Hey all! Not much to say in the Author's Note this time. Nothing's really changed in my personal life as of yet. Once again, thank you very much to Matthew Rhodes and Felix Brunschede for your assistance. I promise, I'll get those links in soon, if I can.

And because I keep forgetting this: Yu-Gi-Oh is property of Konami, however, all characters used in this story belong to me.

Also, a new poll on my page. Please vote!


Yuko woke up, blinking the sunlight out of her eyes from the open window. She groggily stretched, looking around the sparse room. This was not her bedroom, that much was for sure. She looked over to the bedside table where she saw a glass of water and two tablets, along with a little note. She reached for the note and quickly scanned it.

You seemed a bit tipsy last night, but you didn't reek of alcohol. Either way, here's something for your head when you wake up, if you need it.

Yuko set down the note, the evens of the previous night hitting her full-force. She downed the glass of water, since she felt fine. She stretched, slipped her deck into her pocket, and made her way to the bathroom. She had to look at least a little presentable. After brushing her hair and washing her face, she felt she looked good enough to head out for the day.

As she descended the stairs, she saw Yamato waiting for her, along with an old man sitting behind the counter. He seemed to resemble Yamato's King Pen, but was clearly larger, lacked all of the bird features, and had a more imposing figure. Yamato gave her a lazy wave. "Was wondering when you'd get up. Yuko, this is Shopkeep." He nodded his head at her in acknowledgment. "This is Yuko, the new girl I was telling you about."

This last bit caught Yuko off-guard. "New girl?"

Yamato nodded. "That's why I was surprised at how much rent you were offering. Part of the deal is that you work here. Did you even read the flyer?"

Yuko pulled out the crumpled-up flyer from her pocket, only now noticing it was torn. "You're kidding, right?" To her dismay, Shopkeep shook his head.

Yamato cleared his throat to keep them on track. "Also, you need to go get some money for your room. I'll have the lease ready when you get back. Also, leave your deck. We want to take a look at it, if you don't mind."

Yuko shrugged, placing her deck on the counter. She knew Yamato was better than her, and she just managed to win through a miracle. She saw no harm in him looking at her cards. She smiled as she left to go get the money she owed, as well as some extra spending money. It really couldn't hurt, and if she was staying for a while, she could use it to furnish her room a little more.

Once she was done, she headed back to the shop, the bell attached to the door jingling as the pulled it open to step inside. She quickly pulled out the money she owed Yamato and thrust it into his hand. "Here's your cash. Double-check if you want, but it's all there."

Yamato double-checked it before shrugging. "It's good. The paperwork's on the counter. I've filled it all out. You sign, and then Shopkeep here can sign as a witness."

Yuko flipped through the contract, before she reached the end where she was supposed to sign. She stared at the signature on the line.

Rui Haneken

Yuko quickly looked over at Yamato. He seemed to expect this as he flippantly replied. "Rui's the name my parents gave me. Yamato's the name I gave myself."

This didn't sit right with Yuko, and she was going to press harder. "So, why take a fake name?"

He blushed and looked away. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

Yuko shook her head. "I don't frequent the inner city, and I'm still new to Moonvale. Care to explain?"

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. "It's because Rui sounds girly, and if you're going to make it out alright, it helps to have a stronger name. Of course, you have to be able to back it up, which I can easily enough."

"I think it sounds cute." Yuko's attempt to console him backfired immediately as he turned away. "Besides, Rui fits you."

"Don't call me that. Only my friends call me that."

"Aren't we friends?"

"This is purely a business relationship."

Yuko wrapped her arm around him in a side-hug. "We're totally friends, Rui."

He shoved her off of him. "Do that again and I'm breaking that arm. Also, stop calling me that!"

"I am not going to stop calling you that."

"Sign the damn paper so we can get this over with," He snapped, She quickly scribbled her name down on the contract.

Yuko Straits

He looked over at her name. "Straits, huh? I think I've heard that name before, but I can't place it. Whatever." He said, before pulling out two stacks of cards. "We've gone through your deck, and we've decided what's worth keeping, and what isn't." He slid the smaller stack toward her.

