YuGiOh GX The Future

by judodave

Rewritten version of an old fanfic, original cast: It's been 20 years since Jaden graduated from Duel Academy and now Chloe and Lance, two friends who love to duel have enrolled in the school but what challenges await them at Duel Academy? Complete, sequel coming soon!

113. Rainbow in the Dark

(OOC: The part with Ash and Hu was partially written by Muromae)

Whilst the small crowd of students that had gathered for the duel between Nicola and Andreas that had just ended had dispersed in different directions two of the students had gone in the same direction away from prying eyes and ears.

"Okay, Chloe, can I just say something before we get started?" Lance asked as the two teens came to a stop behind the Ra Yellow Girl's Dorm. "I'm sorry if I upset you with my shortsighted plan yesterday, had no idea you hated song dedications that much and I get the feeling that the fact that DJ Steve chose Justin Bieber for me didn't help matters."

"No, it really didn't but thanks for apologizing." Chloe sighed as she leaned against the wall. "Thing is Lance, you could've just asked me out and I would've said yes! I mean honestly, how long have we known each other now?" Chloe asked and Lance sighed.

"It's gotta be at least three or four years now." Lance admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "But every time I tried to ask you out over the past few weeks…."

"The Orichalcos got in the way, Chelsea filled me in whilst she was getting me set-up on my desktop." Chloe responded with a nod of understanding. "And that means that last night's dedication was a last-ditch effort, right?"

"Right, I didn't think that the Orichalcos assholes would crash the party, which they didn't to their credit, but like I said, I had no idea you hated song dedications that much." Lance responded with a sigh and Chloe shook her head. "In fact, why don't I just come out and say it? You okay with that?" Lance asked and Chloe nodded. "Chloe, this is going to sound incredibly cheesy but I've been developing feelings for you for a while, I only realized it after you got your Legendary Dragon."

"That's a random point to realize something like that isn't it?" Chloe asked as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head and Lance shook his head.

"Yeah, I know I don't even know why I realized it then but it is what it is." Lance responded with a shrug. "Like I said earlier, we've known each other for a few years now and whilst we've often been teased about you being my girlfriend and vice versa, especially after the incident on the first night of the Battle City tournament."

"You mean the one where the others walked in on you consoling me because I had a bad dream involving my dad?" Chloe asked with a slight laugh and Lance nodded. "Oh man, we never lived that down, didn't we?"

"No, we didn't." Lance responded before sighing. "What I'm getting at is, well, everyone thinks we're in love, why not make it official?" Lance asked and Chloe looked away for a few seconds. "Look Chloe, if you don't want to do it I'll understand…."

"Lance, just shut up for a sec and come here." Chloe responded and Lance walked up to her until they were inches apart, once he was close enough Chloe walked up to him and kissed him passionately on the lips which Lance returned once he got over his surprise, they stopped before things could get more intimate and Chloe grinned. "Never knew you were such a great kisser."

"Same can be said for you." Lance responded as they kissed again before breaking apart. "So is that a yes?"

"Nah just felt like randomly passionately kissing my best friend." Chloe teased him and Lance frowned. "Lance, I'm kidding, off course that's a yes!" Chloe added and they both grinned.

"Well, it's about time." Jeff's voice rang out and they face-faulted in response, once they got up they saw Martin and Jeff standing nearby. "Martin, I believe you owe me ten bucks?"

"I knew I shouldn't have betted on Summer Break." Martin grunted before handing over the ten bucks.

"Two questions, how long have you been standing there and you were betting each other on how long it'll take us to finally take the next step?" Lance asked as a large sweat-drop rolled down their heads.

"We were walking by when we heard you two talking, we put two and two together when you mentioned the incident at the party." Jeff responded and the two teens frowned. "And the bet wasn't between just me and Martin, it was between me and the other teachers."

"That only makes the fact that you were betting on when we'd start dating even worse." Lance responded with a deadpan expression on his face.

"Maybe it does but I have ten bucks to collect from the other teachers." Jeff responded before walking off.

"So err, you still want to start dating me Chloe?" Lance asked awkwardly and Chloe nodded.

"Come on, I'm not about to let one bet between teachers stop me from dating you." Chloe responded before frowning. "But at the same time let's not rush into it, besides the fact that I'm still a virgin I don't want this relationship to just be about sex, you know?"

"I wouldn't have suggested that." Lance responded and Chloe gave him a skeptical look. "Seriously, for one thing I want a chance to buy condoms first before we get that far, unless you want to explain to your dad how I got you pregnant when you go home for Summer Break."

"Good point." Chloe admitted with a slight laugh. "Wait, Martin, you're still here?" Chloe asked and the two teens turned to the Obelisk Blue headmaster.

"Well if you're wondering what you're going to do for your first date I can arrange something." Martin responded and Chloe sweat-dropped.

"A forty year old man is going to help two eighteen year olds out with their first date?" Chloe asked and Lance chimed in.

"He previously did the same for Theresa and Brandon when they started dating." Lance responded getting confused looks from Martin and Chloe. "When I first started developing feelings for Chloe I went to Theresa and Brandon for advice, well technically I went to Brandon for advice but Theresa was in the same room as him, and Theresa told me about how you helped them out."

"Right, it'll be trickier with you two because you're in separate dorms." Martin nodded in response after thinking for a moment. "But it's still doable, by the way have you seen Andreas and Nicola?"

"They were just in a duel but they are probably in their dorm rooms by now." Chloe responded with a nod. "Is this about the comments Jessica Stevens made?"

"Yes, due to the severity of it I've been taking witness statements from everyone who witnessed it, I haven't gotten the ones from Lance and Andreas now that I think about it." Martin responded and Lance frowned. "I know you want to talk it over with Chloe some more but the sooner we get this done the sooner you can spend more time with her."

"And since I only found out about Jessica's comments after the fact….." Chloe trailed off as she started to walk back to the front door. "I'll catch you tomorrow before the Tag Tournament starts again right Lance?"

"Ah yes, thank you for reminding me Ms. Richardson." Martin interrupted Lance before he could respond and the two teens turned to him. "There will be an announcement on the Duel Academy website about it later but classes are cancelled tomorrow and the next day of the tournament has been moved to Tuesday."

"Normally I wouldn't complain about a four day weekend." Lance responded with a frown. "But I get the sneaking suspicion that it has to do with the Orichalcos Duelists."

"We've barely been a couple for five minutes and you're already reading my mind." Chloe commented with a chuckle before shaking her head. "Is Lance right?"

"He is, as a response to the recent attacks on students the school's getting a security upgrade, more security cameras, more guards, you get the idea." Martin responded and the two teens shared uneasy looks. "This will be paid for by Kaibacorp and Chancellor Wilkins made sure that the students' day to day lives would not be interrupted."

"Yeah I was at a school that went through a similar upgrade once." Lance commented as he folded his arms. "They said the same thing at the beginning to boot but after a few months the metal detectors were installed, and then they suspended me for wearing a trench coat to school even though I had worn that same trench coat god knows how many times before and they never raised a stink about it."

"What happened there?" Chloe asked and Lance sighed.

"My mom saw the writing on the wall and pulled me out of that school, we moved to Domino City shortly afterwards, we met and the rest is history." Lance responded before turning to Martin. "So you'll excuse me if I don't take your word for it."

"I assure you that we won't be doing anything quite that drastic and if we do suspend you it'll be for a legitimate reason." Martin responded before Lance walked up to him to give his witness statement.

"I'll catch up to you later Lance, I'm going to see if Chelsea's finished chatting with her sister." Chloe added before she walked off. "Oh and one more thing, I don't mind if you tell the other boys that we're an item now." Chloe said before frowning. "But don't say anything along the lines off "and then we fucked", trust me I've ended a few relationships I've been in because my boyfriends at the time spread similar lies about me."

"Come on Chloe, you know me better than that, I wouldn't say anything like that!" Lance responded and Chloe shook her head.

"I thought I knew the boys that spread those rumors as well but you know how that ended for me." Chloe responded and Lance sighed.

"Okay Chloe, if it makes you feel any better I promise to only say that we're an item and that we did nothing beyond sharing passionate kisses." Lance responded and Chloe grinned at that. "I'll even get the other guys to back me up on it."

"Don't go that far, the fact that you actually promised not to do that is good enough for me." Chloe responded and Lance grinned at that. "Just remember what I said about my past boyfriends and we'll be good." Chloe added and Lance nodded before she walked off. "Come to think of it wasn't Ash Lance's roommate before he got promoted?" Chloe thought as she entered the girl's dorm. "Wonder who his new roommate will be?"

*meanwhile*

"Well, this is going to be...quiet," Ashitaka said to himself as he looked around his now half empty room. He wore a casual black and purple yukata and had his long hair down instead of up in a ponytail. Due to Lance's promotion into the Obelisk Blue dorm, the Bujin-duelist was now living alone in the double. There was much more space for this his kendo gear and boken. He even had a plan for creating a small Shinto shrine in the corner where Lance used to keep his "personal" magazines.

