overwhelming amount of sheer admiration and respect I could sense coming from that monster, and, amazingly, all of it was for this one person standing before me.

But honestly, just what was so surprising about having feelings like that, though? After all, Zane Truesdale is one of the strongest Duelists out there. Not to mention absolutely brilliant. And noble. But also—

I gasped loudly and shook my head vigorously when I finally realized that those thoughts running through it and the things that I was suddenly feeling towards my opponent didn't actually belong to me at all, and did my best to keep them at bay.

Damn, not again… I still really don't know what made me so...lucky, but besides being able to see and hear spirits, I had always somehow been able to actually feel what was in their hearts as well.

As romantic as that may sound, it could really get to be very troublesome and downright frightening at times, especially with particularly strong spirits, since their emotions and wills were sometimes powerful enough to override my own and make me feel or do things I would really rather not. (There was an ugly scar running across my right wrist that could help attest to that…) To help prevent me from going mad (and to also keep me from potentially losing my life), my mother had thankfully taught me over the years how to go about blocking out all of those unwanted emotions, although some still did tend to get the better of me every once in a while, like now, for instance…

"Are you alright over there?" my opponent—Zane!— was kind enough to ask, though it was probably just because he happened to notice the strange outburst I had let slip a few moments ago.

"Um, yes. I'm fine," I replied, looking back at him now with an expression that I hoped conveyed reassurance. "It's just… From the moment you summoned it, I can tell that your Cyber End Dragon really… Well, it really cares about you, Zane. So much."

He raised an eyebrow at that, seeming genuinely surprised at that moment, which caused me to panic and immediately start to backpedal when I realized my mistake.

"Ah, s-sorry! Is calling you that too informal? Or worse… Did I… Did I get your name wrong?" I stammered out as I nervously tugged at a lock of my hair. "I mean, that's what it really felt like Cyber End Dragon had called you, but I'll admit that it's sometimes hard to tell for sure when there's no actual spoken words involved and… And I'm just going to stop talking now because I suddenly realize that I must sound completely insane…"

After that, there was a heavy moment of silence, the only sound coming from the waves softly hitting the stone harbor, but then…

"Heh… I guess I was right after all, then."

I winced at that but forced myself not to shy away completely. "You were right about what? Me being crazy?" It was impossible to keep the bitterness out of my voice. Oh, what a mess this was going to turn into now…

I noticed that my friends were giving me concerned looks from the corner of their eyes, and it seemed like Akame was just about to say something to me, but the human standing across from us beat her to the punch.

"No, I meant being right about you being able to communicate with Duel Monster Spirits," he answered back rather frankly.

Completely floored by what I had just heard, I let out another sharp gasp and almost choked on a combination of my own astonishment and sea breeze this time around.

"H-huh? How did you—? Can you… Can you hear them, too?!" I wound up blurting out after I had stopped coughing and regained the ability to breathe, probably sounding a bit too eager there.

Zane shook his head. "Not exactly… But I've met a few people who can. You sort of remind me of one of them, to be honest…"

"Oh… I-is that so?" I muttered softly as I forced myself to calm the heck down. While I truthfully was a little let down by his answer and the fact that I hadn't miraculously stumbled upon someone with a similar ability to me, it was still nice to know that he at least somehow knew about the existence of Duel Spirits and didn't just think that I was a total headcase. I also couldn't help but wonder just who those people he mentioned might be, though I supposed that that would probably have to be a question for another time. Instead, I added, "But still, you and Cyber End Dragon obviously have a very strong bond. It's really quite remarkable, honestly."

"Yes… Well, we've been together for a long time now," he admitted, gazing up at his monster with a look that seemed reminiscent of fondness or pride. An expression like that was certainly a nice change from the aloof ones he had been wearing during the majority of the time since we first met, but, unfortunately, it was gone all too soon when he seemed to remember that we were still in the middle of a Duel and decided to shift his focus back on that. My friends and I did the same, our attention all now where it should be.

Zane eyed my face-down card carefully, but both he and Cyber End Dragon seemed otherwise confident about their impending attack. "Battle," he declared, his tone even.

"Okay, but just so you know, due to the other effect of Red-Eyes Sorceress, you can't target her for attacks or with card effects while I control another Red-Eyes monster," I felt the need to explain.

