It had been a day since Nathan was hospitalized after his duel with Michael and Kimberly hadn't left his side since then, whilst school continued as usual for the other students, including those competing in the upcoming Battle City tournament, she had opted to skip class to be with her stepbrother.

She heard the door to the medbay open and assumed that it was one of Nathan's friends coming to check up on him, when they didn't say anything however she looked up and saw Chloe. "Come to check up on him kid?" She asked.

"Yeah, seeing the aftermath of that duel shook me up pretty badly." She admitted. "And for the record, I'm 17."

"Sorry force of habit, I tend to call all Osiris Red students kid regardless of their age, nothing personal." Kimberly shook her head. "I appreciate you coming by though, and I'm sure Nathan appreciates it as well."

"Yeah, even though it involved me lying by telling the Obelisk Blue headmaster that I needed to go to the bathroom." Chloe said with a small smile. "It was that or come up with a reason for visiting a guy in medbay that I barely knew."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Kimberly smiled at her honesty before shaking her head. "Damn it, why did this have to happen to Nathan? He's never hurt a fly!" Kimberly said sadly.

"I wish I knew." Chloe shook her head. "How did you know him?"

"He's my stepbrother; I was adopted by my current parents." Kimberly said looking up at Chloe who looked away sadly. "You're an orphan too?"

"Yeah, it's not something I'm not comfortable talking about it though." Chloe said with a sigh.

"Neither am I." Kimberly nodded in understanding. "Did they catch the guy who did this?" Chloe shook her head.

"No, they think that he slipped away in the middle of the night or something, they've alerted the police on the mainland to be on the lookout for him." Chloe answered. "That's what Brandon told me anyway."

"He's usually pretty reliable so that's probably what happened." Kimberly shrugged before she recognised her. "Wait, aren't you Chloe Richardson, the rookie from the test duels?"

"Was it that obvious?" Chloe asked before shaking her head. "Forget I asked but yeah, that's me." Chloe admitted.

"And they chose you for the Battle City tournament? You must be doing something right." Kimberly said and Chloe just shrugged. "If Nathan was awake he would've challenged you on the spot, he wanted to test out his Spellcaster deck against yours, and yes he noticed that you also use Warriors, but..."

"Yeah, I hear ya." Chloe sighed. "Considering I got my ass kicked the last time I was challenged by an Obelisk Blue I would've been more than a little hesitant to except the challenge." She added, before the older student could add anything else the bell rang signifying the end of class and Chloe's eyes widened. "Shit, time must've passed by quicker than I thought." She said checking the time on her watch. "I'm out of here before the teachers spot me."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Kimberly agreed as Chloe left the med bay, Chloe looked around before remembering that she was to meet the others at the duel field and started making her way there.

"Needed to use the bathroom huh?" Chloe froze on the spot and turned around seeing the Ra Yellow Headmaster.

"I...I can explain..." Chloe stammered but Jeff put his hand up.

"Relax, the Obelisk Blue Headmaster figured out that you had left to check on Nathan when you where gone longer than five minutes, you didn't need to lie, he would've understood." The Ra Yellow Headmaster reassured her. "Though people where worried that you had fallen victim to the intruder as well."

"Oh crap." Chloe said as she started to feel bad. "It's just that...never mind." Chloe shook her head. "So I'm not in too much trouble?" She winced.

"Well you did lie about the reason for leaving the class but that's a minor offence, hardly anything to call you parents about." The Ra Yellow Headmaster said before shaking his head. "Just don't make a habit of it."

"Yeah, thanks." Chloe said before walking off.

"Oh and another thing, Lance has more homework for you." The Ra Yellow Headmaster said and she winced.

"Oh, great." Chloe thought before sighing. "Thanks for the heads up." Chloe winced before walking off to the duel field. "As long as I can avoid the Obelisk Blue Headmaster I'm not complaining." Chloe thought as she approached the duel field and saw Theresa waiting for her.

"Either that was the world's longest bathroom break or you wanted to check on Nathan." Theresa said shaking her head. "You do know the teachers don't like being lied too, right?"

"It's a long story." Chloe shook her head. "But yeah, I wanted to check up on him, seeing how he was after the duel shook me up pretty badly."