The dark haired duelist sat on the floor in front of a small table, drinking tea across from his spirit. "Yamato-kun, we haven't come in contact with any more Orichalcos duelists. Do you believe that we are safe or is it a lull before the storm?"

"Ashitaka, you must relax. Please, focus on your life right now and do not worry about the pending disaster. As of right now there is little we can do to stop the organization. Look at our relics. We must be the sword used to assist our friends in any way necessary. Though right now, focus on your school," the wise spirit said, looking down at the cup of tea in front of him. "Now, you've been making many changes to our deck recently. I haven't seen you use the same list in a very long time. You also gave Bear back to Hu. Don't you remember what that card means?"

"We need to become stronger Yamato. I think you know exactly how I feel, you felt the same way all those years ago," Ashitaka said, looking into his duel spirit's eyes.

Yamato flinched as Ashitaka looked on. While Ashitaka was usually a serious man, this was a side of him that Yamato had never seen. "Stronger...you...I will be with you and together we will become strong," Yamato said, hesitantly at first before becoming more affirmed.

Ashitaka's stare become softer; he took another sip from his tea and smiled. "We keep on getting lucky with the ban lists," The teen said, trying to lighten the mood. "I could've sworn that we would've had Crane at least semi limited or limited at some point, though with this new pendulum system and all these new cards. I mean I've been making changes but it's just been more new Bujins that have been released. Maybe we need to look past the Gods for our help with this one," Ashitaka concluded, realizing that he must expand his horizons, an improved deck how could you not be excited by the thought?!

"At least with Lance gone you'll have more time to really contemplate your decisions. He's a great friend though you two were kind of complete opposite personality wise," Yamato stated.

"Ya, from what I heard little Romeo requested the DJ to play "Baby" for his Juliet last night. Poor boy probably got his dick cut off, all though I'll miss him, just not his metal music and porn. Though I wonder if I can keep this entire room to my..." Ashitaka said before being cut off by a loud knocking on his door.

"One moment please," the teen said as he placed his tea on the table, stood up, and started to put his hair up while making it to the door. "Who is it?"

"You know who it is," a familiar and quite obnoxious voice firmly stated before the door was kicked in.

"...Hu what are you...wait are those bags?!" Ashitaka exclaimed with a concerned look on his face.

"You got it buddy! From today on we're going to be roomies! I overheard that since Lance got promoted though there were no new boys to fill his spot, you were going to keep this very spacious room all to your lonesome self and as your dearest friend and rival I felt terrible for leaving you alone. So I decided to move in! Isn't this great?!" The brash Chinese duelist stated with a huge grin on his face. He proudly walked right past Ashitaka and dropped his bags on the ground before jumping on the empty bed. "AND FREAKIN' COACH SOLDIER WOLFBARK IS BACK AS UNLIMITED BECAUSE HU WUKONG'S LIFE IS DOPE AND HE DOES DOPE SHIT! I CAN'T WAIT TO KICK YOUR ASS TONIGHT!" Wukong screamed at the top of his lungs with a passion and a heat that could only be matched by his monsters.

Yamato floated over to Ashitaka. "Well...you had some peace and quiet...and look at the time I have some spirity heaveny things to me. Get back to me when you decide what you're going to do with your deck!" the spirit said very rapidly before disappearing.

Ashitaka looked down at his tea, which was now spilled, probably from Hu just walking around. He then looked at Hu who was already unpacking his cards. There was no way out...welcome to the rest of the semester.

*back with Chloe*

"Meh, I'll ask him next time I bump into him, shouldn't take me to long since we're both in Ra Yellow now." Chloe thought to herself as she walked up the stairs that would take her to the room that she shared with Chelsea, the hallway was mostly empty and besides herself there were several other female students in the hallway, some were chatting amongst themselves whilst a few were going over their decks, after a few minutes she reached her dorm room and shook her head. "I may have wanted this for a long time but living in Ra Yellow instead of Osiris Red will take some getting used to." Chloe mused before knocking on the door, a few seconds later Chelsea answered the door and gave her roommate an odd look.

"Chloe, we're roommates, you know you don't have to knock." Chelsea reminded her and Chloe shook her head.

"I wasn't sure if Jamie had left yet or not and I wanted to make sure that I wasn't invading your privacy." Chloe responded and Chelsea shook her head.

"She's still here but she just told me that she has to get going soon." Chelsea responded before letting her roommate in, Jamie was still there but was gathering up her things. "Well sis, it was great chatting with you again, you have any idea when Dan, Chris or Mark is coming over for a visit?"

"I talked to them on Friday not long after I checked into my hotel." Jamie responded as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "They told me that they'll be stopping by next week but wanted to know the dorm you lived in and what dorm room to look for and I should probably update them whilst I'm getting checked out at the hotel since you were still in Osiris Red at the time." Jamie added and Chelsea grinned broadly at that, when Jamie saw the look on Chloe's face she raised an eyebrow. "Looks like you've got some big news of your own Chloe."

"You can read people that easily?" Chloe asked and Jamie nodded.

"Comes with being a chef, especially handy if a new cook at the restaurant tries to serve raw salmon or bland, tasteless risotto in the same service and lies to you about it more than once." Jamie responded and the two girls gave her an odd look. "Yeah, that actually happened, the executive chef fired those cooks after that service though."

"Sad thing is that's not the worst story she's told me about her career as a chef." Chelsea added before shaking her head. "Okay Chloe, spill the beans."

"After Andreas's duel with Nicola ended I had a chat with Lance about last night and whether or not we should take the relationship to the next level." Chloe responded as she sat down at her desktop. "To make a long story short, I'm officially dating Lance now."

"Wait, seriously? It's about time!" Chelsea said with a grin as she patted her on the back. "So, what color's his underwear?"

"We didn't go that far!" Chloe quickly asserted as she blushed like a madwoman. "I mean yeah, I pretty much sealed it by French kissing him for about twenty seconds but that's it." Chloe added and Chelsea shook her head. "Besides, even if we did get as far as Lance taking my top off or me unzipping his jeans to make taking them off easier it would've gotten awkward quickly with Jeff and Martin standing nearby."

"Yeah, I guess you right, wait, what were they doing there to begin with?" Chelsea asked and Chloe shook her head.

"They happened to be walking by the girl's dorm, probably on the way to the main building, when they overheard us talking." Chloe responded with laughing a bit. "Sad thing is there was a bet going on between the teachers on how long it would take us to get together." Chloe added and Chelsea started laughing as well. "What? It's true!"

"Oh, I don't doubt that it's true." Chelsea said as she regained her composure. "I'm just laughing at the fact that it was so obvious that you two would get hitched together that the teachers were taking bets on it, who won anyway?"

"Jeff did." Chloe responded as Chelsea calmed down.

"Well as unprofessional at that sounds, I have to agree with Chelsea that is pretty funny." Jamie responded with a slight chuckle. "That said, Chloe are you sure he won't start bragging that you did go that far with him? Because most boys his age probably would if they got hitched with a good looking girl like you."

"Heh thanks." Chloe responded with a sheepish grin. "Seriously though, before I came over I made sure he knew that if he started bragging like that the relationship would be cut short, I don't want those kinds of rumors dogging my early days as a Ra Yellow student."

"Considering what we're talking about maybe you should've used a phrase other than "dogging", just saying." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe blushed like a madwoman. "Seriously though, I may be gay but even I can tell that that was a good move."

"Chelsea would be right but that would depend on how he reacted to your request." Jamie responded and Chloe grinned.

"He insisted that he wasn't going to brag like that but I kept on him and he eventually promised not to." Chloe responded as she turned on her desktop and waited for it to boot up. "Even so I'll probably wait until tomorrow to make sure that he kept his word."

"Considering all the effort he put into trying to date you in the first place I don't think he's about to throw it all away." Chelsea pointed out before turning to Jamie. "You mind letting me know when Dan, Mark and Chris decide to pop by next week."

"I'll make sure they tell me." Jamie responded before she made her way towards the door. "Chelsea, remember what I told you about your temper all right? Believe it or not your siblings and I do want to see you succeed."

"I know, I know." Chelsea grunted in annoyance and Jamie smirked.

"Chloe, it was nice meeting and good luck with Lance." Jamie told her and Chloe grinned at that. "And if you see Nicola at some point tell her I said hi, for now I'd better get to the ship quickly so that I don't miss my flight."

"We will and don't be a stranger okay?" Chelsea responded and Jamie left the room closing the door behind her, once the two teens were alone again Chelsea turned to Chloe with a grin on her face. "So, how good a kisser is Lance?"

"Why are you asking about him? I didn't think you'd be interested since you're a lesbian and all." Chloe responded and Chelsea shook her head.