"That won't be much of an issue considering that my monster has more than enough power to handle your Twin Flare Dragon," the older teen pointed out. "Cyber End Dragon, attack with Super Strident Blaze!"

The three heads of Cyber End Dragon were aglow with a vibrant blue light before they unleashed a trio of photon blasts that soon combined to form a huge stream of energy. It was absolutely stunning to look at, to say the least, but I wasn't going to allow it anywhere near my dear dragon.

"I activate my Trap Card, Magic Cylinder!" I called out as I set off my reverse card from earlier, prompting a pair of red cylinders to appear between Zane's monster and mine. "This card negates your monster's attack and inflicts damage to you equal to its Attack Points!"

The mechanical dragon's attack began to be absorbed into one of the tubes, and I honestly thought that this Duel was all but done, for sure.

"Nice try, but that isn't going to work, either!" Zane interjected, bursting my bubble quite abruptly. "From my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, De-Fusion!"

I watched as his monster was covered in a white light that caused it to split apart, soon being replaced by its three identical components that were Zane's Cyber Dragons, all of them in Attack Position.

I frowned slightly as Magic Cylinder faded away, its effect resolving without resolution now that its target had left the field. But still…

"Good job getting past my Trap, but the final effect of that Power Bond card you played will still deal you damage equal to Cyber End Dragon's original Attack Points during your End Phase," I pointed out, recalling the Spell's risky drawback.

"That's only assuming there even will be an End Phase," Zane countered, his confidence unshaken as he, while still in his Battle Phase, played another Quick-Play Spell from his hand known as Limiter Removal. "This card doubles the Attack Points of all Machine monsters that I currently control."

The three Cyber Dragons were all instantly surrounded by a bright aura as their Attack each shot up to 4200. Well, damn…

"Cyber Dragon, destroy her Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon! Strident Blast!"

The first mechanical dragon roared before letting loose a stream of energy from its jaws towards Red.

"Not happening! I activate the effect of Knight with Eyes of Red in my hand," I interrupted, revealing the aforementioned card. "When an opponent's monster declares an attack on a Red-Eyes monster I control, I can send this card from my hand to the Graveyard to negate the attack."

Mere seconds later, the spirit of a crimson-eyed man in pitch-black armor appeared in front of my dragon, holding up his sword in a defensive manner. The oncoming blast of energy magically gravitated towards the blade, causing the steel to glow a bright red color as it absorbed all of that power.

"Next, due to the second part of my Knight's effect, one Red-Eyes monster I control gains 800 Attack Points until my next End Phase. I'll give them to Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon."

The knight then pointed his still glowing sword in Red's direction, passing on the energy he had captured with it and converting it into power for my dragon, increasing his Attack to 3600. With his job now fulfilled, the black-armored Warrior quietly bowed his head before vanishing from sight.

"So, you had something like that, did you?" my opponent commented thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing I didn't underestimate you, then."

I raised an eyebrow at that remark. "You say that as if you have this whole Duel on lock… How, though, I wonder? I mean, the numbers really don't seem to be in your favor right now…"

"We'll see about that. I still have monsters that can attack, after all," he calmly replied.

"Oh? Does that mean that you're not worried that I might have another hand trap, then? It only takes something like one Kuriboh to ruin a Duelist's day, as I'm sure you're aware."

"While I won't completely write off the possibility, I'm still willing to bet that you don't have anything like that."

I tilted my head to the side, nonplused by his remark. "And what makes you so sure about that, exactly?"

"That last card that you're holding… I saw the look on your face when you drew it at the beginning of your previous turn. It was the only card that you frowned at," he disclosed matter-of-factly, as if that explained everything.

"That… doesn't necessarily prove anything…" I retorted, trying to keep my tone and expression neutral, a difficult task to achieve with him looking at me with those steely, steadfast eyes of his that seemed dead-set on causing me more heart palpitations.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "True, but with the way you regard your monsters, that doesn't really seem like an expression that you would make towards any of them."

"Heh… Wow. It sure looks like this guy's got your number already, huh, Shion?" Akame snickered in amusement, apparently getting some sort of kick out of this whole thing. "Maybe, after all of this is over, you should ask him for his number, ehh~?"

