Second story arc begins! Enjoy!

Still no sign...this is getting frustrating! Fay gazed out at the vast expanse of ocean. It's been 3 days and there's no sign of Arlene. Where could she be? All the boats and ways of getting off the island were destroyed...

"FAAAEEEEYYYY!" Fay spun round to see Ethan striding towards her, a happy grin on his face. Fay found herself sadly reminded of Bryon, though Ethan was nowhere near as crazy or random.

Bryon vanished on that night as well. Wonder what happened to them. Ethan finally reached Fay, then flicked his hair out of his eyes.

"Been looking for you! It's almost time for class!" He sighed. "I can't believe they started classes so soon. Still! Means we all have good spirits! Let's go!" Ethan began striding towards the remains of the Duel Academy Building. Fay continued to look out at the sea for a moment, before shrugging and racing after Ethan.

"Now, who can tell me what Dark Magician's effect is?" Proffessor Macias smiled thinly as a Slifer Red Student raised their hand. Macias was the one teacher at Duel Academy who could seemingly switch personalities at will. Despite her switching attitudes, her physical features stayed the same: she possessed hooded grey eyes that looked like two pools of mercury; she had dark chocolate coloured hair that was worn in a businesslike style; she was very tall and had lightly tanned skin. The Slifer Red Student balked as Macias underwent a personality shift, but suddenly became emboldened.

"Dark Magician...doesn't have an effect?" The student ended weakly. Macias nodded coldly.

"That was the correct answer, Ethan. However, kindly do not whisper answers to the other students." Ethan nodded seriously. When he was in class, Ethan became extremely focused. Macias frowned. "Well, Ethan, you can answer this next question. There is only one correct answer. How many lifepoints would I need to give up when activating Tremendous Fire?" Ethan paused.

"It's 500." Macias glared, then she shifted personality and beamed at Ethan.

"Correct! Now, that's all for class today! WAIT!" She called back the students about to leave. "I know that some of you have neglected to duel in these past few days. Therefore, your homework for tomorrow is to participate in a duel and then write a brief summary of what transpired. DON'T think of improvising - the teacher can always tell."

"Y'know, you haven't dueled since the island got set on fire," Ethan noted as he and Arlene walked back to the direction of the Obelisk Blue Dorms. Workers had arrived to repair the dorms only this morning, so all students would have to sleep outside for another few nights.

"I've had other things on my mind." Ethan shrugged.

"Sure. I understand. But now you have to duel! So let's go!" Fay smiled.

"Not just now thanks."

"Then why don't I take you on?" Fay could have sworn that she saw Arlene racing up to her, but when the person approached, Fay had no idea how she could have confused herself - the duelist was a boy. Fay made to respond, but Ethan gave her a friendly nudge out of the way.

"I'll give you a duel little man!" Ethan gave a friendly smile, but the boy scowled.

"My name's not little man! It's Chester!"

"Cool. Mine's Ethan. Now let's go!"

Chester: 4000
Ethan: 4000

"Alright then," Chester declared, puffing himself up. Ethan had to run a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "I'll summon my Masked Dragon (1400/1100) to the field in attack mode! And that's all!" Ethan picked up his card, his eyes becoming extremely serious.

"Alright, Chester. I summon my Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) to the field, and as you can see, he has enough attack points to destroy your monster and make a dent in your life points! ATTACK!" Chester folded his arms and looked up at the sky, pretending to be bored.

Chester: 3500
Ethan: 4000

"You idiot!" Chester announced. "Thanks to my Masked Dragon's effect, I can special summon another Dragon monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less, so who better to choose than another Masked Dragon, this time in defense mode!" Ethan surveyed the field while Fay rolled her eyes.

I can see why Arlene got so bored of arrogant duelists. Let's just hope this Chester guy gets beaten soon...She suddenly clasped a hand up to her mouth. Wait. Am I turning into Arlene? Fay shook her head rapidly and continued to watch the duel.

"I'll finish up by playing Heart of the Underdog," Ethan played his card. "Make your move."

"Gladly!" Chester drew. "I'll play the magic card Polymerization, fusing my Lord of D. 1200/1000) and my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000) in order to summon my King Dragun (2400/1100)!" Chester paused to marvel at his new dragon which towered over Ethan. Fay looked on in wonder. "Anyway!" Chester continued. "I now utilize his effect, allowing me to special summon a dragon monster from my hand, and I choose my Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!" The shimmering dragon let out a piercing roar before it fixed its eyes on Ethan's monster. "Now, my dragons, ATTACK!" Ethan steeled himself for the attacks, but nevertheless let out a roar of pain as his life points were crippled.

Chester: 3500
Ethan: 0200

"I'll finish with that." Ethan was breathing heavily, but picked up his card. At this point his Heart of the Underdog card started glowing.

"I activate my magic card's effect! During my draw phase, if the card I pick up is a normal monster, by showing it to you I can draw again! In fact, I can keep doing this until the card I pick up is not a normal monster. So let's see how many more cards I can get!" Ethan showed Chester the card he had just drawn and picked up another card. He showed the next two cards to Chester as well before progressing with his turn. "I'll set four cards face down and summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) to the field. Now, attack his Masked Dragon!"

Chester: 3000
Ethan: 0200

"Which allows me to take another Masked Dragon from my deck to the field. That wasn't very bright, Ethan." Ethan said nothing. Chester shrugged and drew. "I'll finish this now! I don't care too much for your face downs, so I'll summon to the field my Mirage Dragon (1600/0600) who stops you from using trap cards during your battle phase! What do you think of that?" Ethan revealed a face down card.

"I activate the counter trap, Forced Back! Now your monster returns to your hand." Chester scowled, then smirked.

"That was stupid. I can easily summon him again with my King Dragun's effect!"

"That's why I also activate Destructive Return! Now whenever a monster card returns from the field to the hand, they're removed from play instead!" Chester grumbled something along the lines of "obscure combo" before removing his monster. Fay frowned at this move.

Was Ethan really that lucky drawing his card? Why would he only put in Destructive Return for one trap card? She snapped out of her thoughts as Chester started talking.

"Well, so what? I'll just attack you with my monsters! King Dragun, end this!" Ethan grinned and revealed another face down.

"You've just activated my trap card, Justi-Break! I can only activate this card when you declare an attack on a face up normal monster. Now all face up monsters that aren't normal are destroyed!" Fay looked on suspiciously.

"Say WHAT?" Chester growled as King Dragun and Masked Dragon were destroyed. "Well, I still have Luster Dragon! I'll end my turn." Ethan drew his card, and a few seconds later his Receeding Circuit trap card was destroyed.

"My Receeding Circuit needs 500 life points during my standby phase or else it's destroyed," Ethan explained. "But anyway! I'll play smashing ground to destroy your monster, then summon another Archfiend Soldier and attack you for the win!"

Chester: 0000
Ethan: 0200

"Fine. Whatever." Chester stormed off. Fay was deep in thought.

Ethan's not a bad duelist, but...he's not that great either. Just using normal monsters, no matter how many magic or traps you have, is asking for trouble. She looked down at her cards. After being beaten by Hayden so easily, I realised it's about finding the balance between concentrated themes and a jumble of cards. Maybe that's why Arlene keeps losing...wonder where she is...

"RUGBY TACKLE!" Fay screamed and shielded herself, but when she didn't fall to the floor, she lowered her guard to see Ethan laughing. "Ah, I'm just kidding. C'mon, let's go and find you a duelist!"

Fay was eventually coaxed into dueling by Ethan, and won her match by a good margin.

The revamp really helped. But I can't help thinking about whether or not Ethan was cheating... She sighed. What's wrong with me? Since Arlene vanished I've not been myself. I think I'm getting boring... Fay gave a small scream at that, and quickly found a haribrush, brushing frantically in the hope that this would make her more interesting. At least this is doing something! She thought to herself. If I just stared into space and said nothing all the time I'd turn into Arlene! Fay gave another small scream and brushed her hair with renewed vigour.

The first part of the second arc. For those of you missing the action near the end of the first arc, it will return soon enough. Will Arlene though? Hmmm...please review!

New cards...

Destructive Return
Continuous Trap
Image: A member of Goblin Attack Force racing up to the other goblins with a TNT strapped to his stomach.
Effect: Whenever a monster is returned to the hand, it is sent to the graveyard instead. Pay 500 life points to keep this card on the field. If you do not, this face up card is destroyed.