"I may be a lesbian but that doesn't stop me from being curious!" Chelsea responded with a grin. "Besides, I told you before that I was straight once upon a time and, well let's just say that I've done my fair share of tongue wrestling with both boys and other girls."

"Tongue wrestling?" Chloe asked and Chelsea sweat-dropped.

"It's what my dad likes to call French kissing, don't ask me why, me and my siblings kinda picked up that habit from him." Chelsea responded and Chloe shook her head with a laugh. "But back to my original question."

"If it gets you to shut up, he's a great kisser and he said the same thing to me." Chloe responded with an annoyed sigh and Chelsea grinned in response. "Kinda makes me wonder how good he is with his tongue in other areas….." Chloe trailed off once she realized what she was saying out loud and Chelsea laughed hysterically. "Oh god, I'm already wondering how good he is at sex!" Chloe realized as her eyes widened and she blushed like a madwoman.

"Hold on, hold on." Chelsea said in between fits of laughter before grabbing her IPod and turning on her camera. "I have to record that for my YouTube channel, say it again!"

"Chelsea, you may as well be asking Kaiba to admit that Yugi's a better duelist than him!" Chloe responded as she marched up to her roommate and snatched the phone out of her hands before turning it off. "Seriously, remember what you said after your slip-up earlier?" Chloe asked as she put down the phone.

"You mean the one where I said that I'll miss sleeping with you in the bunk bed?" Chelsea responded after making sure that there was no-one close enough to the door to overhear her.

"Yeah, and I'm about to make the same request, not a word of that slip-up to anyone, not the other girls in this dorm, not the boys and especially not Lance!" Chloe insisted and Chelsea sighed in annoyance before agreeing with a nod. "Besides, I'm still a virgin, I don't really know what to expect….."

"Wait, you're a virgin? You're not seriously telling me that a girl with your good looks hasn't had some boys try to get in your pants!" Chelsea asked and Chloe shook her head.

"I have but every time they tried to make a move on me right away I turned them down because I didn't want to rush into anything and Lance is no exception." Chloe responded before letting out an annoyed sigh. "Unfortunately a few of the boys weren't used to not getting their way with a girl they wanted to bang and the rumors started."

"At which point you kicked them to the curb." Chelsea responded and Chloe nodded, Chelsea sighed as she shook her head. "They sound like assholes so you probably made the right choice there but I've heard a few similar stories to that that ended with something a lot worse than slut shaming for the girl involved."

"You mean rape, don't you?" Chloe asked with a shudder and Chelsea nodded. "I guess I was lucky enough to never encounter anyone like that or hear any stories of that."

"Yeah, I heard those stories back when I was in high school in Chicago, fortunately they were never at my school and they always ended up on the news, usually something along the lines of "student arrested for/found guilty of rape" and even then those stories were, thankfully, few and far between." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "But it did scare my parents enough to move to Domino City, at the time Dan, Chris, Jamie and Mark had moved out but I was still fifteen so that wasn't going to happen for a while." Chelsea added and Chloe shook her head.

"Yeah but that led to you meeting me and the others so it works out." Chloe pointed out and Chelsea nodded with a grin. "Anyway, I think I'd better get to the Card Shop." Chloe said as she logged off, having checked her e-mails, and stood up. "As of the new banlist Reinforcement of the Army and Magician of Faith are unlimited and I want to get to the shop before they sell out."

"Good idea." Chelsea nodded in response as she logged out. "In fact it's so good that I'm coming with you to do the same thing!" Chelsea added before the two girls left their dorm room.

*meanwhile*

Whilst that was going on at the Ra Yellow Girl's Dorm Lance was finally returning to his room after giving his witness statement about what happened between Jessica and Nicola.

"Man, did Martin really have to drag it out as long as he did?" Lance thought as he walked down the hallway that led him to his new dorm room with his hands in his pockets. "Honestly, all I wanted to do was avoid talking about my porn stash but Martin wouldn't let it go until I admitted it, at least he said that he won't tell anyone."

"Hey dude." Marcus greeted him as he exited his dorm room. "I think Martin's looking for you."

"If it's about the incident between Jessica and Nicola earlier I've already given him my statement." Lance responded and Marcus nodded, "I'm guessing you've done the same?"

"Yeah, didn't take me that long and the same can be said for Andreas." Marcus responded and Lance grunted in annoyance. "Let me guess, yours ran a lot longer than ours did?"

"Yeah, and it was all because I wanted to avoid talking about my porn stash." Lance responded earning a confused look from Marcus. "Basically I was telling him what happened before the incident between Nicola and Jessica and for obvious reasons I wasn't exactly in a hurry to tell my new headmaster that I had a porn stash in my room."

"So you tried dodging the issue but Martin wouldn't let up." Marcus responded and Lance nodded reluctantly. "So what happened?"

"The world's longest staring contest happened." Lance responded and Marcus gave him another confused look. "He said that he'd keep me in his office all day if he'd had to and I tried calling his bluff, I gave up after an hour and twenty minutes mostly due to my need for a bathroom break."

"Yeah, trying to call Martin's bluff is never a good idea." Evan commented and the two boys looked up seeing Lance's tag partner for the tournament behind them. "I heard the argument between Nicola and Jessica but I didn't want to get involved."

"I'll sum it up for you, Jessica casually called Nicola a retard twice to her face and it probably would've ended with a broken nose for Jessica if Andreas hadn't talked Nicola out of punching her." Lance responded and Evan frowned at that. "Needless to say I let Andreas borrow my desktop so that he could file a complaint on Nicola's behalf."

"Sounds like the right call to me, I don't know Nicola all that well but she seems nice enough." Evan responded with a shrug. "Anyway, what's this I hear about you and Chloe making out behind the Ra Yellow Girl's Dorm?" Evan asked and Lance face-faulted.

"Where did you hear about that?" Lance asked as he got up and Evan shook his head.

"A couple of Ra Yellow girls happened to see you two kissing, gossip spread, you get the idea." Evan responded and Lance groaned in response.

"Okay, just so I can set the record straight, we never did anything beyond kissing, I went behind the girl's dorm with Chloe to talk about what happened at the Ra Yellow Party last night, we talked and Chloe decided to give being my girlfriend a chance, the kiss was just to seal the deal." Lance responded before grinning broadly. "But she is a great kisser!"

"So in other words, rumors spread and became exaggerated." Evan responded and Lance nodded. "If I where you then I'd send a text to Chloe before gossip reaches her and she thinks you started it."

"Oh fuck your right!" Lance responded before grabbing his phone, after a few minutes he started writing the text. "Chloe, apparently some girls from your dorm saw us kissing and got the completely wrong idea, they started gossiping with the other girls in the dorm, rumors spread, you know how it goes, get back to me ASAP." Lance read the text out-loud as he typed it and after a quick Spell Check he sent the text to her. "Thanks for the save man, she actually told me that she'd cut off the relationship if I spread those kind of rumors."

"Not a problem, I had a feeling she would say something like that." Evan responded with a nod before patting him on the shoulder. "And before I forget I have to say congrats on getting her interested in dating you and escaping the friendzone."

"Self-imposed friendzone, it was only recently that I realized that I felt that way about her." Lance said with a grin before his text-tone went off and he answered it. "Lance, thanks for the head's up, literally heard some girls gossiping about it as I got the text so great timing on that, Chelsea thinks she knows who started the gossip so we'll take care of them." Lance read the text out loud and grinned before pocketing the phone. "It sounds like they have the situation handled at least."

"Yeah but since the latest banlist positively affected both of their decks they are probably on their way to the card shop first." Evan responded as he shook his head. "Speaking of banlists, I figured I may as well tell you ahead of our match against Kristopher and Lamont that I'm retiring the Prophecy Deck."

"Wait, seriously? Man I hoped to see it in action more than once." Lance responded and Evan shook his head.

"It was a decision I made after the second banlist came out, your deck can survive such hits because it's pretty versatile but when Sophie Pegasus approved those banlists she killed my deck, plain and simple." Evan responded with an annoyed sigh. "As for what deck I am using, I'm going back to my old deck with some improvements, don't worry it should be just as strong as the Prophecy deck."

"I hope your right, for now I'm heading into my room to rest my feet, give me a shout when dinners ready okay?" Lance responded and the two boys nodded before he entered his room.

*later on*

Whilst it did get really hot on Duel Academy Island, which was part of the reason why the school was so lenient when it came to uniforms, they did occasionally get a storm but most of the time those storms were far away enough from the island that the students barely noticed them usually only finding out about it via a weather report later that day.

That night was one of the rare occasions where a storm hit the island.

"Ugh, how can anyone expect to get any sleep?!" Nicola, who was now in her pajamas, moaned as she used her pillow in an attempt to block out the noise from the storm outside, unlike Chloe and Chelsea's old room Nicola's was a single room and as a result she didn't have a roommate or a bunk bed, just a large single bed. "I mean seriously, the staff are probably thanking god that they did cancel tomorrow's lessons!"