Yuko picked it up and quickly skimmed through what she had left. "And the other ones?"

Shopkeep took the stack and pulled out a pair of scissors. As Yuko's eyes widened in shock, he casually cut the cards into small pieces.

"No! How could you!?" She cried, feeling crushed.

Rui put his hand on her shoulder. "Relax. If it makes you feel any better, your deck was total trash. It looked like you had pulled a bunch of junk cards out of the garbage. I mean, who actually runs Trap Hole in this day and age?"

Yuko huffed. "Hey, that deck wasn't from the trash!"

"Where'd you find it then?"

"In a dirty alley, next to a dumpster…" She sighed and looked down. Odds are, her deck was just thrown away like garbage.

As she visibly slumped, Rui smiled. "But, in exchange, we'll help you rebuild your deck. We'll be expecting you to buy your cards, but I'll give you these two as freebies." She looked up to see two cards on the counter.

"Honest?"

He nodded as she added the cards to her small pile. "It's a pretty potent hand-trap that works with Light attribute monsters. Not all of yours are Light, but your best ones are. I feel you can put it to pretty decent use."

Yuko skimmed the card effect, and looked at it closer. "1900 defense points is also solid-"

"No." Rui cut her off. "The first rule of Honest is never play it on the field. Only if it's your last resort. Never play it otherwise."

Yuko shrugged. "Duly noted. So, shall we get to the deck building?"

Shopkeep began to pull cards out from behind the counter while listening to Rui talk to Yuko. "So, I think that you should have about half your deck made out of monsters. Once you get better, you can afford to alter it, but for now, you need to start pretty simple. At the same time, we can't build your deck. We can just steer you in the right directions."

As Shopkeep laid out a handful of monster cards, Yuko looked them over and added them to her deck before stopping at one. "Spirit Ryu?"

Shopkeep nodded while Rui explained, "You see, it can really help you out in a pinch with the effect. It gains 1000 attack for every Dragon you discard that turn." Yuko snatched it up and added it to her growing deck.

Once she left she had enough, she stopped them. "So, now I need spells and traps, right?"

Shopkeep began looking for more cards as Rui talked once again. "Yeah. And Dragons have a lot of support. Both in terms of spells and offensive traps. Of course, you'll need some staples for defensive purposes."

Yuko looked through the cards, picking what she wanted, and at the end, Shopkeep rung up her total. She pulled out the money and passed it over the counter. "And that was most of the spending money I got…"

"…"

"Nothing to say?"

"…"

Yuko turned back to Rui. "Is he okay?"

"Oh Shopkeep? He just doesn't say much. Or anything. I've been around here since I was a kid. He and my old man were close. I don't think I've ever heard him say anything." He said, before finding what he was looking for.

He threw it at Yuko, who clumsily caught the broom he tossed to her. "What's this for?"

He smirked. "You're working, remember? You can start by sweeping up the shop. I've been meaning to for a while, but I'm already behind on some repairs."

Yuko's face settled into a pout. "Seriously? Just sweeping?"

Rui was already opening up a duel disk. "Do you have experience fixing machines?"

"No."

"Do you want to go outside and clean the gutters?"

"No!"

"Then shut up and sweep."

Yuko sighed as she began her first day of real work.


That night, Yuko quietly tiptoed down the hall to Rui's room. She squinted in the darkness, looking for what she needed. She saw it on his bedside table, but on her way over, tripped and fell to the floor with a clatter.

Rui woke with a start, turning on the lamp on the bedside table. "Yuko!? What the hell is going on? Why are you in my room?"

She gave a false smile and replied in an overly sweet tone. "Well, you're just so beautiful I had to see your sleeping face~"

He was clearly unamused. "Try again."

She sighed in defeat. "Alright, I wanted to borrow your deck so I could practice. I know we talked theory, but I need to actually duel!"

Rui groaned as he flicked the light off. "Go back to bed. We'll take tomorrow afternoon off to find you someone to duel against. How's that sound?"

