For the remainder of her time at sea, Arlene found that Bryon had been following her around and talking to her a lot about dueling and his dreams to become the greatest.

This sounds very original. Arlene thought sarcastically as Bryon launched into an "I'm the greatest" speech. The duel against Bryon now proved to people that Arlene wasn't a terrible duelist, but as many people reminded her - as if she needed reminding - she was the only one who had not won outright in their entrance exam. This had happened so many times that she lost it and snapped at a little boy who ran off crying. An extreme sense of deja vu came from this action, but Arlene ignored it and looked around. The ship had finally arrived at Duel Academy and they were waiting for an escort to take them to the main structure on the island.

Wonder what Duel Academy's like... Arlene was jolted out of her thoughts by Bryon leaping in front of her.

"Hey ARLENE!"

"Um...hi." Bryon grinned then walked off.

"What an idiot."

"I HEARD that!"

Eventually the escort arrived and took the duelists to a large building surrounded by tall sand coloured pillars. They were taken to a lecture hall where they were greeted by the Chancellor - a bald man whose eyes made him appear younger than he was.

"Welcome duelists!" He announced. "You are all here because you have proven to us that you have what it takes to make it to the top of the Dueling ladder, and here at Duel Academy your skills will be honed to heights you never dreamed of! First though, to the nature of the school. Namely which dorm you will belong in. Duel Academy has three dorms..."

I'm finally here. Arlene thought to herself. No doubt Ethan will be in the Obelisk Blue Dorm, but I have time. I would like to meet him soon though... Arlene brought her focus back to the speech.

"...for the boys. As for the girls, you will all be staying in the Obelisk Blue Female Dorm. However, so that we can tell how good a duelist you are, we have added sashes to your uniforms, working in the same way as the dorms! So from lowest to highest it's red, then yellow and finally blue. Don't be discouraged if you get a red sash, as there are always opportunities to promote your rank! Well then, if you'd all like to collect your uniforms, the escort will take you there." Arlene let herself be shoved along by the crowd of duelists to where they would collect their uniforms.

Three guesses what sash I have.

Arlene wasn't surprised to learn that she had received a Red Sash. They were then shown to the girl's dorm - a large blue castle-like building - where Arlene headed up to her room and got changed. She found a small PDA in her jacket and spent a few minutes trying to figure out the controls.

Maybe I can contact him through this. Sadly, the PDA was smart enough to forbid her from dueling people who were "better" than her. Arlene had to do her best not to explode with anger at this, and resolved to find Ethan the old fashioned way; asking around.

Arlene had been wandering around campus for a good few hours. The sky had darkened when Arlene felt something strange in the air.

This is weird. Something's...not right. Arlene stood on the spot, trying to work out what could be troubling her. Maybe it's that I haven't found Ethan yet. Arlene sat down on the grass. It's been ages since I last saw him. Now I'm here and I can't find him, I just... Arlene couldn't help but smile. Look at me getting emotional. Better keep looking. It was at this point that she heard a sound like a large explosion. The ground shook violently and wind whipped past her.

What the hell? Arlene looked to the direction of the explosion. Seeing nothing as her view was blocked by trees, Arlene raced in the direction of the explosion. It didn't take her long to get there, and when she did she was shocked at what she saw.

It was the Slifer Red dorm on fire.

Giant flames encased the remains of the dorm. Arlene just looked dumbstruck at the ruins, catching only glimpses of the actual dorm through gaps in the flames. There were screams and chaos all around her as she simply stared at the destruction. A boy crashed into her, bowling her over. Before the boy could get up Arlene had grabbed his collar.

"What happened here?" She demanded. The boy had tears in his eyes as he tried to explain.

"I...don't know. We were having a meal and..." He collapsed on the floor, clearly exhausted. Just to be safe, Arlene checked that he still had a pulse, then pulled him further away from the licking flames. After pulling the boy far enough away, Arlene turned round...and saw Bryon Perez being dragged out of the wreckage by two other Slifer Red students. Arlene raced up to him and helped to pull him away. When they lay him down, Arlene knelt beside him, trying to regain her thoughts. She didn't have much time, as at that point three consecutive explosions pierced her hearing. Arlene shoved her hands over her ears until the noise abated, then looked around.

Three more explosions? What the hell's going on? Arlene stayed beside Bryon. Minutes crawled by until Arlene saw a Ra Yellow student run up to them. He was in the same state as the Slifers.

"Ra...Yellow...fire...explosion..." Arlene was now at a complete loss for words.

Slifer Red AND Ra Yellow? There were two more explosions. Were they the Obelisk Dorms? Arlene picked herself up and ran back to her dorm.

It was utter chaos when she got back. Girls were screaming their lungs out, though the calmer ones were tending to the unconscious. Arlene asked one of the girls what had happened.

"We were just in our dorm, then there was this huge explosion. Luckily we were on the ground floor, but the others..." the girl hung her head.

"We should make our way to the main structure of Duel Academy. It's the only building not in ruins." The girl's eyes widened as Arlene explained, then grew cold. The girl made to run off to tell the others, then paused.

"My name's Fay."

"Arlene." Then Fay was gone. Arlene's mind was spinning out of control as she tried to register events that had happened so quickly.

These explosions came out of nowhere...but they're not accidents. That much I know. Too many coincidences for that. Arlene decided to get some help, so headed off to the Duel Academy building, her mind racing all the while.

Arlene was relieved to see that there was at least one building on the island still intact. A few students were talking to each other, though by the sounds of their voices it was clear that they'd heard the explosions. Arlene ignored the people trying to ask what had happened, instead marching towards Duel Academy.

That was when the last explosion happened.

The explosion was small enough that it didn't engulf the students outside, but with enough force that it threw Arlene back. She landed heavily on her back and stared up at the large building now with smoke pouring out of it. Arlene struggled to get up, but found her vision dimming. The last thing she saw was the sky, tainted by smoke.