Author's Note: I own nothing in relation to Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

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RPQ asks: "How come you always study? Do you have a favorite game?"

Alistair says: I DO have to graduate as well, you know. What did you think I would do? Be like Jaden and sit in Slifer Red for the rest of my days? As for the second question, a favorite game… hmm… I've recently grown an affinity to Halo, despite having never played an Xbox before arriving at Duel Academy.

Jon asks: "Love is so beautiful, isn't it Alistair? When do you plan on taking Alexis out on a date?"

Alistair says: Stop sending me mail, Atticus.

ForensicDuelist4137 asks: "Do you think Alexis will try to top that, and if so, are you two just going to trade pranks until one of you graduates/gets expelled?"

Alistair says: …Let's hope she DOESN'T try to top that. The prospect of a prank that exceeds Operation Heavy Storm frightens me. And she's the one that started it, so naturally I'll be the one that ends it.

FiccieBoy asks: "Alistair, what do you think about my comments in my previous review (how you're a too-perfect character)?"

Alistair says: …What? Are you suggesting I make myself stupider or something?

Keep on sending your questions and Alistair will keep on answering them. On with the story!

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CHAPTER 22 – ENCOUNTER OF FATE

I was returning to my dorm room, noticeably expressing my intense amusement of recent events. Alexis still refused to leave her dorm room for the day, which Atticus and I then decided to spend by stuffing Jaden's desks full of her underwear when he wasn't looking. Every reaction he had was better than the last, so we decided to try it on a few other people – Crowler screamed like a girl and Chazz fled with a nosebleed, all in all a rewarding day. About halfway to my dorm I spotted an Obelisk Blue out of the corner of my eye, one on the most unusual looking students I had ever seen. Purple eyes, long blue-ish hair, and… bolts in his head? I wasn't about to question it.

"Pardon me," he asked calmly, "but one of my dueling cards has gone missing. Something tells me you might have come across it recently." I blinked a couple of times in confusion before taking out my deck, flipping through it in search of anything unusual. Then I remembered, reaching the card that I had picked up earlier.

"Arcana Force Fourteen?" I asked, holding out the card. The purple-eyed stranger smiled and nodded in confirmation. "That would be the one."

Taking the card, he shuffled it into his deck. I noticed it contained a number of other "Arcana Forces", none of which I had ever seen before. My mouth opened to ask about them, but I was hastily interrupted.

"You've never seen these cards before, have you?" he asked with a creepy smile. I blinked a couple of times before nodding, slightly disturbed at how he practically read my mind. He put his deck away and offered a handshake, which I hesitantly accepted.

"My apologies, my name is Sartorius," he introduced himself. "I manage several professional duelists, and I'm always looking for new talent."

My eyebrow raised, wondering what sane person would hire someone this unusual as a manager.

"Around here at Duel Academy? I could recommend a few people if you'd like," I answered unsurely. Sartorius smiled and shook his head.

"That's quite alright," he insisted. "I like exploring the Academy on my own. Although I have seen you duel, Alistair, and your skills are quite impressive. Perhaps an 'audition' could be arranged?"

I scratched the back of my head before looking at my watch, furrowing my brow.

"It'll have to wait, unfortunately," I apologized. "Busy day. You wouldn't happen to take appointments, would you?"

"Of course," Sartorius replied, pulling a white book seemingly out of nowhere and jotting something down. "You're in luck, I'm free all day tomorrow. You can come by the Obelisk dorm anytime; just tell Dr. Crowler that I have a meeting with you."

I nodded in understanding, and Sartorius excused himself to attend to other matters, leaving me to continue heading back to my dorm. He was certainly weird, but I suppose there's nothing wrong with understanding how I compared to duelists in the pro leagues. Besides, as eerie as he was, he seemed friendly enough… and I had to admit I was curious as to what an Arcana Force deck was capable of.

After wrapping up minor homework issues and erasing all evidence of Operation Heavy Storm from the whiteboard, I remembered that I conveniently had one final class of the day with Crowler, the perfect time to inform him about my meeting tomorrow. I also remembered that it began in a mere 3 minutes.

I returned to the main campus in a blaze, the distance between it and the Ra dorm beginning to get on my nerves. Quickly entering the crowded lecture hall, I dropped into the first empty seat I found without so much as a second thought. Collapsing onto the desk in exhaustion, I heard faint snickering around me, followed by an annoyed cough. I picked up my head and looked to my left, where a very irritated Alexis Rhodes was glowering at me.

"Oh sh- !" I exclaimed, my words being cut off when I found myself somersaulting backwards over my chair in shock. As soon as I managed to get myself to my feet, I found myself pinned against the wall, truly amazed at Alexis's strength. I shook the white hair out of my face and put on my most charming smile.

"Wonderful evening, wouldn't you say?" I asked shakily. Her gaze didn't soften a bit.

"Go in my dorm again, and I'll turn your entire deck into adorable little paper dolls, got me?" she hissed seriously. My eyes sharpened in horror.

"You wouldn't dare," I answered, my arms still held tightly against the wall.

"Go ahead and try me then," Alexis dared with a devious smile. "See what happens."

Alexis then kissed me on the cheek, the exact same way I had during Duel Monster Spirit Day. I remained against the wall in utter bewilderment before making my way to another seat, nearly stumbling down the stairs. For the remainder of the class, I was dead silent.

The lecture was just as uneventful as it always was. You'd think at some point Crowler would realize how boring he was and would attempt to liven up his lectures, but that unfortunately wasn't the case. I made my way to Crowler's desk at the end of class in order to inform him about my meeting tomorrow with Sartorius, but to my surprise, he already knew about it.

"Ah, Mr. Rhein," he said. "Sartorius already told me about your meeting with him tomorrow. He also asked me to give you this." Placed in my hands was a small box, large enough to hold 100 or so cards. I opened it up and found a large deck inside, all cards face-down.

"He wanted you to look it over," Crowler told me. "He wanted to see if you would be interested in testing out a new series of Spellcaster-type monsters, never before released."

I gazed down at the deck, and decided to look through it later tonight. I quickly placed the top back on, thanked Crowler, and exited the classroom. Minutes later, I sat at the desk in my dorm, the strange new deck still in my hands. I laid it down on the desk and opened it up, fanning the cards out before me.

The new cards were unlike anything I had seen before. The creatures depicted on them seemed to emanate some sort of radiant power, as strange as that seemed. I shook off the suspicions. They were only cards… right? Then again, if the Dark Magician Girl could attend Duel Academy, just about anything was possible. As if on cue, there was a knock at my dorm door, and Mana's voice came from behind it.

"Alistair? Are you in there?" she called. I crossed the room and opened the door, finding the entire gang outside: Mana, Syrus, Jaden, Hassleberry, and Bastion.

"Hey Alistair, we wanted to know if you were gonna come down to see the tournament this week," Jaden asked. "Chazz and Alexis are supposed to be dueling in the first round, you should have seen his face!"

I hesitated before looking back into my darkened dorm room. The set of strange new cards remained on the desk, and for the most bizarre reason, was emanating some sort of faint purple light. I quickly turned back to the five visitors and gave them an apologetic look.

"Sorry, I'll have to go another time," I explained. "I have some… work to get done. Let me know who wins tomorrow."

Jaden and the others decided not to question the matter, and headed off after bidding me good night. I closed the door and leaned against it, gazing back at the glowing cards that seemed to draw me toward them. Picking them up, I flipped through the entire deck, examining each and every monster, spell, and trap. It was a powerful deck, and a very unique one. I figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a test the next day, so I shuffled them, placed them back into the box, and collapsed onto my bed for the remainder of the night.