Alright, it's my first day.

My first day as a professor! There are many things a professor has to be – A model for his students, a strong and caring person, and someone who can adapt to situations on a moment's notice!

… Unfortunately, that doesn't describe me at all.

Ugh, I'm nervous. And not just about me screwing up a few facts and numbers in front of everyone, it's what kind of professor I'll be when I'm not in the classroom. Kudo's lively and loud, Hund is a strict professor, but he does actually care a lot for the students… I hope. And Machi… Well, I can't really gauge what kind of professor she is without seeing what she can do, but she seems to be a stickler of the rules…

-shrugs-

I don't know if I'm cut out for this, but damn it, I… I'll try my best! A-After all, what's the worst that can happen?

*KER-ASSSSH!*

… Heaven, help me…

TTTTTT

Draw 4

First Day Troubles

TTTTTTT

Time: 6:13 a.m.

It was a quiet and dark morning for the Duel Academia, the sun not even rising over the ocean's horizon yet. That didn't seem to stop the alarm clock from going off this morning in the large blue decorated room.

"Ugh, I miss sleeping in."

Sitting up in the blue comforter covered bed, Mustang yawned loudly as he begun to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "First day of class, and I wake up to see blue, blue and red."

It took a moment for Mustang's observation to finally sink into his half-conscious mind, but when it did, Mustang's trailed the red to find its source. And when he found the source of red, his face had its own tint of red to it now. "Most guys would kill to wake up with a situation like this."

Some how, some way, at some time during the night, there was an intruder in Mustang's room and was apparently still there to boot. For curled right next to Mustang on top of the comforter was a young familiar red haired girl who was dressed in the Osiris Red girl's uniform (Although, the vest was draped over her small body as a makeshift blanket).

Apparently the girl was a sound sleeper for she continued to sleep through the alarm.

"Tenri," Mustang sighed as he shook his head a few times. "I was kind of hoping that she'd break out of this habit of breaking into my room."

Jumping from his bed, Mustang pulled on his black muscle shirt and matching pajama pants. "Everything seems to be in order, so I won't have to worry about that. Still though, I'll have some trouble if anyone sees her coming out of my room."

"Don't worry, I don't mind being late to my first class to sneak out."

Mustang spun his head around to see Tenri sitting up on the bed, wrapping the comforter around her body while a devilish smirk appeared on her face. "Morning, Mustang."

"Alright, how long have you been in here?" Mustang asked heading towards one of the dressers in the room.

"Oh, about an hour or two," Tenri answered with the smile growing slightly warmer. "I was just snoozing right next to you."

"I swear, sometimes you take too much after that catty shopkeeper," Mustang muttered, as he begun to dig through the dressers for his clothes. "Now, any reason you decided to sneak in here, other than to get us both expelled?"

"Is it so wrong that I wanted to steal your heart all for myself?" Tenri cooed as Mustang continued with his morning rituals. "But also, you remember those duelists you had your eye on?"

"You're going to have to be specific," Mustang replied as he lumped his selected clothes into a small bundle. "It happens to be my job to keep an eye on a lot of duelists – the job comes with the title."

"Alrighty," Tenri chuckled. "I'm talking about the same students who fall under the same category that got you to keep an eye on me."

Mustang stopped in his tracks and turned his head towards Tenri, "Is that a fact now?"

TTTTTT

Time: 8:08 a.m.

The first day of classes.

It could either be considered heaven or hell, depending on who you were. Even at Duel Academy that fact remained the same as well, and as the students sat in the various classrooms, they each had their own reactions to the first day.

Some were preparing themselves.

Others were cursing out the sunlight.

And some, well some of them were just snoozing away while the professors were preparing to set up for their classes.

But our story of the day doesn't start there, rather, it started at the Red Dormitory, with only six and a half minutes before classes were set to begin.

"GARGH! WHY DIDN'T MY ALARM GO OFF!"

Dashing out from his room in the Osiris Red dorm, Price almost flew from the door, spinning around to slam his hand into the door to close it, several papers flying from his brief case and his clothes a complete mess as he tried to adjust his pants and coat at the same time. "I… I gotta fix that thing!"

As he struggled to lock his door and catch his papers, Price forgot one very important detail. He was on the second floor, and when he reached out for the paper, he realized at the last second that he was hanging over the side of the support bar. "Huh?

"AHHHHHHH!"

A loud boom sound echoed through the air as several papers floated down onto Price's fallen form, his eyes spinning about behind his glasses, "Ugh… Ow…"

A few red students were walking by when Price fell down from the second floor, taking a few moments to watch the spectacle that occurred just before them. It was an interesting sight to say the least.

"Clean up on aisle three!"

'That joke doesn't even work in this situation,' Price thought as he slowly began to pick himself up, and began to gather up his papers. However, as he lifted up one of his papers, Price took note of his watch. "GACK! I-I'M STILL GONNA BE LATE!"

Gathering up as many papers as he could and trying to make himself at least look presentable, Price began to dash towards the academy as fast as his legs could take him – A long winding tail of papers falling from his running form.

Meanwhile, a few minutes before class was about to start in the classroom that Price was supposed to teach in, the students were starting to get a little restless, the room enveloped with almost mindless chatter amongst the uniform adorned students.

The room was styled to resemble that of a college classroom with desks that went up to the wall and had a single set of stairs that lead up to the back of the room and allowed students to get to the desks. At the top of the stairs was a large door that still had students walking into the room, looking for where they would sit.

Not like it was hard to find a clique for them to join, the students were practically separated only by their uniform colors, the reds sat closest to the front of the class, yellows in the middle and blues were the farthest away from the front, seated at the top seats. A good portion of the seats were pretty much filled up and whatever seats remained disappeared slowly.

A slight sigh escaped from a familiar blue haired Ra Yellow duelist as he slumped forward onto his desk, "Well this is just perfect, my first class ever at Duel Academia and its with that rookie of a professor."

"Oh, Eiji-kun," Tengoku laughed loudly. "You certainly have a flair for looking on the brighter side of things."

"The concept of sarcasm, don't sweat it, it's new," Eiji grumbled under his breath. That's when he relooked at Tengoku, Eiji noticed that Tengoku's uniform jacket had more dark splotches splashed on it, and the splotches from the other night seemed almost pitch black now. It was a wonder how quickly Tengoku could get this uniformed so dirtied in such a short amount of time. "Tengoku, I think you should really clean that damn thing."

"Why?" Tengoku questioned, taking a sniff of his sleeve. "Smells just like mom's good old home cooking."

Eiji slammed his face back into the desk, 'And I'm taking advice from this guy for how to become a champ.'

With a shrug of his shoulders, Tengoku looked down at the empty desk at the front of the room. The new professor only had a few minutes left to get to the classroom, and since things were looking up, Tegoku smirked to himself. 'So many interesting players in this little game of ours, first Eiji-kun loses to the new professor who doesn't even use his own deck, and when he does, Bogard loses even though he sups up his deck.

'Then, there's that shorty of an Obelisk Blue with the Scrap Metal Knight card at his disposal. There's something more to him, I just know it!'

While Tengoku was in the middle of his inner monologue, a familiar red headed, red uniformed girl walked into the classroom. Tenri sighed loudly as she adjusted the backpack on her shoulder, "Ooh, I knew that I had to wait a little bit to get back to the dorm, but Mustang could've at least lent me his shower. I had to mad dash back to the red dorm and quickly shower…"

Tenri took a moment to try to find an open seat, which as stated earlier, wasn't an easy task. But, luck seemed to be on her side as there was an open seat right next to the entrance of the room in the back. So, without really seeing much of a reason not to take advantage of the situation, Tenri immediately slid into the seat and placed her backpack on the desk. 'I guess this will do for right now. Hey, maybe if I'm lucky, that new professor will just make this a quick class and I can get out of class…'

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

With her train of thoughts derailed, Tenri snapped back to reality to see that a few of the Obelisk Blue students had crowded around where she was seated. There were five in total, with two of them being girls with their eyes dead set on Tenri's form while the three guys sneered at her. Tenri tilted her head slightly, "Um… Sitting?"

"Don't be a smart ass," One of the girls scoffed, and immediately slammed her hand onto the desk that Tenri was seated at. "Can you see where you belong?"

It took a moment for Tenri to realize what the group was getting at. She sighed loudly as she rubbed the back of her head, "This already? Please, can't you get past the old clichéd duel academia prejudice? I just got here and there are no other open seats down near the front of the class."

"Not our problem," One of the Obelisk Blue males retorted. "We worked our tails off to get to the top of the food chain, and frankly, it's like getting dirt thrown in our faces."

That's when the same Obelisk Blue that just spoke snatched his hand around Tenri's arm, and pulled her from the seat, "Hey! What the hell are you trying to do?"

"Just shut up," One of the other blue students snarled, none of them realized however that a large shadow appeared behind the small pre-class event.

Time: 8:14 a.m.

Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Price struggled to stay on top of his feet, his face dripped with sweat and his clothes clung to his thin frame, "N-Note to self… S-Start early m-morning exercises again. Man was… Not meant to r-r-run… S-Six miles in s-seven minutes."

Taking a moment to gather himself, Price took several deep breaths before he began to open the door with a fragile smile on his face. 'Be brave Price! T-They're only kids… Kids who are here to learn! Kids who have hearts of gold in their chests. Just show them respect and they in turn should show you their respect.

'Well… Here goes…'

With his eyes closed and a smile forcibly plastered on his face, Price slowly strode into the classroom, "Good morning, Class! I apologize for being late, but I am here now so we should…"

Price would've continued with his apology and introduction, if it wasn't for the fact that when he opened his eyes, he realized that two male Obelisk Blue students flew through the air right towards him. "… Meep?"

BAM! WHAMP!

"AAAHH!"

Once again, papers flew through the air as both blue students slammed into Price, which in turn sent them all to the floor – Hard.

Most of the students were in awe of what had happened, but when it sunk in, the entire room was enveloped in laughter at the sight of the two blue students being tossed onto the new professor as if they were nothing more than rag dolls. Price all the while was a little less than pleased with the situation, his attempts to get the two young men off of him were not the most successful, "W-What the? C-Can someone h-help?"

A few minutes later…

Price now stood in front of the class with a nervous look on his face, not even five minutes into his first day of class and students had already used Price as target practice. Price was actually used to being target practice, but that was usually by paper footballs, spitwads, and various other forms of disrespect that would be shot at him.

But he never expected to have students thrown at him!

No one would!

"A-Alright," Price coughed, his gaze set at the two still knocked out Obelisk Blue students who were dragged to one of the nearby corners as if they were discarded trash. "Um, c-could anyone tell me what h-happened here? I know I'm new and I expected some sort of hazing from some students.

"But I didn't expect that. And s-since it's not a conventional h-hazing technique, I think that… Well, I'll be honest, I don't know what to think. Can someone just tell me what happened?"

There were some murmurs that flew through the classroom's air, but no one seemed to be willing to answer the rookie professor's question. A few moments later, Price was about to give up when all of a sudden.

"No problem, professor!" Tengoku announced, which garnered the attentions of everyone in the room. The stained uniformed student coughed slightly as he stood up with a smirk on his face. "There was a little trouble going on at the top of the stairs in this room a few minutes ago…"

"What the hell are you doing?" Eiji hissed under his breath.

But Tengoku continued, regardless of Eiji's question. "I don't know what the cause was, but two Osiris Red students were apparently at the center of it all. A few blues didn't like what they were doing, and the bigger of the two reds decided to intervene and then you started to come into the room.

"Next thing I know, you're getting attacked by a pair of flying Obelisk Blues, and thus, class is postponed."

'That was a rather unique description,' Price thought to himself, his hand placed at his chin. 'Red students… And since I'm a part of the red faculty that means that I need to deal with this problem. Well, I certainly have my work cut out for me, its only the first day and I've already got a situation on my hands.

'But, the first thing I need to do is figure out who the red students are.'

"Can anyone tell me who was involved?" Price questioned, instantly he turned his attention towards the two knocked out Blue students. "Um… But before that, c-can I get a few people to take these two to the nurse's office?"

"Once again," Tengoku chuckled as he stepped out from behind his seat. "No problems teach, me and Eiji here will be more than welcomed to do it."

"We will?" Eiji questioned, his brow raised up.

"Yes we will," Tengoku repeated himself as he quickly grabbed Eiji by the arm and lifted him up from the desk. "Now, hurry up, Eiji-kun!"

Within a few moments, both Eiji and Tengoku were dragging the two knocked out Obelisk Blue students out of the classroom, with Price blinking a few times at the two yellows dragging them out. "A-Alright…"

Out in the hallways, both Eiji and Tengoku carelessly dragged the two Obelisk Blues by their collars, of course, Tengoku was smirking a little bit to himself while he was getting a taste of the glare that Eiji was shooting at him. "And what the hell was that about?"

"You know that if you glare like that," Tengoku chuckled with a wag of his finger. "Your face will stick like that."

"Just answer the damn question," Eiji hissed, dropping the Obelisk Blue student in the process. "Just what the hell are you trying to do?"

"Tell me something Eiji-kun," Tengoku answered back as he too dropped his Obelisk Blue student. "Do you want to have the typical school experience while we're here? Most people who come to Duel Academia come to get away from the dull high school experience that most of the students had to deal with before the summer of this year.

"Duel Academia, the school that takes the oh-so enthralling game of duel monsters and incorporates it with the regular high school curriculum, the idea itself isn't a bad prospect. But, it's so dull.

"Then again, most of this life is dull and boring. I myself am aiming to make this world a little bit more… Stylish."

"That still doesn't explain why you told the professor that," Eiji pointed out.

"Those two red students…" Tengoku chuckled with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. "I'm getting the same feeling as I did with that shorty I faced off against last night. They've perked my curiosity."

"You just love hearing your own damn voice, don't you?" Eiji growled loudly. "If you had an interest in them, then…"

"Why?" Tengoku interrupted as he walked down the hallway. "If everything came to us easily, then that would make things even duller. And frankly, an interest can't tell me anything useful. Now, how about we ditch these two losers here and go chill somewhere?"

"That's the smartest thing I've heard you say all day," Eiji admitted as he followed Tengoku through the hall.

TTTTTT

Time: 11:45 a.m.

It was a long morning for Price.

In addition to his mostly freshman class – Intro into history, Price had two other classes that had older students in it, both of them history based. But a lot of students weren't paying attention, they didn't ask questions when Price explained what the course was about, and most of them left before Price had officially called the class over with.

And with his current bruises bothering him, Price didn't want to have to deal with those problems.

Thankfully, since it was the first day, it was a duel academia tradition to make the classes last for half a day.

Thus, brings us to the newest professor looking over some papers he had while in the Osiris Red Dorm's cafeteria, a bottle of iced tea at his right on the table. 'Let's see… Looking at the student list, I had about sixty-five students in my first class. Of those sixty-five, twenty were Osiris Red.

'And looking at the attendance that I took, only about two Red Students weren't in class today. One Tenri Kujo, and one Adrian York. Tenri's a freshman, but Adrian's a second year student. Odd… Second year students are usually promoted to Ra Yellow, so maybe held back? I dunno…

'I could inform Hund of this trouble, but, I don't know all the facts of this case… S-So, I should try to handle this myself. A-After all, there are p-plenty of views on the situation…'

Holding up his PDA, Price began to bring up a few files concerning the two duelists, all the while looking at the papers. 'No photos in their personal files, that's rather odd. In any case, let's take a look at their grades.'

"What ya looking at newbie?" Machi asked, making Price nearly jump out of his shoes, however, all of his papers flew from his hands and into the air.

"GACK!" Price yelped as he watched the papers float about through the air. Desperately, the young professor made several grabs at the papers, only to have the most important one – The attendance sheet – caught by Machi herself.

The short professor and dorm head looked at the sheet before she lowered it and began to look it over. "Oh, an attendance sheet? That's what you're stressing over?"

"Uh, y-yes?" Price muttered out loud before he reached for the paper.

However, Machi just turned to the side and looked at the attendance sheet. "Look, I know you're nervous about this being your first day, but all of us teachers always have at least one student who skips class."

"Uh, r-r-right," Price stammered, still trying to get his hands on the attendance sheet before that the smaller professor had.

"Heck," Machi continued as she twisted to the right, right out of Price's reach. "Even Hund's got a couple of hooky players under his wing, and he's Obelisk Blue's headmaster. Even that mutt's not perfect and so, I don't expect that you'll get everyone appearing in your class, sure, you can try, but you'll have a few bad eggs."

"I… I see," Price chuckled sheepishly.

That's when Machi looked a little bit more carefully at the list, her eyebrows perking up at the two names that were unmarked. "… York and Kujo? Those two?"

"I take it you know them?" Price questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"They're red students," Machi answered with a large grin on her face. "Of course I'd know them! From last year!"

"Last year?" Price questioned. "But isn't Miss Kujo a first year?"

"She was a visiting student last semester," Machi replied with her arms crossed. "A little program we have with regular schools so we can allow regular high school students to see if they want to join duel academia. Something that the old fart of a headmaster suggested that actually was of use, it certainly got us a lot of new students.

"It's like a mentoring program and she got paired with a second year Obelisk Blue student I think… Doesn't really matter. I'm not really surprised about her though, she's bright, but her mind's not really set for the books. York's a different matter though…"

"A second year red, right?" Price stated with his glasses pushed up. "What's up with that? York held back for…"

"Nah, it was York's choice to stay in red," Machi answered as she tossed the paper back to Price. "In any case, I'm not surprised that York wouldn't appear in class. Not that best of a student either, but I've never seen a brighter heart in a student."

"I… I see…" Price muttered.

"In any case, I'd love to continue chatting," Machi sighed as she spun on her heel to turn away from Price. "But, I've got some planning for tomorrow's class to deal with. So, good luck with your work in trying to figure out why you were pummeled by a pair of blue students."

Price's eyes widened when he heard that and he blushed slightly when he heard that, word apparently travels fast on this large island. And with a loud sigh, Price slowly pushed himself away from the desk, "I suppose I should t-try to find these two s-s-students…"

"You should probably check their room numbers," Machi yelled out just as she walked out of the small cafeteria. "That'd be a good start."

Price sighed loudly as he shook his head.

TTTTTTT

Time: 12:01 p.m.

It didn't take long for Price to find out the room numbers for both of the students, they were both in the red dorm, so it didn't take long to find the room numbers under the files in his PDA.

So, here he was.

Standing in front of the door to Miss Kujo's room, Price cleared his throat and began to rap on the door a few times, "Miss Kujo? Are you there? It's Rowen P-Price, I wish to d-discuss what had happened during this morning's first class."

A few moments passed, and there was still no answer at the door, so Price brought his hand up to the door and knocked on it once more. "Miss Kujo? Are you in?"

Still no answer.

Price sighed loudly. "I guess I'll have to try again later."

And with that, Price began to walk away, heading for the corner towards York's room. As soon as he rounded the corner, the door to Tenri's door opened up, allowing the red haired student to pop her head out. "Yeesh, I didn't think I'd have him on my tail. Maybe I should hide out at Mustang's room…"

A few moments later, Price was now standing in front of the door to Adrian York's dorm room, a little nervous about this. 'Hopefully I'll have a better chance with Adrian York.'

Price knocked on the door a few times.

A few moments, Price raised an eyebrow when he heard a few weird sounds coming from within the room. However, Price just lifted his hand up again and knocked on the door, "Adrian York?"

"Be there in a second!"

Price blinked a few times, at least time he got a response from the student he was looking for. That was a good sign, right?

Wrong. WRONG.

The door to the room opened up, and immediately Price's eyes widened at the sight that stood in the middle of the door frame. For standing in the door frame was a tall, muscular, young woman (who almost rivaled Price's height) with bronze skin and long, messy blonde hair.

But it wasn't that the fact that she was almost as tall as Price (or for the fact that she had bigger muscle than him) that bothered the Red Professor. It was for the fact that all that the muscular girl was only wearing three towels on her body, one around her waist, one draped over her shoulders (which covered her rather sizable chest) and the last one was covering her hair. The girl's tanned, but cute face just stared at Price as he spun around, his hand flown up to his face to cover his eyes. "… Can I help ya?"

"P-PUT SOME C-C-C-C-C-CLOTHES ON FIRST!" Price yelped out, keeping his eyes closed with his hands still covering them.

Oh right… I forgot that I can't come to the door only in towels. Give me a minute, will ya?"

The door closed quickly, and immediately Priced turned his head back, blinking a few times. 'Alright, I'll admit I didn't expect that reaction…'

A few moments later, the door began to open, this time allowing the girl to step out, this time dressed in a white vest that had red trim to it (Price noted that, since students who wore uniforms like that have spent more than a year in the same dormitory), black tank top and baggy black pants, she also had her long blonde hair pulled back into a tail that she had draped over her shoulder. The girl rubbed the back of her head with a blush on her face, "Sorry about that, I need to get used to the rules around here again. Summer break makes you forgetful…"

"Uh, right," Price muttered to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. "In… In any case, I'm looking for Adrian York and…"

The girl tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow at the red professor, "I prefer to be called York."

Price blinked a few times, and his jaw dropped slightly, "Y-You're Adrian York?"

"Yes," York answered with her arms crossed over her chest. "It's a very androgynous name, I realize. But you didn't come here to discuss my name, now did you? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Uh, r-r-right," Price mumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "I… I mean, my name is Rowen P-Price, you're new headmaster as well as your first class professor. And, I believe that you w-were supposed to be in m-my class this morning, but you didn't show up."

York leaned against the side of the door, her gaze aimed at Price for the most part, "Yeah, what about it? A lot of students skip their first class."

"Y-Yeah, but I…" Price gulped as he rubbed the back of his head. "B-But, some students saw you in m-my class before I got in there… And…"

"I just happened to forget something," York answered quickly, rolling her eyes. "I needed it for my next class, and since it was the first day, I figured I'd get someone else to take notes for me, and I'd pick up on the class tomorrow. I quickly left the room to get it so yeah."

Price took a deep breath and removed his glasses to leer at York, "Miss York, I'd appreciate if you'd give me a little more credit. I may be a new teacher, but I wasn't born yesterday."

"Oh, ho?" York questioned with a smirk on her face. "Where'd that come from? From what I heard from the freshmen you often tripped up on your words."

"We're not talking about me," Price answered as he tucked the glasses into his front pocket. "We're discussing the incident that occurred earlier this morning."

"Hmm?" York muttered.

"Don't feign ignorance," Price requested as he held his hand up. "According to a Ra Yellow student, you and a Miss Tenri Kujo were causing a stir with a handful of Obelisk Blues, two of which got a little closer to me than I would've preferred. Now, I came here to listen in on what you have to say so I could get your side of the story before I spoke to the Obelisk Blue students.

"And I would appreciate that you wouldn't hide the truth from me. Making a bad impression with a professor is never a good idea."

"Indeed," York snickered slightly. "But what exactly are you getting at."

"To be honest, I was a little puzzled how two Obelisk Blue Male students could be 'thrown' into me," Price answered with his arms crossed. "I had thought that the two were pushed down the steps and tripped into me. But now that I've gotten a good look at you, it's not too hard to imagine that someone of your stature could easily throw those blues."

York shook her head slightly, allowing her wild hair billow slightly. "So, what's your point?"

"I just want to hear why you did it," Price answered with his eyes closed. "You see, I've heard the details from a Ra Yellow student who was in the room, but I'd rather hear about it from someone who was actually involved in the incident. I tried to find Miss Kujo, but she wasn't in her room.

"Although, I was expecting a guy when I heard your name, especially considering this is the guys' dorm."

"There was an excess of girls in Osiris Red last semester," York explained with a smile on her face. "And there was an empty room on the guys' side of the dorm. So, I volunteered to take this room. My roommate from last year got promoted to Ra Yellow last semester, so I was left with a private room."

"I see," Price answered back. "But back to the main topic, I want to hear why you felt the need to throw a pair of students at me."

York sighed loudly as she shook her head. "I wasn't trying to do anything to hurt you sir, I promise you that. The thing is, before you came into the class, those two 'Elites' were hassling another red student – A girl with red hair that was in a pair of fiery tails. And they weren't alone, they had three other students with them.

"I learned last year that depending on what color you wear, you get treated differently, and I wasn't going to do anything about it. At least not until…"

TTTT – Back in the Classroom That Morning - TTTT

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

With her train of thoughts derailed, Tenri snapped back to reality to see that a few of the Obelisk Blue students had crowded around where she was seated. There were five in total, with two of them being girls with their eyes dead set on Tenri's form while the three guys sneered at her. Tenri tilted her head slightly, "Um… Sitting?"

"Don't be a smart ass," One of the girls scoffed, and immediately slammed her hand onto the desk that Tenri was seated at. "Can you see where you belong?"

It took a moment for Tenri to realize what the group was getting at. She sighed loudly as she rubbed the back of her head, "This already? Please, can't you get past the old clichéd duel academia prejudice? I just got here and there are no other open seats down near the front of the class."

"Not our problem," One of the Obelisk Blue males retorted. "We worked our tails off to get to the top of the food chain, and frankly, it's like getting dirt thrown in our faces."

That's when the same Obelisk Blue that just spoke snatched his hand around Tenri's arm, and pulled her from the seat, "Hey! What the hell are you trying to do?"

"Just shut up," One of the other blue students snarled, none of them realized however that a large shadow appeared behind the small pre-class event.

"Get your hands off of her," The shadow growled, immediately revealing that it was none other than York herself. "You only get one warning."

"Heh, who the hell's gonna make…" one of the male Obelisk Blues scoffed as he turned around to face who ever had spoken… And when he noticed that he was looking directly into a pair of muscular breasts, he looked up to see York's face glaring down at him, making him smaller than he was compared to the large, muscular girl. "… Me?"

"Great, more roaches appear," one of the Obelisk Blue girls sighed as she waved a hand. "Mind your own business, you brute!"

"You realize I'm a girl, right?" York snarled crossing her arms over her chest.

"Please, with a body like that, it's a crime to call yourself a girl," The same Obelisk Blue girl retorted.

Tenri raised an eyebrow at the girl who had apparently come to her rescue in this matter, if anything, she would've preferred Mustang's assistance, but she'd take what she could get. At least with this large, muscular girl now confronting the group of blues, Tenri could at least slip away before the teacher arrived.

"Listen, you overgrown Red," another of the Obelisk Blue Boys growled as he released Tenri and began to walk in front of York and immediately pushed her in the shoulder. "We don't need any more trash in this class, so why don't you just…"

The Obelisk Blue student never got to finish, for right at that moment, York had her hands on his collar and one of the other Obelisk Blue boy's. And without a word, York threw the two over the desks and towards the front of the room…

… Just as Price was walking into the room, "Good morning, Class! I apologize for being late, but I am here now so we should…"

Price would've continued with his apology and introduction, if it wasn't for the fact that when he opened his eyes, he realized that two male Obelisk Blue students flew through the air right towards him. "… Meep?"

BAM! WHAMP!

"AAAHH!"

Once again, papers flew through the air as both blue students slammed into Price, which in turn sent them all to the floor – Hard.

It was during this commotion that both Tenri and York had slipped out of the classroom, using the laughter to cover their escape.

TTTTTTTT

"… And that's what happened," York finished explaining with her head lowered slightly. "I had no intention of harming you or the two blues, but after they laid their hands on both me and that smaller red girl, I couldn't just stand by and take it."

Price didn't say a word, he just stood there with his eyes closed as he plunged deep into his thoughts. And finally, when Price opened his eyes, he spoke slowly and calmly, "I see."

"So, what are you going do?" York questioned, raising an eyebrow at Professor Price.

"According to the rules," Price stated with his sharp eyes aimed directly at York. "Violence is not tolerated at the school, and the fact that a teacher was involved, that makes things worse. Though it may have been unintentional, you still harmed two of your fellow students and a professor."

"And?" York continued.

"This academy has a zero-tolerance policy," Price answered as he reached into his pocket. "So, I should speak to the principal about having you expelled. However…"

"However?" York asked.

"Seeing as how it was for the sake of one of your peers," Price stated as he lifted up a deck of cards towards York. "I'll give you a chance to get out of this. We'll duel, and depending on the outcome, I might overlook this little incident."

"Me duel against a professor?" York muttered out loud.

"Is there a problem?" Price questioned back.

The response that Price got back however wasn't what he expected, York began to laugh loudly. "Ha! Not a problem at all! In fact, if I had to duel someone to stay here at the academy, I'd prefer it to be a professor!"

"That's what I like to hear," Price chuckled as he pocketed his cards. "So, how about you grab your duel disk and cards, so we'll duke it out?"

"Sounds good for me, Professor!" York laughed as she pushed herself from the door frame and into her room. "And if it's okay with you, I know the perfect place for us to duel."

Unbeknownst to Price and York, there was a third person who was listening in on the whole conversation. 'So, Price's dueling again? Looks like I'll have to cancel going to Mustang's room for a while.'

TTTTTTT

Time: 12:22 p.m.

The Osiris Red Dorm was situated near a cliff, safely distanced away from it in order to provide students with safety. However, at the cliff there was a small natural walkway leading to a lowered rocky edge that had the waves from the ocean crash alongside it.

It was here that both Price and York stood across from each other, only having a few between them as both of them shuffled each other's deck. Price looked around as he continued to shuffle the cards, "Huh, I didn't expect to see a place like this near the Red Dorm."

"It's almost like the Osiris Red's unofficial duel arena," York explained as she held up Price's deck to him. "If you couldn't tell, the red dorm doesn't get all the funds for all the perks that the blue and yellow dorms get. I sometimes wonder if the electricity will hold out around here."

"Hmm," Price stated as he handed York her deck back. "I see… In any case, we have other matters to deal with."

"Yeah," York chuckled as she jumped backwards, instantly landing a few feet back on the rocks. "We've got a duel to fight out!"

"I couldn't say it any better," Price said with a smirk on his face as he walked backwards to put some distance between him and York.

Back up on the cliff, Tenri watched as the two duelists snapped their decks into their duel disks, activating the two devices. She had a blanket underneath her and was laying on her slim stomach to look over the cliff, 'I'd rather hang out with Mustang this afternoon rather than dealing with this duel. But then again, I don't really have much of a choice in this matter.

'If I let this chance escape, chances are Mustang won't ever let me live it down!'

"Duel!"

Both Price and York drew the top five cards from their decks and fanned them in their hands. York smirked as she looked at the cards in her hand, "So, Prof, who goes first?" (YLP: 8000)

"You can choose," Price answered with a warm smirk on his face. "After all, I was the one who suggested this duel. I'd prefer to allow you to make the call." (PLP: 8000)

"Then I'll start with my turn!" York announced as she pulled off the top card from her deck, giving her six cards to her name. Quickly reaching into her hand, York pulled a single card from her cards and slapped it onto her duel disk. "And I'll start it with a roar, not a whisper! I summon Berserk Gorilla in attack mode!"

A loud roar echoed through the air, a large gorilla leapt off the top of the cliff and slammed into the small rocky coast in front of York. With a loud snarl, the Gorilla slammed its fists into its chest a few times (2000/1000). "And I'll set one card face down to end my turn!"

"A Berserk Gorilla?" Price questioned as he drew from the top of his deck. "That's certainly a strong start there York, and I'll say this, I don't really have a monster in my hand that can defeat it.

"But that doesn't mean I can't try – I summon Spade Bureido in attack mode!"

A large aura erupted in front of Price, forming what appeared to be a large playing card spade that sparked with energy. The energy began to cackle until it shattered like glass, and immediately a tall sleek armored figure stood in front of Price. This monster was covered head to toe in silver armor that had sharp shoulder pads and helmet that had several green spade marks on it. And strapped to the armored monster's back was a large black broad sword that had a large spade design carved into it.

The machine crossed its arms and nodded towards York (1700/1200).

"Huh, never seen something like that before," York admitted raising an eyebrow as her smirk grew a little bit. "What can that thing do?"

"At the moment, its effect is moot," Price answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "And in all honesty, I don't know what his effect even means."

"Heh, not something you wanna hear from a professor at this school," York pointed out with her arms crossed.

"It's better than lying," Price countered as he held up two cards from his hand that he immediately slid into his duel disk. "And in any case, I end my turn."

York smirked as she drew from the top of her deck, 'Setting me up aren't you, Prof? And you know that my Berserk Gorilla has to attack each turn. Well, it'd be rude to not walk into that trap after all that hard work you put into it.'

With a quick nod of the card she just drew, York threw her hand up into the air, "Berserk Gorilla! Attack his Bureido!"

The large gorilla roared loudly before it leapt through the air, its large arms thrown over is head before the raging beast slammed both of its fists into the Spade Bureido, shattering the machine into millions of parts that bounced around Price's body. (PLP: 7700)

'Huh?' York thought to herself as she watched Price fit the Spade Bureido's card into his duel disk's graveyard slot. 'He didn't activate either of his face down cards… Are they just bluffs?'

"Everything okay over there?" Price questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Heh, nothing wrong over here," York snickered as she slapped a card onto her duel disk. "I set one monster face down and end my turn."

"Not yet you don't," Price announced as he snapped his fingers, making one of the face down cards flip up, forming up into a large red jar that had a goofy looking face etched onto it while having many jewels spilling out from the top of the jar. "When you end your turn, I play my Jar of Greed, so I can draw another card from my deck."

Price quickly snapped one card from his deck, and then immediately pulled off another, giving him a fresh hand of five cards. "Now then, I think I'll start this turn with a spell card – Future Fusion!"

As Price's spell card appeared in front of him, a powerful vortex erupted over his body, making the red professor smirk as he reached for his deck, "Now, time for a lesson, since I played this spell, I can send any fusion material monsters listed on a fusion monster in my extra deck. And I've got just the three for a machine."

Price held up his three cards, revealing three copies of the same monster, however, he quickly slipped them into his graveyard slot. "And in two turns, I can summon the fusion monster that has those monsters listed as fusion components."

York said nothing as she watched Price's turn unfurl.

"And now for the summon this turn," Price announced as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "I summon Arc Mech – Sensou in attack mode!"

A powerful blue aura erupted in front of Price, immediately forming into the very same blue armored machine that had appeared on the ship only couple days ago. The machine slammed its fists together and surged with energy (2300/500) before it threw several punches and kicks through the air.

York blinked a few times at the sight of the weird machine that now stood in front of Price, 'Another weird monster I haven't seen before… Man, am I behind on the times or something?'

"Next, I'll outfit my Arc Mech with this!" Price announced as he slipped a card into his duel disk, making a large red number '7' appear on Sensou's chest (2300/500 + 700/0). "Seven Completed! Now he gains seven hundred attack points!

"All of them aimed for your Berserk Gorilla!"

The powerful blue machine began to dash over the rocky field, its arms pulled back and prepared to slam both of its fists into the Berserk Gorilla, if it wasn't for the fact that a powerful bolt of lightning crashed into the large ape, which sent the beast into a frenzy that sent Sensou back a few feet. Price lifted his duel disk up slightly, "What the?"

"Sorry Prof, but I'd rather make the most out of all my cards!" York announced as her Berserk Gorilla shattered like glass, allowing the muscular girl to pull off the top two cards from her deck. "So, thanks to my Beast Burial Ritual trap card, I can destroy my Berserk Gorilla to draw two cards from my deck. I may not be able use these two cards this turn, but hey, it's your turn, so its not really a problem."

"Indeed," Price admitted before he threw his hand forward. "But that doesn't mean that I can't take out your face down monster!"

With a mighty leap, Sensou immediately fell to the ground and slammed his metallic foot into the face down monster, shattering the card to reveal a large puffy furred hamster that seemed to jitter about before it disappeared (1100/1800).

"Thanks Prof," York snickered as she pulled a card from her deck and held it up to her eyes. "What you just flipped up was my Super-Nimble Mega Hamster!"

"… That's rather a mouthful," Price muttered under his breath.

York placed the card she had gotten from her deck onto her duel disk, and a face down monster appeared in front of her. "Yeah, but it's a useful ability, which allows me to set a level three or lower beast-type monster from my deck to my field."

"I have to say, Beasts aren't something I normally see with girls," Price admitted looking at the cards in his hand and waved his hand slightly. "Then again, from what I can see and hear, you certainly break the mold of the term 'girl'."

"I don't really care about gender," York answered as she slowly picked off the top card from her deck. "I wanted to be strong, so I got muscles. I wanted to be a duelist, so the cards came to me and here I am at duel academy. I just follow what I want to do."

"Rather a lax view of life," Price admitted with a rub of his chin. "Still, at least you have a mind of your own to follow."

"What can I say?" York questioned with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't like following the crowd. Now then back to the duel! I flip up my face down monster – Sea Koala!"

The face down monster immediately disappeared, forming into a strange small creature that had the characteristics of both an otter and a koala, albeit it looked as though the koala half was more dominant. To make things more comical, the small creature had a small clam shell that it was currently trying to break on its stomach (100/1600).

Price just stared at the monster for a few seconds before he shifted his gaze up towards York, who had a large smile on her face. "Quite an assortment of monsters you have."

"You ain't seen nuthin' yet Prof!" York announced as she slapped another card onto her duel disk. "I summon Tree Otter in attack mode!"

From the side of the cliff, another weird hybrid beast landed in front of York, this one looking like the exact opposite of the Sea Koala – another otter/koala mixture that seemed to have the body of a koala, but the head and fur of an otter! The small creature had a leafy branch in its hands and was currently munching on it (1200/100).

"Things just keep getting more and more interesting here," Price pointed out to no one in particular.

"How true that is!" York laughed as she snapped her fingers towards the Sea Koala who lifted up the clam shell over its head. "Cause now, I can activate Sea Koala's effect! Since I've got another beast out on the field, I can lower your Sensou's attack all the way to zero!"

The koala/otter quickly threw the clam shell towards the blue machine, almost creating a blinding aura that threatened to stab into the machine's body. However, Sensou quickly spun around and kicked the clam shell high into the air, sending it away (3000/500).

"Huh?" York questioned with a puzzled look on her face.

"That won't work on Sensou here," Price pointed out as Sensou seemed to puff out his metallic chest a little bit. "Ya see, Sensou's got two effects, one's his ability to normal summon him if you've got a monster out and I don't. His second ability is that his attack and defense can't be lowered by card effects."

"… Ha!" York laughed loudly as she held her sides. "Nice one Prof! I honestly didn't see that coming! Usually I can get a lot of people with this combo right here… But, don't think that just because your monster's useful effect helped out, that it'll be enough!"

Price rubbed his chin a few times as he watched York pull out another card from her hand, 'It's only been a few turns since we started this duel, but already I can tell that Miss York has skills… Which begs the question, why is she a second year red student?'

"I play the spell card – Polymerization!" York announced as the card materialized in front of her, drawing in both the Sea Koala and the Tree Otter into the vortex. "So, I'll take these two critters like here to bring out the big guns!"

The vortex began to spark until it shattered to reveal a large purple and blue furred giant of a beast, with the characteristics of a muscular koala and otter with a large tail that slammed into the rocks right next to York's body (2800/200). "Koalo-Koala!"

Price's eye twitched slightly as he looked at the weird monster before him, "Now that's something I'd expect from you…"

"He gets even better!" York snickered as she lifted up a card from her hand which was a monster card called 'King of the Beasts'. "Cause now I can play his ability! By discarding one beast from my hand, I can instantly destroy one of your monsters out on the field!"

Price's eyes widened as the powerful beast spun around and slammed its fist directly into Sensou's body, sending the powerful machine into the water, even making the blue armored mech bounce along the water's surface a few times before it disappeared.

"And I'm still not done!" York announced as she held up her duel disk, making a slot open up along the side. "I'm playing a signature card of mine – The mighty Closed Forest!"

The ground began to shake as York slipped the card into her duel disk. Price stumbled a bit before he realized that several trees were erupting from the side of the cliff, the rocky bay and even the ocean itself, encircling the two duelists as if it was a large cage. When the shaking stopped, Price looked around, "What in the world?"

"Like I said, welcome to the Closed Forest!" York introduced as the Koalo-Koala jumped up and grabbed on of the branches above it (2800/200 + 500/0). "And for each beast in my graveyard, all other monsters on my field gain one hundred attack points! And I've got five of them so far… But let me warn ya Prof, each time you destroy one of my beasts, the next one will come out even stronger!

"And while this card's out, don't bother playing any field cards you might have! This card prevents either of use from activating field spells!"

Price merely looked around and rubbed his chin at the sight around him. "Certainly an interesting field spell, that's for sure."

"Glad you approve!" York announced as she lifted her hand up into the air. "Now, how about we shave off a few of those life points of yours? Koalo-Koala! Attack Prof directly!"

The large purple furred beast flew through the air and immediately slammed its fist directly into Price's body, making the young professor fall to the rocky ground with mouth opened up, "GACK!" (PLP: 4400)

As the large beast pulled its fist back, Price slowly sat up and dusted off his red coat, "Ow… