All of us were gathered around the kitchen table, staring at the pictures spread out over the top. Mina shook her head as she looked at them, "Ghost was a prototype of a 'Ridingroid', which was being created to handle runner violations. But it went missing a couple days before Ghost showed up."

From her side, Trudge let out a sigh, "Too bad it didn't have a control chip."

I pulled said control chip out of my pocket, "It was scheduled to delete upon losing, making sure that Security wouldn't be able to figure out who stole it."

Lightly, I tossed it to Trudge, who stared at it in shock, "Hey! You can't just take evidence!"

Both of my brothers started to laugh, as Jack shook his head, "Without her, you guys would have never caught Ghost. I think that you can turn a blind eye."

While Trudge spluttered for words, Crow dealt the killing blow as he spoke, "Plus she's better than your minions at decoding."

My face went red as Dad chuckled, "I'm not that good. It's just the result of practice."

The officers started to gather up their photos, and Jack leaned over to mutter to Crow and I, "Anyone else feel like this is just the beginning?"

Crow and I nodded, and I whispered back, "It certainly feels like it."


Tension was high in the garage as I activated my test program. Jack was sitting in position while Crow paced back and forth, "Are you sure the engine won't blow this time?"

"I'm sure. I have the extra energy going to a different location."

Once again the alarm blared, causing Jack to look up in alarm, "What other location?"

My deck exploded out of the card slot, going in every direction, "The shuffling mechanics."

At least the engine didn't blow again.

The door swung open, releasing the twins and two of their friends, "Yusei!"

Leo paused at the top of the stairs, and looked at the mess, "What happened this time?"

I got up from my position behind the computer, "Overexcited shuffling machine. But that was the only problem we had, so things are going better."

A smile spread over my face as the two friends rushed to the side of the prototype. The young boy bounced up and down, "Wow, a duel runner!"

Without a second of hesitation, the girl swung her arm around to hit him, "It's just a practice model for testing parts. Would it be okay for us to sit on it?"

Jack sat stiffly upright, "Absolutely not!"

Crow ran over to save them from Jack's bad attitude, "You can if you pick up the most cards!"

Both of them scrambled over each other as they started to pick up my deck.

Suddenly there was a wave of loneliness and anger coming from the door. Just inside was a young boy, who was looking at the group with disgust on his face. He started to turn around, when Luna rushed up to him, "Sly, come on in!"

Gently, she pulled him down to join the rest of us, "Yusei, this is Sly. He's in our class at Duel Academy."

I nodded at him, "Nice to meet you."

The other kids were staring, but only for a couple of seconds before Crow crouched in front of them, "I thought you guys wanted to get on the practice runner. Did you change your mind?"

All five of the kids started to gather up the cards in a hurry, but I was looking for one specific card. Once I felt Sly get covetous, I walked in his direction, pretending to search the floor, "It's got to be around here somewhere…"

Sly held out Stardust, "Here you go."

Crouching down so I could make eye contact, I smiled at him, "Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without him."

It's been a long time since I've been this close to someone who is hard to read. I hope he's okay.

Pulling my powers back inside myself to avoid being overwhelmed by Sly's prism of emotions, I flopped back down at my chair. Eventually, the rest of my cards were returned to me, and I double checked that they were all accounted for as Crow dealt with the kids.


The next morning, I was doing maintenance on Justice when I heard footsteps enter the garage, "Are you Fudo Yusei-sama?"

Startled by the extreme honorific, I twisted around to see my visitor. The man standing there looked to be about Dad's age, a little worn around the edges, almost like something had taken away all of his energy, "Yes, that is my name. Can I ask yours?"

"I am Chancellor of the Duel Academy. I need you to fix something for me."

One of Aki's many rants about Duel Academy went through my head, causing a chuckle to slip out of me, "If my friend Aki had any say, she'd want me to fix the Vice Chancellor. Which I might have to do before he really upsets her."

He jumped as if he had a bucket of water dumped over him, and I wiped my hands clean on a rag, "I'm guessing that I hit the nail on the head. How can I help?"