I felt my face heat up in embarrassment but decided not to verbally address either one of their comments.

Still, I couldn't help but think how amazing it was that he was able to figure out that much about me in such a short amount of time… Was I just that easy to read, or was this an example of one of the ways Dueling apparently had the ability to connect people?

"Well, I suppose there's only one real way to find out for sure," Zane concluded his thoughts before ordering his second Cyber Dragon to attack.

The chromium-plated monster was quick to comply, shooting off a beam of light from its gaping maw in Red's direction. Since I unfortunately really didn't have anything else left to protect him, the attack succeeded in hitting its mark and blasted my precious dragon off the field despite his best efforts to hold on for my sake. My Life Points took their first hit since the Duel began, dropping from 4000 to 3400.

With Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon's card now in the Graveyard, Akame's Attack Points increased by another 300, bringing the total up to 2900, though we both knew that it wouldn't be nearly enough to hold off that last Cyber Dragon…

"Welp, I guess that's it for me. This was fun while it lasted, at least!" the Spellcaster said with a shrug and devil-may-care grin, taking her impending destruction remarkably well.

"Now, I'll have my last Cyber Dragon take out Red-Eyes Sorceress," Zane announced.

"Bring it!" Akame exclaimed. She busted out her staff once more and then fired off another magical blast just for the hell of it while the third Cyber Dragon unleashed its own attack her way.

The two forces met at the center of the field, but because the mechanical dragon's power far exceeded her own, Akame's magic was soon engulfed by the opposing blue energy beam as it continued on its path of destruction towards her, wiping her out with a bang at the moment of impact.

I winced as my Life Points depleted to 2100 in the aftermath, though that was the least of my concerns right now.

"Are you alright?" I quietly asked my friend as she appeared beside me once more, though now back in her ethereal form.

"Yes, of course. You know that it'll take a lot more than something like that to keep me down," she insisted with a reassuring smile and wink, thankfully not seeming any worse for wear.

"That's good. I'm glad..." I sighed with a faint smile of my own before I turned my gaze back towards Zane, who looked as cool and calm as ever. "Well, you may have managed to take out my friends, but I still have Life Points left, while you seem to be all out of monsters to attack with, which means it looks as though you'll get done-in by your Power Bond's recoil effect the moment you end your turn... At least, that's what I would like to say, but judging from your previous remarks and the fact that you still don't appear to be the least bit concerned about any of that, I'm just going to take a wild guess and say that you're somehow not done yet."

One corner of the boy's lips turned upwards at that, forming another half-smirk. "On that, you're correct," he responded as he played the last card in his hand. "I now activate the Quick-Play Spell, Cyberload Fusion. By shuffling the three Cyber Dragons on my field into my deck, I can once again Fusion Summon Cyber End Dragon!"

I watched as the three metal serpents merged together once more and gave rise to the splendid triple-headed mechanical marvel from earlier.

Although the monster's reappearance in this Duel meant that I was undoubtedly going to lose, that somehow didn't bother me in the slightest and I surprisingly found myself with a full-blown smile on my face as a pulse of exhilaration ran through me.

Was this really what it felt like to enjoy a Duel? If that's what this was… If I was actually able to experience this new, indescribable feeling just by playing this one game, then maybe… maybe coming to Duel Academy wouldn't end up being a mistake after all…

"I must admit, you played rather well," Zane said in genuine recognition. "It's been a while since I had a Duel quite like this… But it looks like we've finally reached the end."

"Even so, this was...this was actually fun," I admitted, placing a hand over my racing heart. "To be honest, up until now, I had serious doubts that I would ever be able to feel anything positive from Dueling… I'm… I'm really glad that you were able to help prove me wrong, though."

"So, did this Duel help you get whatever answers you were looking for?" he then asked me.

I took a moment to think about that before I gave a sincere smile and nodded. "Yeah… It did. I feel that this is a good starting point for me, though I can tell that I still have a ways to go when it comes to being a Duelist… But if the people here are even half as great as you, then I'm sure that will be a journey I won't mind taking."

The look in the older Duelist's eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly at that, and I suddenly felt a bit giddy when I thought I saw him give another one of those barely-there smiles since I figured that meant that he was satisfied with my response.