She beamed, "You're the best! G'night!" She said, brushing herself off and heading back to her room.

Rui settled back into his bed, While a part of him was glad to see her so eager to improve, the part of him that should not be awake at 2 in the morning made him wonder in taking her in was a good idea or not.


Yuko followed Rui through the maze of streets. "So, where are we going?"

He didn't look back as he kept making his way around. "I called in a favour. We needed to find a duelist who isn't too skilled so you can keep up. No offense, of course."

"…None taken," Yuko replied, in a hurt tone. "Besides, you should be nicer! I did beat you!"

Rui growled, hiding his frustration at that. "That was a one-in-a-million chance. Don't expect to win on luck in the future. If you do, you'll be disappointed." He said, stopping at what appeared to be a random street corner. "She'll be here soon."

Yuko was going to ask who "she" was, but was answered as a girl started running toward them. "Hey Yamato!" She called. She was a few inches shorter than Yuko and had brown hair to her shoulders. She wore a denim jacket over a t-shirt with a pair of jeans. She seemed quite familiar with Rui as well. "So, you needed me to set up another duel?"

He smiled, "It's good to see you too. And it's not for me, it's for her." He motioned to Yuko. "Oh, I also need to introduce you. Yuko, this is Samantha. She used to set up duels for me back in the day. Sammy, this is Yuko. She's the rookie I told you about."

She extended her hand and shook Yuko's. "So you're Yuko. Nice to meetcha!" She said. "I'm Sammy. Back in the day, Yamato and I-"

He cut her off. "She knows my name."

Sammy blinked a few times, but shrugged it off. "Whatever. Rui and I used to work together. We needed extra cash, so I would set up duels for money. He'd win, and I'd get a cut." She turned back to him. "But you haven't called in a few months! What gives?"

Rui just shrugged. "Business at the shop's been good. Haven't had time for money duels."

"Also no time for hanging out with friends!?" She pouted at him.

Yuko decided to interrupt them. "So, you set up a duel for me?"

Her voice snapped the two of them back to the situation at hand. "That's right! I found someone at about your skill level. He's got a lot of promise though. Come on, he's not far from here."

As they followed her, Yuko glanced at Rui. "She seems nice."

He nodded. "She's a huge help. She has her finger on the pulse of the city for the most part. If you need to find someone, there's no one more reliable. We've worked together for years. She even helped out at the shop from time to time."

Yuko nodded, "I see. You're lucky to have a friend like her."

"Yeah." He paused, "I also told her you were my student, so don't screw up and embarrass me."

Yuko's face flushed with anger. She can't believe he just said that to her! She was still, new, but she had beaten him! "If I'm supposed to be your student, it wouldn't kill you to have at least a little faith, would it?"

Rui's retort was cut off by Sammy's call of, "We're here. Just give me one minute to get him." She headed up to one of the houses and knocked on the door. It opened and she stepped inside.

While she was gone, Yuko looked around at the street they were on. Both sides were one or two-storey homes which looked nice and well-kept "Isn't it a bad idea to duel in such a residential area."

Rui looked where she was. "There isn't a problem. Most of the people here work day jobs, and for anyone at home, it's a free show. As long as it's not in the evening or night, it's not an issue."

Yuko raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

"Both Sammy and I have had run-ins with the Moonvale PD over noise complaints. We figured out that people don't care if they're out of the house."

When he finished, Sammy came back out with a boy who looked a year or two younger than Yuko. He had short brown hair and was dressed in casual wear. Sammy smiled as she introduced him, "I know he's nothing special to look at, but Lance here is pretty good for an amateur."

"Be careful. He may be at your experience level, but if Sammy took him as a client, he's gotta have some potential. Don't get cocky, stay on your toes, and never think you've won until his life points actually hit zero." And with that, Rui left Yuko's side and joined Sammy on the sidelines.

Lance activated his duel disk. "I'm not going to go easy just because you're a girl."

Yuko shot back, "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Duel!"

