Ruby Rose sat in the back of her classroom as her teacher, Miss Green, walked into the room. She was followed soon after by two students, one with a black eye, the other with a smug expression on his face. The latter spoke in a clearly mocking fashion, "Maybe don't go around showing off your older brother's best card if you don't want to lose it." Ruby knew both of them. The first was Violet, he meant well but he wasn't very good in class and that clearly translated to more practical aspects of life as well if that comment was anything to go by. The second was Azure, the class bully. Everyone stayed away from him because he always forced people to duel using an ante, meaning both players bet their best card that they'll win. In this case, it seems Azure made Violet wager one of his older brother's cards.

Violet spoke as he sat down, clearly disheartened by his apparent loss"I still don't get how you won..."

"It's plain and simple, buddy," Azure spoke snidely, "You're just not good. You should drop out now before you waste your time trying to get into Beacon."

"Please quiet down, students, it's time for our lesson." Miss Green clearly wanted the conversation to stop. Under most circumstances, no one is allowed to duel with an ante but Azure has always managed to get out of it and none of his opponents can challenge it because they'd get expelled if they owned up to playing with such an illegal rule. "Okay class, today we will be continuing our lesson on Fusion Summoning." And that was where Ruby tuned out, she didn't need another lesson on Fusion Summoning, before her last summer break, she had earned the title of "Best Fusion Duelist" at Signal Academy, the local duel prep school on her home island of Patch.

Ruby pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and subtly pulled her headphones on with it. She started looking over her cards, thinking about different ways she could improve her deck. "What am I gonna do with this Pollination card?" she silently wondered to herself, "I guess Yang has a Ritual deck but where am I gonna get a Synchro and Xyz monster that actually work with my deck?..." Ruby had been meaning to get rid of it but she couldn't think of another card to replace it with. "If I could play with thirty-nine cards, I would, but I can't..." Her eyes glazed over and became unfocused as she tried to think of a more relevant card to play.

Ruby was eventually called back to reality by the lunch bell. She picked up her cards and rushed to the lunchroom. Azure was showing off his newest prize. Apparently Violet's brother had gotten his hands on a copy of a limited edition copy of Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Eventually, she couldn't take his bragging anymore. "Give his card back, Azure." It was difficult to sound angry when her voice was so soft and high-pitched, but she did her best.

Azure had a simple response still with that smug grin on his face, "No."

"Give it back, or else."

"Or what?"

That was all Ruby needed. "I think you know what." She responded, the anger dropping out from her tone. She set her deck on the table and sat down across from him.

"Heh, you think you can take me on? I think you know what I want." Azure sat up straight and put his deck on the table a well.

"Hmmm…" Ruby thought to herself for a moment, "You know what? I actually want all the cards you've taken from everyone in the class."

Azure couldn't help but chuckle, "What? No way you're getting all those cards."

"How many are there?"

"Almost fifty."

"What a coincidence." Ruby Smiled, "I also have almost 50 cards."

People had started to gather around them, namely Violet, who stood next to Ruby. "C'mon, Ruby, you don't have to do this for me."

Ruby didn't look away from Azure, "I'm not. I'm doing it for the class. He's taken a lot of people's cards and it's about time he gave them back."

The two shuffled their decks and drew their opening hand. Ruby hadn't noticed, but almost the entire lunchroom had encircled the two. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Azure had taken at least one card from everyone there at one point or another. Everyone except Ruby that is. He'd never admit it, but Azure was actually more than a little scared of going after her. She was at the top of the class, she had already won a few local tournaments, but she had managed to stay under most people's radars.

"Since you challenged me, I guess I'll go fi-" He was cut off as the lights suddenly shut out before what seemed like a spotlight shined down leaving only Ruby and Azure illuminated. Something looked different; actually, that was an understatement, something felt different to Ruby. The air seemed heavier, the space they were in no longer felt like the lunchroom, Ruby's cards felt like they had a strange energy to them. Ruby glanced around. There wasn't another student to be seen nor a noise to be heard. She felt cramped but the darkness around her looked like it went on forever. "Very funny, Azure," she said, trying to defuse the tension in the air, "Is this supposed to scare me?"

She didn't expect the voice she had heard back. "Who is Azure?" it said. The voice sounded like Azure, but, much like this strange place, was off just enough to send a shiver up her spine. Ruby turned, startled by the sudden drop in her opponent's voice, but it was still just the bully. Did his eyes change color? Ruby didn't hang out around him too much but she could have sworn his eyes were supposed to be a deep blue. They certainly weren't that color right now. The eyes staring back at her were a disgusting shade of red and the whites encasing his pupils had yellowed as if they were diseased in some way.

"Ha, ha." Ruby laughed sarcastically, trying to defuse the tension in the air, "Very funny. Whatever you did, undo it."

"I don't think I will, little girl." Azure smiled at her, it wasn't his usual smug grin he wore when he was feeling confident. This was angry, hateful, menacing even. "I think I'll go first." He briefly looked over his cards. "I think I'll activate the field spell Fearscape." As he set the card down, the darkness around the two duelists warped into an almost liquid state, that oozed from the floor and seemed to fall from a ceiling Ruby couldn't see. "There aren't any hologram projectors in the cafeteria." she said, confused, "How are you doing this?"