"You must go to sleep soon Nicola if you want to be up early in the morning." An unfamiliar female voice rang out from inside her head and Nicola sat up before looking around.

"Whose there?" Nicola called out but when she got no answer she plopped back down on her bed with a moan. "Great, first the storm's keeping me up and now I think I'm going crazy! At least it can't get any worse." Nicola thought and after twenty minutes or so she finally fell asleep.

*inside Nicola's dream*

"What the…." Nicola trailed off as her eyes opened and saw nothing but a dark, unfamiliar void around her, seeing nothing of interest in front of her she looked down at her outfit which only caused more confusion for the Autistic Girl. "Why am I in my uniform? I was in my pajamas when I went to bed!" Nicola thought before noticing that her duel disk was also on her arm. "This is weird, even for my dreams, wait, how do I know that it's a dream?!"

"Nicola, you must leave at once!" The same female voice from before rang out and Nicola looked around trying to locate the source of the voice.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Nicola called out but there was no answer, after a few seconds a giant spell card appeared in front of her and Nicola stared at it. "Sad Story – Atrocious Day, I've never even heard of that card, is it a new one I2 is coming out with?" Nicola wondered out loud before realizing that the scenery was changing, once it became clearer the Spell Card disappeared and Nicola quickly recognized the scene. "This is when I met Andreas and Marcus for the first time back in Battle City, but that wasn't a sad story, was it?"

"But the match isn't over yet, I activate my trap card Nutrient Z!" Andreas activated the card and smiled. "This trap can only be activated if I'm about to lose 2000 or more life points, it gives my life points a boost of 4000 points before the attack hits!" Andreas said as his life points shot up to 4900 and was brought back down to 900 by the attack.

A: 900

N: 5400

"Thanks for the heart attack dude!" Marcus called out from the sidelines and Andreas smiled.

"Anytime." Andreas said cheekily before turning to Nicola. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, I'm done." Nicola nodded.

"Though you may as well give up son, her Rainbow Dragon has more than enough power to finish you off." Nicola's dad chimed in and Andreas smiled closing his eyes.

"Yeah I remember this was when Andreas said that he wouldn't give up as long as he had life-points left." Nicola remembered as a small smile crept onto her face. "Come to think of it I haven't heard Chloe say that in ages, wonder if she'll mind if I borrow her catchphrase…." Nicola's thoughts where interrupted when a single gunshot rang out interrupting Andreas's sentence, Past-Nicola turned around and her eyes widened in horror as she saw her dad collapse to the floor with a single bullet wound in his head. "Wha….what the…." Nicola managed to blurt out as she saw the scene play out before her.

"Nicola, get down!" Andreas, having turned off his duel disk, called out to her as she turned around but he was to slow and another gunshot rang out striking Nicola in the head.

"This is wrong, this is all wrong!" Nicola thought as she dropped to her knees and started sobbing as the chaos unfolded around her, after a few minutes Nicola clenched her fists and stood up. "THIS IS ALL FUCKING WRONG!" Nicola yelled out and the scene shattered around her and she wiped some tears from her eyes. "I don't usually swear but that…."

"Is it now?" A voice rang out breaking Nicola's line of thought and she looked around for the voice, it didn't take her long to recognize the voice, she'd recognize her own dad's voice anywhere, but the location remained a mystery…..before she realized that her dad's corpse from the vision was still there and talking to her. "You have been a burden on my family since the day you were born!"

"Dad?! What are you saying?" Nicola blurted out as the corpse rose to his feet and turned to her, the bullet was still in his head and his eyes were bloodshot.

"You know exactly what I'm saying." Her dad responded before snapping his fingers and before Nicola could react several chains whipped out from the darkness and ensnared her completely. "The day you were diagnosed with autism should've been the day I killed you."

"My dad would never say that!" Nicola insisted as she struggled to even move because of the chains. "He's always been supportive of me and he never let my autism get in the way of that!"

"Are you blind of willingly naïve?" Her dad asked as Nicola glared at him. "All the financial hardships your family suffered have been brought on by you and you alone! Why do you think you had to wait a whole year before you could even apply for Duel Academy?"

"Because my dad wanted me to prove that I could handle the pressure." Nicola grunted as she glared at the being that she was convinced wasn't her dad. "My stay in the Battle City Tournament was short lived but I still did well enough to convince him to let me apply for the school!"

"Then you are as naïve as I thought!" Her dad responded as he started to walk away.

"Nicola, don't listen to him!" The female voice rang out again catching Nicola's attention. "He's playing mind games with you, now I can get you free but you must keep him talking."

"Normally I wouldn't trust a strange voice in my head but I'll take it." Nicola responded before she turned her attention to her dad. "If you're really my dad then you wouldn't walk away from me!" Nicola called out to him and her dad stopped in his tracks.

"I should've done that from the beginning." Her dad responded as an evil smirk crept onto his lips. "After you killed your own mother off course….." He trailed off and Nicola lowered her head.

"My mom…." Nicola's thoughts trailed off as a tear ran down her cheek. "I never even got to meet her and this bastard mocks her?! That tears it he's definitely not my dad!"

"Nicola I am ready to free you, just say the word!" The female voice rang out again and Nicola glared at him.

"You bastard….." Nicola trailed off as a white light emerged from her.

"Don't you dare talk to your dad like that you little…?" Her dad trailed off when he saw the glare Nicola was giving him.

"SAVE IT!" Nicola interrupted him as she glared at him. "You dare mock my mom…..MY MOM DIED WHILST GIVING BIRTH TO ME!" Nicola yelled out and to her dad's surprise the chains shattered and she landed on her feet glaring at the being in front of her. "I've argued with my dad before but he never brought that up not even in our nastiest arguments, I had already figured out the truth, that your nothing but an imposter, but that just confirms it!"

"And the fact that I have a bullet wound in my head when your real dad doesn't didn't tip you off?!" The being posing as her dad mocked her and Nicola glared at him. "Besides, I was waiting for you to break free."

"What do you mean?" Nicola demanded before realizing that a duel disk had appeared on his right arm a few seconds before. "You want a duel? You went through all that just to duel me?!"

"Why duel you when you are at full mental capacity when I can break you first?" The being responded as he activated his duel disk but Nicola didn't. "Your too scared to face me little girl?!"

"Why should I?" Nicola asked as her eyes narrowed and she removed her duel disk. "You've mocked me for the past five minutes, claimed that my family would be better off without me and mocked my dead mom! If anything I should just beat you to death with my duel disk!" Nicola added before clutching onto her duel disk with both hands and charging at the being.

"A valiant effort but I don't think so!" The being responded before snapping his finger again and another chain whipped out of the darkness this time wrapping itself around Nicola's leg tightly causing her to trip and fall losing grip of her duel disk in the process, she struggled to get to her feet but the chain pulled her backwards until she was back where she started. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you, not if you want to get out of this alive."

"A little chain isn't going to kill me!" Nicola responded and the being chuckled before snapping his fingers three times and three chains shot out, two ensnared Nicola's arms whilst the other wrapped itself tightly around her neck.

"I already knew you were pathetic Nicola." He added as he walked up to the Autistic Teen as she struggled to breathe and kneeled down to her until he was looking her in the face. "But you've somehow managed to make yourself look more pathetic than usual."

"…..let…..me…go…." Nicola wheezed out as the chain continued to strangle her.

"Well, as you wish." The being responded before snapping his fingers four times and each chain unraveled itself from Nicola's body starting from her foot and ending at her throat before walking back. "It would be far too easy to kill you that way so instead I'll prolong your suffering with this duel but when I win the chains will come back and finish the job."

"You….you coward…." Nicola wheezed as she struggled to get to her feet. "Wasn't mocking me enough?"

"It's never enough for me." He responded before kicking Nicola's duel disk in her direction, the device skid across the floor before stopping just sort of Nicola's feet. "Besides, it's more fun this way." He added as Nicola bent down and, whilst keeping an eye on the being, grabbed her duel disk and when she had it back on her arm the being was back in his original spot. "I suppose a seasoned duelist like you should know the rules, oh wait, you're a rookie with a months' worth of experience."

"I had a months' worth of experience back in Battle City, that was months ago, do the math." Nicola retorted as she activated her duel disk and the being did likewise. "What am I supposed to call you anyway? There's no way in hell I'm calling you dad!"

"If it's convenient for you, you may call me Nightmare." The being, now known as Nightmare, responded before activating his duel disk.

"I'd almost laugh at how cliché his name is if I weren't so angry at him." Nicola thought with a frown as they drew their opening hands. "Let me guess, you want to go first?"

"Actually you can go first." Nightmare responded and Nicola's eyes narrowed before she drew her sixth card and looked at it.

"Great, my hand is full of Crystal Beasts and I don't have a single Sapphire Pegasus among them, at least I can get Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins on the field." Nicola thought before picking up her drawn card and playing it. "I kick things off with the Spell Card Terra Forming!" Nicola played the card and quickly picked up her deck to search through it.