"Same here but I didn't sneak out in the middle of class under the guise of going to the bathroom." Theresa sighed. "Sorry, that was harsh; at least tell me you got rid of those Allure Queen cards."

"Yeah, traded them with an Osiris Red Student who was looking to get rid of her Silent Swordsman cards, yeah I know how little sense that makes but she wanted to try out a Dragon Deck." Chloe said shrugging her shoulders.

"All of them?" Theresa asked as the two students entered the duel field.

"You mean the Allure Queen cards or the Silent Swordsman cards? Regardless my answer is yes." Chloe said as they entered the duel field.

"That's a pretty sweet deal if you ask me." Theresa said before shaking her head. "I know you're concerned about Nathan but breaking all these rules isn't helping you as far as the teachers are concerned."

"I only broke two," Chloe asserted.

"Speaking back in class whenever Otto mocked you?" Theresa pointed out.

"Okay that too..." Chloe trailed off and Theresa noticed she was starting to feel sad and stopped in her tracks.

"Look I'm not trying to be nasty to you, especially not after hearing about your upbringing; I'm just giving you a fair warning, okay." Theresa reassured her. "Look Chloe, most of the Obelisk Blue students see potential in you, I and Brandon included, and all of the teachers for that matter but I don't want it to be wasted."

"Yeah, I know." Chloe said starting to feel a little better. "Has there been any news about Nathan's attacker?"

"No, last I heard the police on the mainland have put out an all points bulletin on the guy, my mom's a cop and when I spoke to her last night she told me that as far as she's concerned what he did was attempted murder." Theresa told her.

"She's allowed to discuss open cases with you?" Chloe asked.

"No, but she knows that I know better than to go to the press about it." Theresa said shaking her head. "Just keep in mind what I said next time you pull a stunt like that okay? I meant it, for a few minutes' people where thinking that you had fallen victim to the intruder like Nathan did."

"Yeah, thanks for the nightmares." Chloe said with a shudder. "Besides the Ra Yellow headmaster already told me about that, but I'll keep that in mind next time I even think along those lines."

"Good to hear." Chloe looked up and saw Brandon. "Lance was going crazy with worry over that possibility, well crazier than usual."

"I HEARD THAT!" Lance yelled.

"Now I know how Lance felt when he told the Ra Yellow headmaster about my past." Chloe thought before shaking her head. "So, are we using the same format as yesterday?"

"Nah, Evan and Rajin wanted to join in our training so we decided to make the training open to join since duelling the same people over and over would get pretty damn repetitive." Brandon said as he led the two girls to the duel field. "We decided to abandon the whole "straws" system and use a similar attack strength model; I think you can guess how that works."

"Duellist who draws the monster with the strongest attack duels the duellist who draws the weakest monster?" Chloe asked and Brandon nodded. "So, who's going first?" Chloe asked.

"We were waiting for you to arrive." Brandon told her. "All though we didn't take into account the possibility of you being the intruder's second victim." Brandon added as he led them to the group of boys that where waiting to duel. "Chloe's here guys so we can get started."

"As long as she doesn't sneak out to go to the bathroom again I'm not complaining." Marcus said earning him a glare from Chloe. "What?"

"Just draw your cards already." Theresa said before Rajin, Brandon, Theresa, Evan, Lance, Andreas and Chloe drew their cards and Chloe sweatdropped.

"Err; I've drawn a spell card." Chloe said showing her Level Modulation.

"Just keep drawing until you get a monster and send every other card to the bottom of the deck." Brandon told her and Chloe did that, all though it was a good twenty minutes before she drew her monster.

"I've finally drawn a monster...after shuffling enough cards for ten duels." Chloe said sheepishly before looking at the monster. "And I may as well head to the duel field." Chloe added before showing it to be The Unhappy Maiden (1/0/100) and heading to the duel field.

"Well unless Pegasus created a card with an attack power that goes into negatives Chloe's duelling first, we just need to determine her opponent." Brandon sweatdropped as the other duellists showed their cards, Rajin showed Inabba White Rabit (700) Brandon showed Don Zaloog (1400), Theresa showed Amazoness Paladin (1700), Lance showed Great Angus (1800) Marcus showed Armed Dragon Level 5 (2400), Andreas showed Behemoth The King of All Animals (2700) and Evan showed Blizzard Princess (2800). "And our first duel is a clash of the spellcasters...with some warriors thrown in...Evan vs. Chloe!"