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]
[Lance: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand]

"I'll go first!" Yuko said, "So I forfeit my draw on the first turn." She scanned her cards, and she had a pretty good idea of what to do. "I'll set a monster, and one card face-down." The two face-down cards appeared in front of her. "I end my turn."

Lance drew his card to start his turn. "I'll start by summoning Blade Knight in attack mode (1600 ATK)! When he's my only monster, flip effects won't activate when he attacks a face-down monster! Now attack!"

The knight clad in blue swung his blade at Yuko's monster, as it was revealed, it blocked the blade with glittering sapphire wings. "Sorry, but your monster doesn't have enough attack points to destroy my Luster Dragon (1600 DEF)."

As Blade Knight jumped back closer to him, Lance looked back at his hand. "I'll set three cards face-down, and I'll end my turn."

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand]
[Lance: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand]

"My draw!" Yuko said, adding the new card to her hand. She then smirked. "I'll start by switching my Luster Dragon to Attack mode (1900 ATK) and I'll have him attack you Blade Knight!

Lance was having none of that. "I'll reveal my face-down card, Kunai with Chain! This trap acts as an equip spell, which I give to Blade Knight. It gives him an extra 500 Attack points (1600 - 2100).

Yuko faked a yawn, "Is that really all you have? I reveal my trap, Tyrant Wing! This gives one dragon 400 extra attack points and the ability to attack twice! In exchange, if the affected monster destroys another monster, then it's destroyed in the End Phase. So I'll give the power-up to the only Dragon, my Luster Dragon (1900 - 2300)! Now attack his Blade Knight!" As the card took effect, Luster Dragon's wings absorbed energy and became pure white.

The armour-clad warrior didn't last long under the flames Luster Dragon breathed on him. Yuko was ready for her second attack. "Now Luster Dragon, attack once more!"

Lance revealed his second face-down card. "I activate Draining Shield! This converts your monster's attack points into life point restoration for me!"

Yuko could only watch as his life points went back up. She set one more monster, and set one more card. "I end my turn." With these words, her Luster Dragon vanished and was sent to her Graveyard.

Lance drew to start his turn. "I'll summon my Command Knight! And when this card is on the field, all Warrior monsters gain a 400 point boost, including Command Knight (1200 1600 ATK). Now attack her monster!" The red knight that he had summoned lunged forward at Yuko, slashing at her set monster.

Yuko flipped up her face-down monster. "You attacked my Spirit Ryu, but I'm going to discard Kuribitefrom my hand to activate its ability!" The silhouette of what looked like a Kuriboh if it was made of diamond appeared over Spirit Ryu, giving it a white aura. "By discarding it from my hand, it gives my monster defense equal to your monster's attack, but the reflected damage is halved (1000 - 2600 DEF).

Command Knight's sword bounced off of Spirit Ryu's strengthened body, with the force of the blow being sent back at Lance. He braced himself against the redirected force. "I end my turn."

[Yuko: 4000 LP, 1 card in hand]
[Lance: 5600 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko drew, smirking as she looked at what she had. "First, I'll release my Spirit Ryu in order to summon Luster Dragon #2 (2400 ATK)." A large emerald dragon appeared in front of Yuko, letting out a bestial roar. Yuko pointed at the desired target. "Now attack Command Knight!"

Her dragon belched forth a large stream of emerald flame, vapourizing Command Knight. Yuko then played the last card in her hand. "I'll play Dragon's Gunfire. And the effect I choose makes you take 800 points of direct damage!"

Lance looked at Yuko, before looking up at her dragon who spat fire down at him, taking off the extra life points. "I end my turn."

Lance drew a card. "I'm going to play the spell card Summoner's Art! This spell lets me add one Normal monster from my deck to my hand, as long as it's Level 5 or higher. And I choose Gaia the Fierce Knight!" He added the monster to his hand. "Next, I'll play Polymerization! I'll fuse the Gaia in my hand with the Curse of Dragon in my hand, in order to summon Gaia the Dragon Champion (2600 ATK)! The two cards were absorbed into the vortex made by Polymerization, and out burst Lance's powerful Fusion monster. "Now attack her dragon!" Yuko had no choice but to let the attack go through as Gaia's lance pierced her dragon, smoke billowing out of the hole before her dragon was destroyed.

Once her dragon was gone, Lance ended his turn.

[Yuko: 3800 LP, 0 cards in hand]
[Lance: 4000 LP, 0 cards in hand]

Yuko was sweating bullets. She had no cards in hand, and while she could take one more attack, it would really shave down her life points. They both had one face-down card, and Yuko wasn't sure if hers would help her at the moment. She closed her eyes and drew. "I activate the spell card, Card of Sanctity! Now we can both draw until we have six cards!"

From the sidelines, Sammy let out a low whistle as both duelists refreshed their hands. "Been a while since I've seen that card used. Your kid must either be really gutsy or really desperate."

Rui sighed, "I'd wager it's more of the latter, but they're both doing pretty well." He said. He seriously hoped Yuko had a plan. As she looked over her cards though, she kept an uncertain expression on her face.

"I'll summon my Dwarf Star Dragon Planetar (1700 ATK)." Yuko said. As she placed the card, a dragon appeared that was half black, while the other half appeared to be comprised of fire. "I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn. Also, the turn he's normal summoned, my Dwarf Star Dragon lets me search my deck for a Level 7 Light or Dark attribute Dragon and add it to my hand." Yuko pulled out her deck, quickly found Hyozanryu, and added it to the cards in her hand.

Lance drew, adding to his hand. "You must think I'm pretty stupid. Baiting me with a weak monster while you've got three cards in your back row. So I'll reveal my face-down card, Trap Stun!" A wave of energy rippled across the field, locking the traps Yuko had set. "Next, I'll summon Little-Winguard (1400 ATK)." A small winged blue knight appeared on the field next to Gaia. "Now, my Dragon Champion, destroy her monster!"

The look of uncertainty vanished from Yuko's face as she grinned, dropping a card into her Graveyard. "I discard Honest, activating its effect! If a Light monster is attacked, I can discard Honest to add your monster's attack points to mine (1700 - 4300)!"

Yuko's dragon flew up to meet Gaia the Dragon Champion mid-charge, its entire body becoming wreathed with fire as it collided with the weaker monster, causing smoke to billow out as it was destroyed.

Lance looked rather rattled, exactly what Yuko was trying to do. "I'll set three cards face-down, and end my turn." He said, before remembering something. "And during my End Phase, I can change Little-Winguard's battle position (1800 DEF)."

[Yuko: 3800 LP, 3 cards in hand]
[Lance: 2300 LP, 3 cards in hand]

Yuko drew for her turn, and was ready to win. "Alright, I'll summon my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500 ATK)." Mist flowed out of Yuko's Duel Disk until it solidified into an ethereal pink dragon. "Now that I have two Light Dragons who are both Level 4, I construct the Overlay Network!

The two monsters went up into the purple and gold vortex, with Fiery Hyozanryu coming out, two Overlay Units orbiting it (2300 - 2700). Before Yuko could say anything, she noticed that her dragon had a ring on its neck, with bombs attached to the ring. She looked over at Lance, who had activated a face-down card, revealing it to be a trap.

"Do you like it? I activate Ring of Destruction. I target one monster whose attack is equal to or lower than your life points, I take damage, and if I do, then you'll take the same damage!"

On the sidelines, Sammy buried her head in her hands. "What is he thinking!? That blast will wipe out all his like points! Her monster has just enough attack to drop him to nothing!"

Lance then revealed a second card. "Don't worry Sam. I'm better than that! I activate Barrel Behind the Door. Meaning that the damage I would have taken is given to you instead!"

Yuko had enough common sense to cover her head before her monster exploded, shaving off a large chunk of her Life Points, but she wasn't finished. "Since you didn't take any damage, Ring of Destruction didn't have enough power behind it to finish me off."

Yuko set another card face-down. "That's all I can do for now. Your move."