"Gee I wonder what Field Spell you are going to search for." Nightmare muttered sarcastically and Nicola ignored him before she found the card she was looking for and added it to her hand before reshuffling her deck. "I have access to your memories remember? I know you run Crystal Beasts so there's nothing that you can do to stop me from beating you!"

"Just because you know what cards are in my deck doesn't mean I can't beat you!" Nicola retorted as she sent Terra Forming to the graveyard. "Just ask Andreas….." Nicola trailed off before quickly covering her mouth once she realized what could mean for Andreas.

"Thank you for the excellent idea, I think I will pay a visit to your crush when I'm done with you." Nightmare responded and Nicola glared at him. "Oh yes, I know how you feel about him! Such a shame that you'll never get a chance to marry him, like you dream about night after night…."

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Nicola snapped at him as she glared at him. "You know nothing about him! I activate Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!" Nicola played the card and sighed in relief as the scenery changed to ancient ruins with the rainbow in the background. "That's much better!"

"We'll soon see about that." Nightmare grunted as Nicola looked over the rest of her hand. "Are you going to play Sapphire Pegasus next?"

"No but I have something that's almost as strong as her! I summon Crystal Beast – Amber Mammoth!" Nicola played the card and the amber colored mammoth appeared on the field (4/1700/1600). "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Nicola announced and Nightmare drew his card.

"If she thinks she knows what Crystal Beasts are truly capable off then she's in for a rude awakening." Nightmare thought before holding up his drawn card. "Would you look at that? I drew my own Terra Forming! And I think I'll activate it!" Nightmare played the card and to Nicola's surprise Nightmare shuffled his deck not by hand but by putting some commands into his duel disk, the deck stopped shuffling when it found the card he had asked as and Nightmare picked it up as the deck reshuffled. "What's the matter? Never seen an auto-shuffle duel disk before?"

"Those things must be new because I'm sure that Duel Academy would've gotten them by now if they weren't." Nicola thought as Nightmare sent his own Terra-Forming to the graveyard. "I can't think about that right now, especially not when Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins is about to be destroyed before I get to use any of its effects!"

"So tell me Nicola, you've used Crystal Beasts ever since you started playing." Nightmare continued as he picked up his card. "How well do you know the archetype?" Nightmare asked and Nicola scoffed.

"What kind of question is that? I know each monster, spell and trap card effect like the back of my hand and I could probably recite each effect off the top of my head." Nicola responded and Nightmare shook his head.

"Please don't." Nightmare responded before playing the card. "Here's the thing, I run Crystal Beasts as well and I intend to prove that I am the better Crystal Beast duelist! I activate the Field Spell Card Advanced Dark!" Nightmare played the card and the scenery changed, this time however rather than simply changing the bright colors of Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins were slowly consumed by an almost unnaturally dark shade of black until even the rainbow in the background was consumed.

"Wha…what have you done?!" Nicola stammered as she looked around the area.

"I made this duel a lot more interesting that's what! And besides, what's the fun of a Crystal Beast Mirror Match when we both rely on that overpowered field spell!?" Nightmare responded and Nicola's eyes narrowed. "Honestly if this archetype was even slightly popular your damn field spell would've been banned long ago!"

"Yeah I'm just going to file that under "yet another thing you couldn't be more wrong about"." Nicola responded as she glared at Nightmare. "So are you going to explain your field spell's effect or not?"

"I never thought you'd ask." Nightmare responded with a chuckle. "Why don't you just look at your mammoth?" Nightmare added and Nicola did so, it didn't take her long to figure out what was wrong as Amber Mammoth's eyes were glowing red. "For starters all Crystal Beast monsters on the field and in the graveyard are now Dark Type Monsters."

"Okay, I don't see the point in that." Nicola responded despite clearly being disturbed by what was happening to her mammoth.

"Oh believe me, there's a point, for now I set one card facedown and I summon Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Nightmare played the card and it didn't take Nicola long to recognize the monster as Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, however something seemed off about this version of Sapphire Pegasus as it seemed more evil than Nicola's monster (4/1800/1200).

"Advanced Crystal Beast?" Nicola asked as she did a double take.

"Well, well, what do you know? It seems you don't know as much as you thought little girl!" Nightmare mocked her and Nicola glared at him. "For all intents and purposes Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus is treated as Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, she even shares regular Sapphire Pegasus's effect!" Nightmare added before inputting more commands.

"Okay, I still don't see what's so special about this Advanced Crystal Beast stuff." Nicola thought with a frown as Nightmare found the card he was looking for via his duel disk, placed it in the Spell/Trap Card Zone and the deck reshuffled. "Wait is that monster what I think it is?"

"However the monster I added to that zone won't be staying long." Nightmare responded as he played another card. "I activate E-Force! With this Spell Card I can select one Crystal Beast in my Spell/Trap Card Zone and Special Summon it! Do you recognize this card?"

"Yeah, it's Crystal Beast – Ruby Carbuncle." Nicola responded as Nightmare played the card and the weakest of the Crystal Beasts appeared on the field (3/300/300) and as soon as the small creature appeared on the field its eyes started glowing as well. "This is wrong on so many levels and not just because of how cute Ruby Carbuncle is, if he wanted to use that effect why use it now and not build up a sizeable force first to take full advantage of Carbuncle's effect?" Nicola thought as he eyes narrowed. "I don't know what he's up to but at least my facedown will protect me."

"And now onto business, Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, attack Amber Mammoth!" Nightmare commanded and the Pegasus charged into battle.

"Close but no cigar! I activate my Trap Card Amber Crystal Circle!" Nicola activated the trap and Amber Mammoth started glowing. "Since you attacked my Amber Mammoth this trap card gives him a major boost, namely the combined attacks of each face-up Crystal Beast Monster I control."

"You should've saved that for when you had more monsters at your disposal." Nightmare mocked her as Amber Mammoth's attack shot up to 3400 and it charged at Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus before impaling the monster on its tusk destroying it and bringing Nightmare's life-points down to 6400. "Regardless Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus shares one other effect with its regular counterpart." Nightmare said as the monster appeared in his Spell/Trap Card Zone. "But I guess that's what I get for expecting a good strategy from someone with your condition!" Nightmare added and Nicola went to respond. "And don't give me that "high functioning" crap! Autism is still autism you're just not as stupid as the others!"

"Great, as if I didn't hate this guy enough already." Nicola thought as Nightmare looked over his hand. "It doesn't matter if I'm autistic or not and besides, you just handed me an early lead on a silver platter!"

"Keep telling yourself that, for now I end my turn." Nightmare responded and Nicola drew her card.

"He left Ruby Carbuncle in attack mode, it's almost like he wants me to attack." Nicola thought with a frown before looking at her drawn card. "Amethyst Cat, normally I'd summon her without a second thought but that facedown card has me worried." Nicola thought before getting an idea. "Okay, I'll attack Carbuncle with Amber Mammoth and if that facedown card is something like Mirror Force I'll go to my second main phase and use my normal summon to set Emerald Tortoise in defense mode, not exactly my best strategy ever but a plan's a plan I guess." Nicola thought before she added Amethyst Cat to her hand. "Amber Mammoth, attack Ruby Carbuncle!" Nicola commanded and the mammoth charged into battle…..

"I activate my Trap Card Dark Spirit Art – Greed!" Nightmare activated the trap and Amber Mammoth stopped in his tracks as Ruby Carbuncle was consumed by a dark light. "Thanks to Advanced Dark Ruby Carbuncle was a Dark Type Monster which allows me to tribute him to draw two cards, that is unless you have a Spell Card in your hand to reveal to me and negate the effect."

"Damn it, the only Spell Cards I had in my hand where Terra-Forming and Ancient City - Rainbow Ruins." Nicola thought with a frown before shaking her head in response and Nightmare drew two cards. "I may not know as much as I'd like to think I do about Crystal Beasts but I do know that since Ruby Carbuncle left the field a replay occurs and since you have no monsters I can cut to the chase and have Amber Mammoth attack directly!" Nicola commanded and the mammoth started charging towards Nightmare….

"And I negate the direct attack with Battle Fader!" Nightmare played the card and the small clock like fiend appeared on the field stopping Amber Mammoth in its tracks (1/0/0). "And since I summoned him in response to your direct attack…"

"The attack is negated and my Battle Phase ends immediately." Nicola responded with a confused look on her face. "But why even run that in a Crystal Beast deck? Even with your Field Spell in play there isn't a lot of Dark Type support for it!"

"I have my reasons." Nightmare responded and Nicola frowned.

"Whatever those reasons are I bet I'm not going to like them." Nicola thought with a frown before looking at her hand. "Amber Mammoth may still be on the field but I'd better set up some defenses all the same." Nicola thought before picking up another monster. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Nicola announced and Nightmare drew his card.