"Oh great, I'm duelling an Obelisk Blue." Chloe muttered sarcastically as Evan got up on the duel field.

"Don't worry, I don't bite." Evan said returning Blizzard Princess to his deck. "I'll go first if you don't mind." Chloe shrugged after both duellists drew their opening hands and Evan drew an extra card. "I'll kick things off with Defender the Magical Knight!"

"Did you say Defender?" Chloe blinked.

"Yep." Evan said as he played the card and a warrior in blue and gold armour with red gems and a purple cloak appeared on the field carrying a large shield (4/1600/2000). "Like Breaker its ability revolves and the use of Spell Counters but I'll get to that in a minute." Evan said picking up two cards. "I set these two cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe drew her card and Evan activated one of his traps. "I activate my trap card Gagaga Shield and I swear to god if anyone calls it the baby talk shield I'll lose my mind, anyway this trap is treated like an equip card which I can only equip to Spellcasters like Defender, as long as it's equipped to the monster that monster can't be destroyed in battle."

"Either that has a weakness or it's one of the most broken cards I've seen." Chloe pointed out.

"It has a weakness, this effect can only be used twice and after the second time it's destroyed." Evan said as Defender's shield was replaced by an oddly shaped red, black, gold and blue shield.

"Don't count on that thing protecting your monster for too long then!" Chloe said looking at her card. "I summon Marauding Captain in attack mode!" Chloe played the card and a man in white armour with short light brown hair and carrying two swords appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "When he's normal summoned I can summon another monster from my hand as long as he's level four or lower, and my monster of choice happens to be my second most powerful Spellcaster."

"You're Silent Magician." Evan nodded as the magician appeared next to Captain (4/1000/1000). "In case you haven't noticed Defender's more powerful than both of your monsters!"

"I've noticed." Chloe said picking up another card. "First I activate Card Of Sanctity, allowing us both to draw until we have 6 cards in our hands and more importantly boosting my Magician's attack to 1500." Chloe said activating the card, both duellists drew three cards and Silent Magician's attack rose to 1500.

"Well at least she's mixing things up with her card combos." Brandon nodded. "All though, it goes without saying that Evan has more experience with Spellcasters than she does."

"Brandon, most of the school has more experience with Spellcasters than she does." Theresa pointed out.

"Good point." Brandon admitted.

"Clever move but Breaker's still more powerful and Marauding Captain's protection effect only applies to Warriors." Evan pointed out.

"I know." Chloe said picking up two of her drawn cards. "I set these cards facedown for later and end my turn." Chloe announced, Evan drew his card and Silent Magician's attack rose to 2000.

"I think I'll start my turn off my activating a Continuous Spell Card, Arcane Barrier." Evan said playing the card that he had drawn. "Now each time a Spellcaster is destroyed as a result of battle, regardless of what side of the field it's on, this spell card gains a counter and it can carry a maximum of four."

"So what happens when it reaches the limit?" Chloe asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well I can activate the second part of its effect at any time but for arguments sake let's say that the spell card currently has four spell counters, all I'd have to do is sacrifice it alongside one spellcaster on my side of the field and I can draw until I have drawn the same amount of cards as the spell counters on Arcane Barrier, in that scenario I would draw four." Evan explained.

"It seems to be a bit risky if you ask me." Brandon said.

"I noticed but I have yet to summon a monster this turn." Evan pointed out. "For now I'll set this monster in defence mode." Evan announced as the hologram of a defence monster appeared next to Defender. "Defender, attack Marauding Captain!" Evan commanded, the knight charged at the Captain but Chloe smirked.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you have triggered both of my traps Shift and Magician's Circle!" Chloe said flipping her cards up. "For starters Defender's new target is Silent Magician!" Chloe said as Defender charged at her magician who fired a beam from her staff, Defender raised its shield and it started to crack but didn't break.

E: 7600

C: 8000

"And I doubt I need to explain what Magician's Circle does to a fellow Spellcaster user." Chloe said as she started searching her deck.