"Despite what I say, he has decided that in order to make the entire school look better on paper, he has to expel the lowest class. I could just fire him or something similar, but then he won't actually learn why he shouldn't do it."

My blood started to boil as I sent a friendly smile to him, "Two of my friends are in that class. I'll help you out."


Aki's voice was clearly coming from the classroom that was my goal, nearly yelling, "You can't expel these kids and still call yourself a teacher!"

Quietly, I entered the doorframe, nearly overwhelmed by the emotions of shock and grief coming from the army of small children. Two adults stood at the front of the class along with Aki, who had her hands in a fist.

So, this is what a classroom actually looks like.

As everyone became aware of me, silence descended upon the room. The Vice Chancellor turned to look for the source of the disturbance, and froze, "You're Fudo Yusei!"

Keeping my voice level, I made direct eye contact with him, "Are you Heinemann?"

He nodded, somewhat in shock as I continued, "One of your colleagues informed me that you were trying to expel two of my friends, and I came to see if it was true."

Confusion filled his face, and he narrowed his brow, "Your friends?"

Pointing to the twins in the back, "The Morimoto twins, Luna and Leo. You may think that they are not good enough for your institution, but they deserve to be here just like anyone else."

Apparently that was a reason to yell, "These kids only use the weakest cards in their decks, Hanewata, Flamvell Guard, Eccentric Boy, Sunny Pixie...the list goes on and on! There is no reason for children who rely on such pathetic cards to remain here!"

I rolled my eyes to Aki, who grinned back in response as she realized what I was about to do.

"Then I challenge you to a duel. If I win, the kids stay."

Heinemann nodded, "But if you lose-"

"I will teach them how to duel myself."


As we waited outside of the duel arena as he went to get his dueling equipment, the kids gathered around me.

"Will you really teach us if you lose?"

I smiled, "Yes, but I want your help teaching him a lesson."

"How can we help?"

"You heard him, we aren't that good."

Kneeling down, I grabbed the shoulders of the two nearest kids, "Don't ever say that. Saying that stops you from getting better. But I need all of the cards that he insulted. I'm going to use your cards to beat him."

Within seconds, I was holding Hanewata, Flamvell Guard, and Sunny Pixie. All of us turned to look at Sly, and Luna gently nudged him, "Give Yusei your Eccentric Boy."

He grudgingly handed it to me, and I looked him in the eye, "I promise to kick his butt using these cards."

All of the kids started to cheer as I walked down to the dueling ring. Heinemann stood at the other side, with a duel disk that Jack would be jealous of, glaring at me, "It is tradition at Duel Academy that the challenger always gets the first turn."

"Thank you."

Glancing at my hand, I couldn't believe how easily my plan was already coming together, "I play Flamvell Guard in defense mode and place two facedowns before ending my turn."

Flamvell Guard-2000

The look I received from him was irritating, as was his next sentence, "Why would YOU, of all people, use such a weak monster? I'm going to show you exactly what those are worth!"

Apparently, he was just as dramatic as Jack, which the duel disk should have warned me about. The gusto with which he laid down his first card clued me in on what this duel was going to be like, "I summon Ancient Gear Statue."

Ancient Gear Statue-500

Ooh, this deck is famous! Wait. Yusei, you need to remain focused.

"Then I activate Machine Duplication which lets me select a monster on my field with 500 or less points, and summon up to two more of it from anywhere in my deck or hand. So I summon two more Ancient Gear Statues."

Ancient Gear Statue-500

Ancient Gear Statue-500

"If I release an Ancient Gear Statue, I can summon a certain other monster without its normal summoning conditioning. And that monster is Ancient Gear Golem!"

All three of the statues disappeared, being replaced by monsters that would have intimidated me...if I hadn't battled the Dark Signers and the Earthbound Immortals. Instead of being intimidated, my only thought was, I really want to see you duel Jack, just so I can have some drama.

Ancient Gear Golem-3000

Ancient Gear Golem-3000

Ancient Gear Golem-3000

Sighing, I casually activated my trap, "I use Tuner Barrier, which prevents a tuner on my field from being destroyed in battle."

Heinemann sent me the most pervy smile I had ever seen, "But Ancient Gear Golem has piercing damage."

And I've nearly been killed in a duel, so holograms don't intimidate me anymore.

"Golem number one, attack that pathetic Tuner!"

That comment pissed off the deck as much as it did me.

Life Points Yusei=3000

"Number two's turn!"

Life Points Yusei=2000

"And then number three!"

Life Points Yusei=1000

Despite how many attacks I received, I didn't flinch, mostly because I wasn't about to make this guy feel better about bullying.

Either he was too busy monologuing, or he genuinely did not notice my lack of reaction, because he continued on with the same amount of gusto, "I activate Level Thunder, which adds up the total level of the monsters on my field and gives you damage equal to that times 100."

So, three times eight is twenty four. Times that by 100=2400. Good thing I won't be taking that damage.

"If I discard Hanewata from my hand, it makes the damage of an effect 0."

From the stands, I could hear the girl who had given me that card cheer, "Hanewata!"

The cheer brought a smile to my face, "Looks like it's my turn. I activate Cards of Consonance. This lets me send 1 tuner to the graveyard in order to draw 2 cards."

Not that I need the two cards, I just need Debris Dragon in the graveyard to get this plan to work.

"After that, I summon Eccentric Boy."

Eccentric Boy-800

"When Eccentric Boy is on my field, I can use its special ability to synchro summon with a card that is in my hand."

Heinemann froze, "You can Synchro summon with a card that's not even on the field?"

"Sure can, and I chose Turret Warrior. I combine the two of them together to bring out Stardust Dragon!"

Stardust Dragon-2500

The kids' cheers made me feel better as I kept going, "Then I use Variety Comes Out, which sends Stardust back to my deck to summon Tuners whose total level is equal to his."

Puzzlement filled his face, "You are supposed to use weak monsters to summon strong monsters, not the other way around!"

"What can I say? I like all cards equally. So I bring back Flamvell Guard, Eccentric Boy, Hanewata, and Debris Dragon."

Flamvell Guard-2000

Eccentric Boy-800

Hanewata-200

Debris Dragon-1000

He froze, "Wait, those monsters…"

"Are some of the ones you called useless earlier? Yes, that's the point. I asked the kids if I could use the cards to teach YOU a lesson. And this lesson is called Tuner Explosion. I can send as many tuners as I want to the graveyard, and for every tuner, you lose a monster and 1000 life points."

Panic was the only thing visible on his face, "What?"

"Flamvell Guard, take out the first Golem!"

Life Points Heinemann=3000

"Next up is Eccentric Boy!"

Life Points Heinemann=2000

"Hanewata, take out the last one!"

Life Points Heinemann=1000

"But I'm not done yet. Debris Dragon is still out, and he's going to attack you directly!"

Life Points Heinemann=0 Defeat!

The kids ran down and mobbed me as the Chancellor appeared, "Thank you Fudo-sama. You did so well."

Heinemann looked up, "Sir, you were the one who asked him to duel me?"

I could see Aki start to cough to disguise her laughter at my mistaken gender.

The Chancellor nodded, "I couldn't persuade you, so I decided to ask someone who was great at changing people. Look at how much Miss Izayoi changed since they dueled."

Aki and I exchanged looks and chuckled, while Heinemann sighed, "They aren't going to be expelled."

My ears nearly started to bleed as the kids erupted into deafening cheers, with the exception of Sly who was still glaring at the world.

Breaking free of the crowd, I walked over to him, "Thank you for loaning me your card. I couldn't have won without it."

For a second, a shy smile crossed his face, before he put back on his glower. He took his card from me and returned it to the rest of his deck.

The remaining kids pushed me out of the arena, and I ended up being stuck in their classroom for the rest of the day.

By the end of the day, I was starting to understand why I've heard so many complaints about school.


A/N: Thanks to Let's-Go-To-Vermont and Pandapanda-chan for reviewing on the original version of this chapter!