"Her trap card may have given her a brief lead but it'll be I that wins the day!" Nightmare thought before grinning. "Especially after I rigged my duel disk to give me exactly what cards I need." Nightmare thought before looking at his drawn card. "You are probably wondering what Battle Fader is doing in a Crystal Beast deck."

"The thought did cross my mind." Nicola responded and Nightmare smirked.

"Well for starters, outside of Emerald Tortoise the defensive capabilities of Crystal Beasts are garbage! The damn boss monster of the deck has zero defense points for Christ's sake!" Nightmare responded and Nicola's eyes narrowed, like Chelsea she came from a religious family and the fact that Nightmare was speaking of Christ didn't seem right to her.

"Okay first off, don't speak of Christ when it's clear to me that you couldn't have less to do with him or god!" Nicola snapped at him and Nightmare smirked. "Second, what's your point? I2's released more Crystal Beast monsters to rectify that anyway!"

"Oh, I know that all too well." Nightmare responded as he played the card. "I know you have Malachite Dog and Garnet Dolphin in your deck but do you have all of them?"

"I'm working on it." Nicola grunted and Nightmare chuckled. "But you still haven't answered my question! What's the point of this?"

"I was getting to that the card I just drew is one of those new monsters." Nightmare responded as Battle Fader vanished from the field. "And I tribute Battle Fader in order to summon that monster, he is the mighty Crystal Beast Diamond Bear and I summon him in attack mode!"

"Oh shit…." Nicola thought as her eyes widened and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a large bear that was seemingly made of diamond that had razor sharp claws (6/2400/1200) and just like the other Crystal Beasts its eyes started glowing. "Didn't I2 ban that card before it could get released because of how broken it is?"

"Yes, it's the very same monster." Nightmare responded with a laugh. "First, since it was tribute summoned using a monster that isn't a Crystal Beast monster I can Special Summon one Crystal Beast or Advanced Crystal Beast from my Spell/Trap Card Zone, guess who's back?" Nightmare asked mockingly as Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus returned to the field. ""And since she was summoned…."

"I know you get to replace her with another Crystal Beast." Nicola responded and Nightmare smirked as the he imputed the commands. "So far Diamond Bear doesn't seem as broken as something like Makyura the Destructor!"

"A monster doesn't need to allow you to activate a trap card from your hand when it's sent to the graveyard to be banned before he comes out." Nightmare retorted as he placed the monster in his Spell/Trap Card Zone. You see he has one more effect, I return Ruby Carbuncle to the Spell/Trap Card Zone to destroy your facedown monster." Nightmare announced as Diamond Bear leapt into battle and slashed Emerald Tortoise with its claws destroying it. "And by the way, he still gets to attack!"

"No wonder that monster got banned." Nicola thought as she braced herself. "How did a card that broken ever get made? Oh, wait never mind this is the same company that approved the Baby Dragon Rulers and Spellbook of Judgment."

"Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus, attack Amber Mammoth and finish what you started last turn!" Nightmare commanded and the Pegasus charged into battle again, this time Amber Mammoth didn't counter the attack and Sapphire Pegasus stabbed him with her horn bringing Nicola's life-points down to 7900. "Remember that lead you had? Say goodbye to it!" Nightmare said as Nicola sent Amber Mammoth to the Spell/Trap Card Zone. "Diamond Bear, show her the real power of the Crystal Beasts and attack her directly!" Nightmare commanded and the bear charged towards Nicola before slashing her across the stomach knocking her on her back in the process and bringing her life-points down to 5500.

"Is that the best you…." Nicola trailed off as she got back to her feet only to grunt in pain and clutch her stomach. "What the….."

"I knew I forgot something." Nightmare responded as Nicola got back to her feet. "This is a Shadow Game! The monsters are real and so is the damage, just look at your stomach." Nightmare added and Nicola removed her hand, her shirt now had three slash marks where Diamond Bear had hit her and whilst it did show off some of her midriff it also showed three nasty looking slashes across her stomach. "If you think that's bad, just wait until he delivers the final blow."

"That final blow isn't going to happen!" Nicola responded as she grunted in pain.

"We'll see about that, for now I end my turn." Nightmare responded and Nicola drew her card.

"The only monster I have that's capable of beating that bear is Rainbow Dragon and that new XYZ Monster I got recently but I don't have nearly enough monsters in my graveyard or on the field to summon Rainbow Dragon and that XYZ Monster isn't easy to summon." Nicola thought before looking at her drawn card and smirking a bit. "If this isn't the most perfectly timed draw in my career as a duelist I don't know what is." Nicola thought before quickly picking it up. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn!"

"That's it? How pathetic compared to my brilliant strategy!" Nightmare responded as he drew his card. "Drat. I needed Rare Value to send a monster to the graveyard and use Diamond Bear's effect but still this has its uses." Nightmare thought before setting the card. "I set one card facedown, now Diamond Bear attack her dense monster!" Nightmare commanded and the bear charged towards the monster only for his attack to have no effect. "What?"

"What's the matter? I thought you'd recognize Malachite Dog!" Nicola responded as the dog appeared on the field sitting down (3/100/1000). "And since you were kind enough to destroy Amber Mammoth last turn he can't be destroyed in battle!"

"In that case I end my turn." Nightmare responded and Nicola drew her card. "She can't stall forever, Andreas was able to use Forbidden Chalice to put that dog down and I happen to have a copy in my deck!"

"Spellbook inside the Pot, this could backfire big time like it did against Andreas but I'll take any help I can get." Nicola thought before playing the card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!" Nicolas called out as she activated the card and both duelists drew three cards. "Garnet Dolphin, Crystal Beasts' first tuner monster and I didn't get the Synchro in the same pack." Nicola thought before looking at her other cards. "Wait a sec, I can't use it for a Synchro Summon but if this works I can turn this around!" Nicola thought before playing the card. "You want new Crystal Beasts? Fine, I'll give you a new Crystal Beast! I summon Crystal Beast Garnet Dolphin!" Nicola played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was red crystal dolphin with the ruby in its head the splashed around happily (2/500/200).

"Oh, I'm so scared of you having a tuner monster without a Synchro Monster to summon with." Nightmare mocked her and Nicola growled. "Seriously, why even include that in your deck?"

"I'll show you! First I activate Garnet Dolphin's effect! I send Amber Mammoth to the graveyard to add his level to Garnet Dolphin!" Nicola added as she sent Amber Mammoth to the graveyard and Garnet Dolphin's level increased to six. "Unfortunately he'll be destroyed during the end phase since his new level is over Level Five but if things go well he won't be around that long."

"What are you talking about? You don't have the Synchro Monster!" Nightmare pointed out and Nicola grinned.

"Who said that my goal was to summon the Synchro Monster? I activate Crystal Surge!" Nicola played the card and both of her Crystal Beasts started glowing. "Have you heard of the Spell Card called Resonance Device?"

"Yes, it allows the user to match up the levels of two identical monsters and it's usually used to build overlay networks." Nightmare responded with a frown. "What of it?"

"Crystal Surge is like a Crystal Beast exclusive version of Resonance Device that works in the exact opposite way! Oh and before I forget, the whole attribute part of the effect applies to their original attribute and not their current one so Advanced Dark can't prevent it!" Nicola added and Nightmare growled.

"I knew that! Just get on with it!" Nightmare responded and Nicola grinned.

"Since Garnet Dolphin is now a Level Six Water Type Sea-Serpent monster and Malachite Dog is a Level 3 Earth Type Beast Monster I can increase Malachite Dog's Level to match Garnet Dolphin's!" Nicola announced as Malachite Dog's Level increased to six. "Okay, here we go Nicola, first ever XYZ Summon! Let's do it!" Nicola thought with a smirk as the Overlay Network opened up. "And now, using my two monsters, I build the Overlay Network!"

"No! She's summoning that monster!" Nightmare realized as his eyes widened and the two monsters were sucked into the Overlay Network.

"I XYZ Summon Crystal Beast Jaspis Lion!" Nicola played the card and a new monster emerged from the overlay network, as the name suggested it was a large lion that was ruby red in color and was very majestic looking (Rank: 6/2300/2000). "I know he doesn't look that strong for a Rank 6 but he comes with a nifty effect, by detaching an overlay unit…." Nicola said as she sent Malachite Dog to the graveyard. "I can target one monster my opponent controls and cut his attack points in half!"

"Do I even need to ask what monster you're targeting?" Nightmare asked and his suspicion was confirmed when Diamond Bear's attack dropped to 1200.

"Did you really think I'd let you keep such a broken card on your side of the field? No chance! Jaspis Lion, attack Diamond Bear!" Nicola commanded and the lion charged towards Diamond Bear before chomping down on his neck.

"I activate the effect of Advanced Dark!" Nightmare announced and Nicola blinked in confusion as he sent a monster from his deck to the graveyard and his deck reshuffled. "Is there something wrong? I know Autistic people are slow but…."

"SAVE IT!" Nicola snapped at him as her eyes narrowed. "I've already been called a retard once today and I'm not putting up with that again! And yeah, there's a problem! Why didn't you take any damage?"