I blushed as I cleared my throat, still not sure why this guy's mere facial expressions kept making me go weak in the knees.

"A-anyway…" I finally managed to say. "Since I sort of interrupted it the first time, won't you and Cyber End Dragon please now show me what that 'Super Strident Blaze' attack is all about? I'm so ready for it!"

"I'm sure you are. After all, a true Duelist stands tall, even in the face of defeat," Zane said to me before glancing up at his partner. "Now, Cyber End Dragon, finish this with your attack!"

With a trio of zealous roars, Cyber End Dragon's three heads simultaneously released a dazzling beam of pure energy from each of their mouths. Like before, the rays converged into one mighty photon blast that quickly engulfed me in its light when it struck me head-on.

While I did my best to withstand the blinding barrage for as long as I could, I eventually became too overwhelmed by its immense power and was blown clean off my feet as my remaining 2100 Life Points plummeted to zero.

Now finding myself laying flat on my back after the light from Cyber End's attack finally faded away, I took the opportunity to gaze up at the late afternoon sky since the Duel was now officially over. The wild blue yonder and fluffy white clouds were already tinted with beautiful hues of orange, pink, and purple, indicating that the sun would set soon and dusk was drawing near.

Huh. It looks like time really does fly when you're having fun… I mused to myself, still over the moon from the fact that I was actually able to have an enjoyable Duel with someone. Life sure was full of surprises sometimes...

I was taken out of my thoughts when Zane suddenly returned into my line of sight by coming to stand directly over where I laid. Although this essentially put an end to my skygazing, I wasn't too broken up about it since the view was even better now, to be honest.

"You okay?" the teal-haired male inquired as he stared down at me from my current position on the ground.

I smiled shyly and nodded.

He reached out a hand to me then, which I graciously accepted and allowed him to help me back to my feet.

"Thank you," I said softly. "And thanks again for Dueling me. Even though we lost, my friends and I really did have a good time."

"You're welcome," the Obelisk Blue replied in acknowledgement to my earlier expression of gratitude. "And I have to admit that I enjoyed our Duel as well. Despite whatever doubts you seem to be harboring, I can at least say that you show promise when it comes to Dueling. The way you play your cards makes that clear enough."

At that moment, I really thought I might just faint from how hot my face suddenly got and how fast my heart started beating, and all over just a tiny bit of praise. What was even more amazing, though, was the fact that he said that he actually had a nice time Dueling me as well!

"I r-really appreciate your kind words. I'll… I'll do my best not to let whatever potential there may actually be go to waste," I stammered out after I was able to calm my erratic pulse. "Oh, and I almost forgot! It's Shion, by the way."

"Shion?" Zane echoed, canting his head to the side ever so slightly. Oh my… That made him look surprisingly endearing, and even the way he said my name sounded amazing...

"T-that's my name. I promised that I would tell you who I was if you beat me, after all," I clarified before I decided to be brave by sticking my hand out towards him this time. "I'm Shion Yuki. It's… It's a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance, Zane Truesdale."

"Heh. Same here," he replied as he accepted my handshake. While the comfortable warmth of his palm and firmness of his grip still kind of took me by surprise, I found myself really enjoying the feeling all the same.

I couldn't help but smile at that moment, thinking that even though this was a whole new world I was stepping into, I actually might just grow to like it here after all.

A/N: And that's all I have for this chapter. Thank you so very much for reading.

I hope that you were okay with how I formatted the Duel. Including the monsters' Levels and base stats is one thing, but inserting the Duelists' LP counts at every change was becoming bothersome (especially since the characters participating in this particular Duel had started off without even knowing each other's names, haha), which is why I instead wove it into the narrative as best as I could. Maybe that's the reason I somehow managed to make a chapter that only consisted of a four turn Duel over 7800 words… Eh, oh well! ╮(︶▽︶)╭

I'm kinda sad that my Red-Eyes babies had to lose in their premier Duel, but I found it necessary in order to show how strong Zane is supposed to be. (OTKing your opponent for a come-from-behind win has got to count for something, right?) Besides, how else was he supposed to find out Shion's name if he didn't crush—I mean, defeat her? (Heh…)

Anyway, below I have included the original cards I created that were featured in this chapter. All fan-made cards used for this story will be posed at the end of the chapters they first premiere in. I wrote the effects using the wording that the TCG currently uses, mainly because I'm used to it, but this should also hopefully make things pretty straightforward. Even so, you can always ask if you have any questions.