"They're not holograms, little girl," Azure said snidely, "I think you'll find that the cards you play here are quite real."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Nice bluff, Azure, where'd you come up with that one? ? And stop calling me a little girl, I'm sixteen and we're the same age."

"Think what you like, you'll realize the truth soon enough. I'll summon Ursa in attack mode and end my turn." As he said this, a large bear-looking creature rose out of the ooze, it was black and had odd-looking white armor plating on its body. The most interesting feature, however, was its eyes: they were the exact same as Azure's with those sickly whites and deep red pupils.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Was wall Ruby could muster in response as she drew a card to start her turn. "I think I'll summon Red Rose Garden Sorceress in attack mode." Just like the Ursa, Ruby's monster rose out of the ground blossoming with life as her everything from her leaf green robe to her rose-looking magical scepter formed out of nothing. "Now I think I'll activate her effect. Since she was summoned this turn, I can summon a Red Rose Seedling from my hand in defense mode and that lets me add a Red Rose Sprout from my deck to my hand!"

Azure didn't seem fazed at all by Ruby's strategy, "Is that all, little girl?"

Ruby pouted slightly, "I told you to stop calling me that! And no, I'll set one card face down and leave it at that for now."

"What a joke." Azure chuckled as he drew a card to start his turn, "You couldn't even summon a monster strong enough to beat my Ursa."

"True," Ruby agreed as a smile grew on her face, "But now I can activate Red Rose Sprout's effect! I can shuffle the seedling on my field back into my deck, then I can special summon it in defense mode! And, since I special summoned it, I can add a copy of Red Rose Fusion to my hand!"

"That's a neat trick," Azure sneered, "but it won't help you. I summon a Beowolf in attack mode! Now My Ursa will attack your pathetic Sprout and, thanks to my field spell, it gains an extra 1000 attack points!" The menacing bear slashed its claws at Ruby's monster, but it didn't disappear like it should have.

Ruby grinned as she flipped her facedown card over, "You've activated my trap card: Strong Roots! Because you attacked a plant-type monster, my sprout is safe for the rest of the turn!"

"That's very clever, but your trap card doesn't save you from the damage!" as her opponent spoke, Ruby felt a pain shoot through her chest. 1300 Life Points was already a sever loss for this early in the duel but it had never actually hurt before.

"W-what was that!?" Ruby screamed, half in pain and half in shock.

Azure could only laugh, "I told you before, little girl, these monsters are real! And now my Beowolf will attack your Sorceress!" This time Ruby's monster shattered like glass as her opponent's black wolf pounced on it and with it, another sharp pain in her chest with the loss of 1000 more Life Points.

"This isn't good," She thought to herself, "I only have 1700 left… another turn and I'm done for."

"That's all for now." Azure grinned. "Take your last turn while you can. You won't be going anywhere any time soon when you lose!"

Ruby took a deep breath as she drew her next card. She looked at it and grinned. "You know what, Azure? I think you're right! This will be my last turn! But I don't think you'll get the chance to beat me! I activate the field spell Red Rose Garden!" As she set the card down, countless vines and stems sprouted all around them and blossomed into hundreds and hundreds of roses. "Now I'll tribute my sprout to summon Red Rose Bud!"

"A rosebud?" Azure question, clear arrogance in his tone, "It has no shot at either of my monsters!"

"You shouldn't look down on roses, Azure. You're about to find out just how dangerous they can be! I activate the spell card Red Rose Fusion! With this, I can Fusion summon a Red Rose monster by shuffling the materials from my field or graveyard back into my deck! So I'll shuffle back my sprout, bud, and garden sorceress to fusion summon Red Rose Dragon!" As Ruby's small rosebud faded away, a massive dragon made of rose petals tore through the ground behind her.

"All that work for a monster with 2500 attack points? What a lame excuse for your best card."

"I guess you we're listening, Azure." This time it was Ruby's turn to sound like she was mocking him, "I guess that means you're about to get pricked by some thorns! When my dragon is summoned, I can shuffle one card from your hand, field, or graveyard back into your deck, so say goodbye to your Ursa!" Azure growled as he took the card off the table and shuffled it back into his deck. "And now I can activate my dragon's second ability! Once per turn, I can change the attack points of one of your monsters to zero!"

"So you live an extra turn. It won't matter."

"You really need to get your ears checked, Azure, I'm winning this turn, because, thanks to my Rose Garden, my Dragon's attack points also double for the rest of the turn!"

All Azure could manage was a simple, but angry, "What!?"

"Red Rose Dragon! End this duel by attacking Azure's Beowolf!" A bright light filled the room as Ruby's dragon attacked. When it faded, she was back in the cafeteria surrounded by screaming students who had seemingly witnessed her success. However, something strange had happened - or I guess normal by her current standards given what had just happened, Azure was gone, and the only thing that sat in his place was a box of the cards he had stolen from her classmates.