"Did you really think I'd play Advanced Dark just to change the attributes of a few monsters?" Nightmare asked rhetorically and Nicola frowned. "Advanced Dark comes with a few other effects and the one I just used allowed me to send one Crystal Beast from my deck to the graveyard and in exchange I take no damage." Nightmare explained before holding up Diamond Bear. "As for Diamond Bear I'm sending him to the graveyard as well." Nightmare added as he sent it to the graveyard.

"I'm willing to bet anything that the last effect has something to do with Rainbow Dragon." Nicola thought before smirking. "But if I keep up the attacks I can force him to thin his deck so much that he'll run out of cards in a couple of turns and unlike Andreas I won't spare him from going through the process of losing via deck out." Nicola thought before looking at the rest of her cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Nicola announced and Nightmare drew his card.

"I have two of the monsters I need to summon my ace but that's not enough, fortunately that foolish girl gave just what I needed to rectify that!" Nightmare thought before playing a card. "I activate Painful Choice!"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Nicola asked as her jaw dropped when she saw the card's hologram. "That card's so insanely broken that Yata-Garasu has a better chance of coming back than it does! Why the hell is it working on your disk?"

"At what point did I indicate that we were playing by tournament rules?" Nightmare asked as he picked up five cards from his deck. "Now I reveal five cards to you and you get to choose one, the one you chose is the one I keep, the others…."

"Are discarded, my dad made sure that I was familiar with each card on the banlist when I first started playing and whilst the banlist's changed a few times since then that fact hasn't!" Nicola responded and Nightmare said nothing before showing her the five cards which she quickly recognized. "Amber Mammoth, Amethyst Cat, Emerald Tortoise, Cobalt Eagle and Topaz Tiger, five different Crystal Beasts plus Diamond Bear and an unknown Crystal Beast, that can only mean one thing." Nicola thought with a gulp. "Rainbow Dragon…."

"Are you going to choose or not?" Nightmare asked and Nicola frowned.

"You can keep Emerald Tortoise." Nicola responded and Nightmare nodded before adding the card she chose to his hand and sending the others to the graveyard. "How did he even get his hands on Painful Choice to begin with? It's one of the rarest forbidden cards in the game!"

"Next I set a monster in defense mode and I set two cards facedown." Nightmare set the three cards down and the three holograms appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."

"I see what he's up to." Nicola thought as she drew her card. "If I attack Sapphire Pegasus he'll use Advanced Dark's effect again to send another monster to the graveyard but on the other hand that will leave him with too many cards in his graveyard to summon Rainbow Dragon with so one of his facedown card is probably something like Shift which would force me to attack his defense monster and I'd be surprised if it wasn't Emerald Tortoise." Nicola thought with a frown. "Really wish I had my copy of Trap Jammer facedown right now but my best bet will be Sapphire Pegasus, let's just hope that those facedown cards are bluffs."

"Are you going to make your move or not?" Nightmare asked and Nicola frowned.

"I'm getting to that." Nicola responded before she looked at her drawn card. "Dead draw but I can use Jaspis Lion's effect to give him extra incentive to use Advanced Dark's effect at least." Nicola thought before sending Garnet Dolphin to the graveyard. "I detach Garnet Dolphin to use Jaspis Lion's effect one last time!" Nicola announced as Sapphire Pegasus's attack dropped to 900. "Now Jaspis Lion, attack Sapphire Pegasus!" Nicola commanded and the lion charged into battle…..

"I activate my Trap Card Shift!" Nightmare activated his trap and Jaspis Lion stopped in his tracks. "Your new target is my facedown monster!" Nightmare added and Jaspis Lion changed course before chomping down on the revealed Emerald Tortoise and destroying it. "Now I have her exactly where I want her! This duel is over!" Nightmare thought as he sent Emerald Tortoise to the graveyard.

"I have no choice to defend and basically hope for the best." Nicola thought before setting her drawn monster. "I end my turn." Nicola announced and Nightmare drew his card.

"Well, well, here's a card that was recently unbanned and a very infamous one at that." Nightmare said as he looked at his drawn card. "Neither your lion nor your facedown monster can save you from this! I activate Raigeki!"

"No!" Nicola yelled out but it was too late as lightning struck Jaspis Lion and her facedown Ruby Carbuncle destroying them both. "Jaspis Lion may be gone but not for good, if he's destroyed by a card effect then the two monsters I used to summon him go to the Spell/Trap Card Zone!" Nicola said as Carnet Dolphin and Malachite Dog appeared in her Spell/Trap Card zone. "Let's just hope this works."

"To bad because now you're finished!" Nightmare responded as he held up a monster. "Seven Crystal Beasts, all Dark Types, I now banish them from my graveyard to summon my best monster!"

"That…..that's not Rainbow Dragon's effect!" Nicola said as her eyes widened and Nightmare chuckled.

"You were expecting that overrated piece of junk? Please! My monster's much better!" Nightmare responded as he played the card. "I summon Rainbow Dark Dragon!" Nightmare played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it looked a lot like Rainbow Dragon but it was jet-black and incredibly menacing (10/4000/0). "I'll now do what you told me to do earlier and do the math, the combined attack scores of my monsters are 5800, your life-points are at 5600, you fall just short of surviving these attacks! Sapphire Pegasus, soften her up!" Nightmare commanded and the Pegasus flew towards Nicola before biting her in the stomach ripping off more of her shirt and leaving a nasty gash whilst reducing her life-points to 3400. "Rainbow Dark Dragon, kill her!" Nightmare commanded and the dragon charged up his attack….

"I activate Nutrient Z!" Nicola shouted and Nightmare's eyes widened when he heard the name.

"WHAT!" Nightmare shouted as the attack hit her but not before her life-points shot up to 7400 causing her life-points to plummet down to 3400, however when the smoke cleared Nicola was on her back with her hand scattered around her and whilst she was breathing she wasn't moving. "How did she draw Nutrient Z? My Duel Disk fix only applies to me!" Nightmare thought before smirking. "Ah well, if she doesn't move within the next five minutes I'll call it a forfeit, either way I get paid!"

"Oh god, that sucked so much." Nicola thought with a moan, it was hard for her to pinpoint where she hurt the most but needless to say she was hurting all over. "How can I beat him? His monster seems unbeatable!"

"Nicola, no monster is unbeatable!" The female voice from before rang out and Nicola groaned. "I know it hurts but you can't let him win, remember what Andreas once told you!"

"Remember what Andreas once told me?" Nicola thought before thinking back to their Battle City Duel.

"Thirty more seconds…." Nightmare trailed off as he mentally counted along the seconds before Nicola's defeat. "Twenty…..ah let's cut to the chase, it's not like she's getting up! Five, four, three, two, one…."

"Hey asshole, I think you need to go back to school and relearn basic math!" Nicola said with a pained grunt as she got back to her feet and gathered up her cards whilst Nightmare just stood there with jaw agape. "I'm pretty sure you were about ten seconds off there!"

"How….how are you even standing?!" Nightmare demanded as he pointed to his dragon. "You just took four thousand points of direct damage!"

"But I still have life-points left." Nicola retorted as she glared at him, once all her cards where back in her hand she laughed a bit. "I can't help but find it funny that whatever sick, twisted individual decided to target me for this attack chose the day I met Andreas to set this all up!"

"What do you mean?" Nightmare demanded and Nicola glared at him.

"The cut-off point for that flashback was when Andreas was going to turn things around in our first duel." Nicola responded as she glared at him. "But just before that he told me something that has pretty much stuck with me ever since, to never give up as long as you have life-points left and I have 3400 life-points left!" Nicola responded as she held up her duel disk to show the life-point counter and Nightmare laughed. "What's so funny?"

"You are, if you honestly think that Andreas feels the same way you do about him." Nightmare responded and Nicola glared at him. "He's a smart kid, good grades, an exceptional duelist, why would he actually want to date an autistic girl like you? He only humors you out of pity!"

"Keep talking moron, you just prove how wrong you are with each word!" Nicola responded as she glared at him. "Whilst it's true that Andreas is a smart guy and a great duelist, not to mention handsome, he didn't learn about my autism until after I dueled him in Battle City and he and Marcus were about to look past my diagnoses and see me for who I really am, smart, witty, beautiful and a great duelist, I just needed to come out of my shell and they helped me do that!" Nicola said as her eyes narrowed. "Ever since I met him I've grown more confident in both my dueling skills and social life but most importantly he likes me for who I am, no diagnoses will change that that's something that you couldn't possibly understand!"

"Ugh, I've had enough of this mushy stuff! I end my turn!" Nightmare responded and Nicola drew her card.

"I drew Sapphire Pegasus! Yes! If I play my cards right I can turn this around, I hope." Nicola thought before looking over her hand. "I set one card facedown and I summon my own Sapphire Pegasus!" Nicola played the cards and her Sapphire Pegasus appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "And now her effect activates…."