"You'd be right there." Evan agreed as he searched his own deck. "My monster of choice is Alchemist of Black Spells!" Evan played the card and a magician covered completely in back and yellow armour appeared on the field, he seemed to be carrying the Pitch Black Power Stone in his hand (4/1200/1800). "And I trigger his effect before you get any ideas, once per turn I can shift him into defence mode and place a spell counter on a card that I control, my card of choice is Arcane Barrier."

"Great my Magician's Circle ended up helping him; I'd better get something strong." Chloe thought as she searched through her deck. "Huh, haven't used this card since my first duel with Lance, guess it couldn't hurt." She thought. "My monster of choice is Magical Exemplar!" Chloe played the card and a woman with long black hair wearing a dress with various shades of blue on it appeared on the field (4/1700/1400).

"Huh, they both have monsters whose effect revolves around spell counters." Brandon observed folding his arms. "Fairly obvious what Chloe's going to use hers on." Brandon added.

"And I activate my Quick Play Spell Card, Magician's Academy!" Evan announced flipping his other face down card. "First I have to discard two spellcasters from my hand and in exchange I can special summon a Spellcaster type monster from my hand!"

"I've lost track of the number of summons in this turn." Marcus said rubbing the back of his head nervously as Evan discarded two cards, Neo The Magic Swordsman and Gemini Elf, and placed a card down.

"Laugh all you want, my monster of choice is Magician's Valkyria!" Evan played the card and a woman with long flowing brown hair appeared on the field, she was wearing an oversized blue hat and a form fitting blue and purple dress and she was carrying a blue staff (4/1600/1800). "As long as she's on the field you must target her instead of any of my other spellcasters!"

"Yeah? Well by activating Magician's Academy you've triggered Exemplar's effect!" Chloe smirked. "When a spell card's played and she's on the field I can add two spell counters to her."

"There's one other thing I forgot to mention, for this turn only Valkyria's protected from the effect of your spell and trap cards by the magic of Magician's Academy!" Evan added with his own smirk. "Magician's Valkyria, it's time to pick up where Defender left off! Attack her Marauding Captain now with Mystic Scepter Blast!" Valkyria leapt into the air and pointed her staff at the captain before she started charging it, once a sizable ball of energy had been gathered she launched it at the captain disintegrating him.

E: 7600

C: 7600

"I set a card facedown and now I end my turn!" Evan said as Chloe drew her card.

"Okay, I set this facedown for later, now Silent Magician attack Magician's Valkyria!" Chloe commanded and Silent Magician fired a beam from her staff at Valkyria causing a large explosion.

E: 7200

C: 7600

"I guess that's it for...HUH!" Chloe was cut off mid sentence by the fact that Valkyria had survived the blast. "Your Magician should be destroyed!"

"Normally that would be true but did you forget about Defender's Spell Counter?" Evan smirked. "When a spellcaster's about to be destroyed whilst Defender's on the field I can remove one of his Spell Counters from him and protect the spellcaster from being destroyed, sorry to disappoint you but Defender isn't going anywhere!"

"What's that the hundredth effect that's been activated during this duel!" Lance asked from the bleachers.

"Don't forget, I have my other spellcaster on the field!" Chloe said pointing to Exemplar. "Exemplar, attack Magician's Valkyria!" Chloe commanded and Exemplar started chanting in an unknown language...

"I activate my Trap Card, Ready For Intercepting!" Evan announced and too Chloe's surprise Valkyria disappeared from the field. "This can only be used on a Warrior or a Spellcaster type monster and this lets me flip that monster into facedown defence mode, now do you want to continue the attack?"

"Just because I'm inexperienced doesn't mean I'm stupid." Chloe pointed out as Exemplar stopped chanting. "But you made a big mistake by flipping Valkyria facedown because I'm now free to attack Defender and get rid of that ugly ass shield!" Chloe said as Exemplar started chanting again; Defender screamed in pain but only the shield shattered which was quickly replaced by Defender's original shield.

E: 7100

C: 7600

"I set two cards facedown and that ends my turn." Chloe announced, Evan drew his card and Silent Magician's attack rose to 25000.

"I think I'll help both of us, I activate the Field Spell Card Secret Village of the Spellcasters!" Evan played the card and the scenery changed to a mystical looking village in a forest. "Now aside from adding a counter to Exemplar this has another effect, if I have spellcasters on my side of the field and you don't you can't activate any spell cards however if I don't have any spellcasters myself I can't activate Spell Cards myself."

"Sounds pretty situational to me, and besides I'm two turns away from being able to bring out Silent Magician Level 8 so I don't see the point." Chloe pointed out and Evan smirked.

"Did you forget about the monster I set earlier?" Evan asked flipping it over and revealing an old, frail looking magician carrying a staff and wearing red armour (2/450/600), Chloe smirked when she saw the stats.

"How's that supposed to help against my..." Chloe stopped when the old magician fired a beam from its staff at Silent Magician disintegrating it. "What the hell was that?"

"That was the spellcaster's answer to Man Eater Bug, the Old Vindictive Magician, same stats, same level, and same flip effect!" Evan said before picking up another card. "That just leaves Exemplar and I have just the card for the job, a fusion monster that can be formed by combining any two Spellcasters!"

"You're bluffing! If that card exists than Yata Garasu has competition for most broken card ever!" Chloe pointed out.

"Am I?" Evan asked. "I activate Polmerization, fusing Old Vindictive Magician with Alchemist of Black Spells to summon the ultimate Spellcaster, the Supreme Arcanite Magician!" Evan played the card and the two magicians fused together and out of the vortex came a magician in dark blue and purple armour and carrying a huge staff (10/1400/2800), Chloe nearly burst out laughing at the stats.

"That's it? After all the buildup the best you can summon is a monster that even some of my weaker magicians can beat?" Chloe laughed and Evan frowned.

"Sure, he may not look like much but then again neither does Silent Magician Level Four." Evan said folding his arms; Chloe stopped laughing and looked at Evan angrily. "What did I say?"

"It's a long story Evan." Brandon called from the sidelines.

"Right...okay like most of the cards played today my Magician's effect revolves around Spell Counters, he gets two when he's summoned and for each spell counter he gains a thousand attack points." Chloe gulped as Arcanite's attack jumped to 3400. "But before I attack I activate Monster Reincarnation to bring back Alchemist of Black Spells and summon him in attack mode!" Evan played the card and after discarding a card the alchemist reappeared on the field. "First I activate his effect and place a spell counter on Arcanite!" Alchemist shifted to defence mode and Arcanite's attack jumped to 4400. "And now I sacrifice Alchemist and Arcane Barrier to draw a card!" The two holograms disappeared from the field and Evan drew a card. "And finally I activate Arcanite's other effect, by removing a spell counter from him I can chose to destroy one monster you control or draw a card."

"Please tell me you're choosing to draw a card." Chloe gulped as Arcanite's attack dropped to 3400, he pointed his staff at Exemplar and fired a beam at her disintegrating it. "This is going to hurt." Chloe gulped.

"In more ways than one, or did you forget about my facedown Valkyria?" Evan asked as Valkyria reappeared on field. "Defender, Arcanite, Valkyria, ATTACK HER LIFEPOINTS DIRECTLY!" Evan shouted as Arcanite and Valkyria fired beams from their staffs at Chloe's chest and Defender bashed her with his shield sending her to the ground

E: 7100

C: 1000

"You know Chloe; no one will blame you for surrendering at this point." Evan said sincerely, Chloe slowly got to her feet and grinned.

"Not...as...long...as...I...have...lifepoints...left." Chloe said breathing heavily, Evan blinked before smiling.

"You have guts, but I have the most powerful spellcaster in the game on my side!" Evan said folding his arms. "I end my turn." Chloe drew her card and grinned.

"I think he's confusing guts for stupidity." Marcus said.

"I HEARD THAT!" Chloe shouted. "Besides, I'm about to activate a Spell Card or two that will turn the duel around in my favour." Chloe said causing everyone to look at her oddly.

"Not with Secret Village of the Spellcasters on the field." Evan pointed out.

"I know." Chloe said activating her trap. "I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back my Silent Magician." Chloe announced as Silent Magician reappeared on the field.

"Huh? Why didn't she activate that sooner?" Marcus blinked.

"I think I know why." The teens looked up and saw the Ra Yellow Headmaster standing near them. "I've been watching the duel from the start and from what I can gather she knew that without it's spell counters Silent Magician would get slaughtered and that she had enough lifepoints to whether the storm." The Ra Yellow Headmaster said folding her arms. "What she does next might turn things around."

"Or it could backfire." Andreas added folding his arms.

"First, I activate Spell Reproduction; by discarding two spell cards from my hand I can add a spell card from my graveyard to my hand." Chloe said discarding her Book of Secret Arts and Eternal Rest and retrieving another Spell Card. "And I activate the card I retrieved from the graveyard, Card of Sanctity!" Chloe said drawing three cards and Evan drew two, she looked at her new cards and her eyes lit up. "So he's the Ultimate Spellcaster huh? Let's put that to the test." Chloe said playing the card. "I activate Level Up to bring out my strongest monster, Silent Magician Level 8!" Chloe played the card and Silent Magician started glowing and growing until it was fully grown (8/3500/1000).

"Oh right! Arcanite Magician is toast!" Lance said with a grin.

"Not quite, Chloe will have to attack Valkyria due to her effect and next turn Evan can use Arcanite's effect again and win the duel." Marcus said.

"Silent Magician attack Valkyria!" Chloe commanded and Silent Magician charged up her staff and fired a beam at Valkyria disintegrating it.

E: 6300

C: 1000

"And now that damage has been applied I can activate my trap card Enlightenment!" Chloe activated the card and Evan paled.

"Oh bloody hell." Evan muttered.

"Huh? What does that do?" Marcus asked.

"That lets me attack again with Silent Magician, immediately after damage calculation!" Chloe answered as Silent Magician started charging up her staff, she fired it at Arcanite disintegrating it.

E: 6200

C: 1000

"I'll set these two cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe said and Evan drew his card.

"I can't do much so I'll switch Defender to defence mode and end my turn." Evan announced as Chloe drew her card.

"All right, first I activate my facedown card Emergency Provisions which lets me gain a thousand lifepoints for each spell or trap card that I send to the graveyard and I chose Call of the Haunted and Emergency Provisions." Chloe said sending the two cards to the graveyard and increasing her lifepoints to three thousand. "Next I'll summon Neo The Magic Swordsman and attack Defender with Silent Magician." Chloe announced as Neo appeared on the field (4/1700/1000), Silent Magician fired her beam at Defender shattering it. "Neo, attack his lifepoints." Neo charged at Evan and slashed him with his sword.

E: 4500

C: 3000

"That ends it for me." Chloe said as Evan drew his card.

"Ah crap, I have to pass; the card I drew was a spell card." Evan groaned, Chloe drew her card but didn't bother looking at it since both duellists knew the duel was over at this point.

"Neo, Silent Magician, finish it." Chloe commanded and Neo charged at Evan and slashed him with his sword dropping his lifepoints to 2800; Silent Magician charged her staff and fired a beam at Evan dropping his lifepoints to zero. "That was a lot more evenly matched than I was expecting." Chloe said once the holograms disappeared.

"Yeah, I agree there, especially after I summoned Arcarnite." Evan agreed as the two duellists deactivated their duel disks.

"She definitely takes after her stepdad." The Ra Yellow Headmaster thought as he watched the two duellists. "She keeps this up and she'll do well in the Battle City tournament, though her attitude needs just as much work as her duelling skills, though that might be a product of her upbringing." Jeff thought before standing up. "Great duel you two, but I must be off, I've got a class to teach." Jeff said before walking off.

"I didn't even realize that he was there." Chloe said sheepishly.

"Never mind, we have to determine the next duel." Brandon said as Chloe and Evan left the duel field. "Okay, Chloe and Evan are being left out of this so they can rest up from the duel, time to determine the next duel." Brandon said as he and the remaining duellists drew their cards, Chloe was about to take a seat when her mobile cell phone went off.

"You guys mind if I go out and take this call?" She asked.

"Sure, just don't fall victim to any intruders." Marcus said earning glares from everyone. "What?" Chloe shook her head and left the duel field.

"As long as I don't bump into the Obelisk Blue headmaster I'm not complaining." Chloe thought before answering it. "Hello?"

"Chloe, it's me." Her eyes lit up when she recognised her dad's voice.

"Oh hi Dad, can this wait? It is in the middle of school hours." Chloe asked.

"I'm afraid not, I've received word of that comatose student, they say that he was attacked by an intruder." Her dad said his voice a mixture of concern and seriousness. "I just wanted to make sure you're all right."

"Yeah, I'm fine, shaken up due to being one of the students to find him but I'm otherwise fine." Chloe said leaning against the wall. "I hadn't seen that much blood since..." She trailed off.

"I know Chloe, I know." Her dad said understandingly. "This isn't going to affect you going into your first major tournament is it?"

"Honestly? I don't know." Chloe said with a shrug despite the fact that she knew her dad couldn't see her. "The others don't seem too affected by it but then again I'm no mind reader...if I was I'd be undefeated at Duel Monsters but that's beside the point."

"Based on what I've heard I wouldn't be surprised if they were affected." Her dad sighed. "Look, I have to go I have some customers coming in, just be careful Chloe, okay?"

"Yes dad, bye." Chloe sighed before turning off her cell phone.

"You know cell phones aren't allowed during school hours, right?" The Ra Yellow headmaster said making her jump.

"I do now." Chloe said sheepishly. "It was my dad; he just wanted to make sure I was okay." She added.

"Let me guess, because of the intruder right?" The headmaster said and Chloe nodded. "Yeah, that whole story has parents on edge for obvious reasons, some of the younger students have gone home for a few days due to what happened to Nathan, and the scare over you possibly being a second victim didn't help."

"I know, Theresa gave me an earful about it." Chloe said as she pocketed her cell phone.

"Yeah, and it was for good reason." The headmaster shook his head. "Look I know you had a rough upbringing but you need to get yourself in gear, all of this rule breaking you've been doing since joining the academy isn't helping you in the eyes of some of the teachers."

"I know." Chloe said simply, she went to go back into the duel field but the Ra Yellow headmaster spoke up again.

"This won't be the last time we'll talk about this Chloe, and if you keep this up I may have to get your parents involved." Jeff said and Chloe tensed up at the last part of the sentence. "Also, the school has trained shrinks on its payroll, if you feel the need to talk to them let me know and I'll take you to their offices." Jeff said and Chloe nodded before entering the duel field.

"Damn it, I should have taken the Obelisk Blue Headmaster's advice and try to stay out of trouble." Chloe thought before taking a seat next to Theresa who was in the bleachers with Evan.

"So what kept you this time?" Theresa asked.

"It was a combination of call from my dad and being caught with my cellphone by the Ra Yellow headmaster." Chloe said.

"It was because of the intruder, right?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded. "I know Brandon's got a couple of calls from his dad about it, which is rare enough in its self."

"Why is that so rare?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, I forgot you didn't know." Theresa said briefly facepalming. "His dad is the CEO of a small gaming company; he rarely has time to see him let alone call him."

"So why does he use the Dark Scorpion cards? I thought they were considered to be the thieves of the duel monsters world or something?" Chloe asked and Theresa shrugged.

"I honestly don't know, maybe it's mild teenage rebellion against his dad or something but the fact that he doesn't tell his own girlfriend why he uses those cards should give you a clue as to how personal it is for him." Theresa replied.

"Yeah, I get the idea." Chloe said before turning her attention to the duel field. "So, who's duelling next?" Chloe asked.

"I am, but the boys kept drawing spell and trap cards so I opted to make myself comfortable whilst I wait." Theresa answered.

"You ever consider they might be doing that on purpose?" Chloe asked getting a laugh out of Theresa.

"Possibly." She shrugged.

"We finally have an opponent for you Theresa." Brandon called out as Lance hopped onto the duel field.

"Lance huh? I have just the deck for dealing with him." Theresa said as she retrieved a deck from her pocket and loaded it into her duel disk, she left the bleachers and the other boys took seats near where Chloe was sitting.

"We'll see just how useful the deck is when it comes to dealing with me." Lance said activating his Duel Disk. "All though, something tells me that it won't be very useful."

"Let's see if you're so confident after...let's say four turns." Theresa said as she hopped onto the duel arena. "No one's been able to touch my lifepoints with this deck."

"Well, I guess there's a first time for everything." Lance said with a grin. "Besides I've seen two of your decks in action, how many do you have exactly?"

"20." Theresa said simply and Lance's jaw dropped. "And the decks you've already seen are my weakest ones."

"Why did I have to open my big mouth?" Lance asked.