And if you like stuff like that, I have some original cards for a few of my own fan-made archetypes as well, which I posted on my Deviant Art account (also called EndlessNight025), so please feel free to check those out, if you have the time. I don't really plan on using them for this story, but most of them can pretty much fit in the GX timeline since I'm a fan of Fusion and Ritual Monsters the most.

As always, feedback is welcomed, so please let me know what you think about anything or whatever.

With that, I wish you all a safe and wonderful day! (°▽°) ﾉﾞ

Featured Cards

Cyber Komainu

Level 1

LIGHT

Machine/Union/Effect

ATK 400/DEF 2000

Once per turn, you can either: Target 1 LIGHT Machine monster you control; equip this card to that target, OR: Unequip this card and Special Summon it. A monster equipped with this card cannot be targeted by your opponent's card effects, it gains 400 ATK, also if the equipped monster would be destroyed, destroy this card instead. If this card is sent to the GY while equipped to a monster: You can draw 1 card.

Knight with Eyes of Red

Level 1

DARK

Warrior/Effect

ATK 800/DEF 500

When a "Red-Eyes" monster you control is targeted for an attack by an opponent's monster: You can send this card from your hand to the GY; negate the attack, and if you do, 1 "Red-Eyes" monster you control gains 800 ATK until your next End Phase. You can banish this card from your GY, then target 1 "Red-Eyes" monster or 1 Level 1 DARK Dragon monster in your GY; add it to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Knight with Eyes of Red" once per turn.

Maiden with Eyes of Red

Level 1

DARK

Spellcaster/Effect

ATK 0/DEF 0

When a card or effect is activated that targets this card (Quick Effect): You can Special Summon 1 "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from your hand, Deck, or GY. When this card is targeted for an attack: You can negate the attack, and if you do, change the battle position of this card, then you can Special Summon 1 "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" from your hand, Deck, or GY. You can only use 1 "Maiden with Eyes of Red" effect per turn, and only once that turn.

Red-Eyes Sorceress

Level 6

DARK

Spellcaster/Effect

ATK 2000/DEF 1600

Gains 300 ATK for each "Red-Eyes" monster in the GY. If you control another "Red-Eyes" monster, your opponent cannot target this card for attacks or with card effects.

Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon

Level 7

DARK

Dragon/Effect

ATK 2400/DEF 2000

Cannot be Normal Summoned/Set. Must first be Special Summoned (from your hand) by revealing "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" in your hand. You can only Special Summon "Red-Eyes Shadow Dragon" once per turn this way. This card's name becomes "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" while on the field or in the GY. Once per turn: You can target 1 "Red-Eyes" monster, or 1 Fusion Monster that lists a "Red-Eyes" monster as a Fusion Material Monster, you control; inflict damage to your opponent equal to half its original ATK. This card cannot attack the turn this effect is activated.

Red-Eyes Twin Flare Dragon

Level 9

DARK

Dragon/Fusion/Effect

ATK 2800/DEF 2400

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon" + "Red-Eyes Black Dragon"

Must be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by Tributing the above cards you control (in which case you do not use "Polymerization"). Cannot be destroyed by card effects. This card can make up to 2 attacks on monsters during each Battle Phase. When this card destroys a monster by battle: Inflict damage to your opponent equal to the destroyed monster's original Level x 200. *

(* Note: This is basically the "GX anime" version of the card, since the original concept I had in mind for its last effect would have also included damaging the opponent based on the destroyed monster's original Rank and Link Rating.)

Cybernetic Rebirth

Continuous Trap

Once per turn, if you control no monsters: You can target 1 "Cyber Dragon" monster in your GY, or 1 Fusion Monster in your GY that lists "Cyber Dragon" as a Fusion Material Monster; Special Summon it in Attack Position. You cannot Normal or Special Summon other monsters the turn you activate this effect, except Machine monsters. You can only control 1 "Cybernetic Rebirth".