Lance drew to start his turn. "I'll switch my Winguard back into attack mode and I'll reveal Call of the Haunted to revive my Dragon Champion!" The trap activated and the fusion monster was returned to the field. "Next I'll activate my spell card, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!"

Yuko looked at him in surprise. "But you don't have any Dragon monsters! Isn't Gaia a warrior?"

He shrugged, "You'd think, but he's actually a Dragon. And since he's above level 5, he's suitable for my purposes. Instead of returning to my hand, I add him back to my Extra Deck, and then I can destroy all Spell and Trap cards on the field."

All four of Yuko's set cards were blown into her Graveyard by a powerful gust of wind as Gaia was taken off the field and added back to the Extra Deck. Lance snickered. "Now that you're wide-open, I'll have Little-Winguard attack you directly!" The slash across her chest knocked her off-balance and forced Yuko to stagger back a step. "I'll set one card face-down and pass it back to you."

[Yuko: 100 LP, 1 card in hand]
[Lance: 2300 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko took a deep breath. She needed another miracle draw. She closed her eyes, focused, and drew. She saw what it was and immediately played it. "I summon my Masked Dragon in attack mode (1400 ATK)! Now attack Little-Winguard and crash!"

Rui smirked. "Perfect. This means that while they'll both lose their monsters, Yuko will be able to search out a new one to attack directly."

As the two monsters destroyed each other, Yuko pulled out her deck. "I'll summon a second Divine Dragon Ragnarok from my deck to the field!"

Lance took this moment to reveal his face-down card. "I activate Solemn Warning! It costs me 2000 Life Points, but it negates a special summon, and destroys the monster." Yuko's heart sank as her monster was destroyed. The last card in her hand was Hyozanryu, and she had no way of summoning it now.

"I end my turn."

Lance drew and summoned the monster he just picked up. "I summon Rocket Warrior (1500 ATK)! Now attack Yuko directly!" She doubled over from the monster's slash across her stomach, feeling the wind knocked out of her.

[Yuko: 0 LP, 1 card in hand]
[Lance: 300 LP, 2 cards in hand]

Yuko looked down, crestfallen, as the Duel Disk powered off. "I lost…"

"Hey, that was a great duel. I hope we get to duel in the future." She looked to see Lance with his hand outstretched.

"That's right. It was really quite close." This time it was Rui talking to her. "Just give it a little more practice and refinement, and you'll do fine."

"He's right." Sammy said, smiling. "I was on the edge of my seat. And if it means anything, you're learning way faster than ol' Yamato here did."

The death glare he was shooting at Samantha was eased by Yuko laughing and smiling. She shook Lance's hand and looked up again. "Thanks. That all means a lot."

Rui then started to walk off, "Well, I have to head back to the shop. It isn't time to close yet."

Yuko panicked. "Wait! I don't know how to get back on my own!"

As she ran after him, Sammy called, "If you ever need more duels, don't be afraid to call me!"

Yuko turned and nodded. "Thanks! I won't be a stranger!"

"Are you coming or not?"

"Whoops! Gotta go now!"


That night, as the city slept, a train quietly pulled in to the station. It was almost empty, and only a girl stepped out. "So this is Moonvale…? Well, it's late. I'll have time to look around tomorrow."

As she walked out of the shadows provided by the station into the moonlight, the girl was illuminated wearing a t-shirt, and a skirt, though her most noticeable feature was the rainbow of colours that made up her hair.


Yeah, so Ring of destruction kind of sucks now that it's been errata'd. Oh well, nothing I can do about it. Also, you may have noticed I used the anime effect for Card of Sanctity. I'll admit, I kind of wrote myself into a corner. But the real card is garbage, so I'm sticking with that effect.

False Card Corner:

Kuribite

Level 1, Rock/Effect, LIGHT

300 ATK/200 DEF

If a Defense Position monster you control is attacked, during the Damage step, you can discard this card from your hand to the Graveyard. If you do, the monster targeted for an attack gains defense equal to the attacking monster's attack points. All battle damage is halved the turn this card's effect is used.