"Finally Nicola, you have summoned me!" Sapphire Pegasus said, in the same female voice from before no less, and Nicola did a double take.

"Huh…..what…am I going crazy from the pain?!" Nicola asked as she scratched her head in confusion and Sapphire Pegasus shook her head.

"Your pain may be great Nicola but I am talking to you." Sapphire Pegasus responded and Nicola just stared at her. "I guess there's no way around it, you are now my protégé."

"You're saying words but all they are doing is confusing me." Nicola responded and Nightmare chuckled.

"Just as I suspected, you have a duel spirit guide!" Nightmare said with a smirk and Nicola looked more confused than ever.

"Nicola, I'll explain later but for now resolve my effect!" Sapphire Pegasus told her and Nicola shook her head before nodding.

"Err, right, as I was saying I use Sapphire Pegasus's effect!" Nicola announced before searching through her deck and placing a monster in her Spell/Trap Card Zone. "Now I activate Call of the Haunted! And I use it to Special Summon one of the monsters you sent to the graveyard with Raigeki!"

"What good would Jaspis Lion do you without any Overlay Units?" Nightmare asked and Nicola shook her head.

"Who said I was summoning that? I'm basically doing what you didn't do earlier and using Ruby Carbuncle's effect!" Nicola responded as the weakest Crystal Beast appeared on the field alongside Malachite Dog, Garnet Dolphin and Amethyst Cat all in defense mode. "I only hope that my hunch is right about this Field Spell." Nicola thought before glaring at Nightmare. "I end my turn."

"That's it? How pathetic, if that's all you can do than why bother using Nutrient Z!?" Nightmare retorted as he drew his card. "In fact the spell card I just drew will seal your fate! I activate Big Bang Shot and I equip it to Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Nightmare played the card and his Sapphire Pegasus started glowing as her attack points grew to 2200. "But before I deliver the killing blow, Rainbow Dark Dragon, attack her Sapphire Pegasus!" Nightmare commanded and the dragon started firing up his attack…..

"I activate Last Resort!" Nicola announced and Nightmare's eyes widened as the darkness started to dissipate. "I don't use this trap card often because it's about as situational as you can get but since you just declared an attack I can activate my second copy of Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins from my deck!" Nicola said as she picked up and searched through her deck, once she found the card she was looking for she played it and the darkness completely vanishes returning the field to the bright colors of Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins.

"But that means….." Nightmare trailed off as Advanced Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus screamed in pain before shattering. "How did you know that my Sapphire Pegasus couldn't survive without Advanced Dark?"

"Honestly? I didn't, I was wondering why you waited until after activating Advanced Dark to summon your Sapphire Pegasus and I figured out that she depended on the Field Spell." Nicola responded before her eyes narrowed. "And that's just like how you rely on dirty tricks!"

"What?" Nightmare demanded and Nicola grinned.

"I figured out a couple of turns ago that your duel disk was rigged, I mean come on! You happened to draw Painful Choice, Raigeki and Rainbow Dark Dragon right when you needed those cards? Not to mention all the other "lucky draws" you've had since the duel began!" Nicola asked as she shook her head. "If you had drawn one of them right when you needed them I would've called it dumb luck, two of them I would've called it a coincidence but all three? Not even Yugi Moto had that much luck!"

"So you figured it out, I don't care!" Nightmare snapped at her and Nicola glared at him. "But Rainbow Dark Dragon doesn't share the restriction that the Advanced Crystal Beasts do!" Nightmare added and seconds later her Sapphire Pegasus was destroyed by Rainbow Dark Dragon's blast bringing her life-points down to 1200. "Well, well, it seems I won't need Big Bang Shot to destroy you after all!"

"That's if you make it to the next round!" Nicola responded as Sapphire Pegasus appeared in her Spell/Trap Card Zone and Nightmare growled.

"I activate Double Spell! With this I discard one Spell Cards from my hand…." Nightmare played the card and quickly discarded Rare Value. "And I can use Spellbook inside the Pot's effect as its own!" Nightmare added and Nicola would've shrugged if not for her pain as they drew three cards. "Perfect, I drew Stop Defense! Next turn I'll use this to force Ruby Carbuncle into attack mode and destroy her!" Nightmare thought before turning to Nicola. "I end my turn!" Nightmare announced and Nicola drew her card.

"Okay, I have Rainbow Dragon but I can't summon him with what I've got." Nicola thought with a frown as she looked over her field. "I have four weak Crystal Beasts on my field and three in my graveyard, wait hold on…." Nicola thought as an idea popped into her head. "Yeah, this could work." Nicola thought before turning to Nightmare. "You know what? You were right earlier, Rainbow Dragon is all about power, take that away and he's nothing!"

"Glad to see we agree on something but it won't save you." Nightmare responded and Nicola grinned. "What's your point?"

"My point is that the same can be said for Rainbow Dark Dragon! I activate Shield and Sword!" Nicola activated the Spell Card and Nightmare's eyes widened as Rainbow Dark Dragon's attack plummeted to zero whilst Nicola's Crystal Beasts benefited from the Spell Card. "He's not so mighty now, is he? I switch my monsters to attack mode!" Nicola announced as her Crystal Beasts stood up. "And I activate Crystal Promise to bring Sapphire Pegasus back from my Spell/Trap Card Zone!" Nicola played the card and Sapphire Pegasus returned to the field.

"It's good to be back." Sapphire Pegasus said with a grin as Nicola placed another monster in her Spell/Trap Card zone.

"I'm still not used to this but I can't focus on that right now." Nicola responded as she shuffled her deck. "Now I activate Crystal Blessing! I take Emerald Tortoise and Jarpis Lion from my graveyard and place them in my Spell/Trap Card Zone!" Nicola added as she placed the cards in her zones. "They'll be destroyed during my end phase but there won't be one! Encase you haven't noticed I now have seven monster cards on my field!"

"Oh no…." Nightmare trailed off as Rainbow Dragon appeared on the field (10/4000/0).

"Let's find out who's really mighty! Rainbow Dragon, attack Rainbow Dark Dragon!" Nicola commanded and the dragon launched its attack at the dark counterpart destroying it and bringing Nightmare's life-points down to 2400. "And this, this is for mocking me, my autism and my dead mom! The rest of you, finish him off!" Nicola commanded and the rest of her beasts charged into battle.

"No, no!" Nightmare yelled out as the attacks hit him reducing his life-points to zero, Nicola finally just collapsed from pain and exhaustion as the holograms, aside from Sapphire Pegasus disappeared.

"I can't believe I'm about to thank a duel monster." Nicola said as she shook her head. "But thanks Sapphire Pegasus, I don't even want to think about what could've happened if you weren't around."

"You are my protégé Nicola it is my duty to protect you." Sapphire Pegasus responded before turning to Nightmare or at least what was left of him, all that was left was his suit and duel disk, not even his deck remained. "I don't think you'll have to worry about him anymore."

"He may be gone but this incident, I think it scared me for life." Nicola sighed as she turned to her monster. "Even if cards like Advanced Dark and Rainbow Dark Dragon are real I want nothing to do with them!"

"I understand completely." Sapphire Pegasus said before walking off. "You should be waking up soon and I recommend seeking the help of Chelsea and Chloe as soon as you can, they'll know what to do."

"I'll take your word for it." Nicola responded before a blight flash enveloped her vision.

*in the real world*

"AHHH!" Nicola yelled out as she shot up in bed, she took several deep breaths as she sat there. "That…..that was my scariest nightmare ever!" Nicola muttered under her breath as she went to stretch only to yell out in pain. "Argh, my arm, hell everything hurts, was…..was that even a dream?" Nicola muttered to herself before shaking her and lying back down, she realized that the storm had long since stopped but even then she struggled to get to sleep. "I'll go to Chloe and Chelsea's dorm room in the morning but now, I just want some sleep!"

*meanwhile*

"Go to Duel Academy Island in the middle of the night he said, it'd be fun he said, there won't be any storms he said!" Jack grunted as he dropped the duelists off on the island. "It'll take me a month at least to dry off this cloak!"

"My apologies Jack but Sarah was unavailable and I only had the weather reports for the Los Angeles area." Victor said over the earpiece and Jack grunted. "How about I let you use my personal dry cleaner to make up for it? Free of charge."

"Now that's more like it!" Jack grinned before turning to the duelists. "You have your orders but if I where you I'd find a place to dry off ASAP unless you want to duel with a cold."

"Don't need to tell us twice and don't worry, we know the island well." One of the duelists, they were both women but she was clearly taller than the other, responded with a nod. "Are you coming Matilda?"

"I'm always coming Felicia." The shorter woman laughed before walking off and the boat sped off.

"Man I'll miss staring at their sweet asses if they lose." Jack thought with a grin as the boat sped away. "But if they are as good as Victor says they are then we'll have many souls by tomorrow night!"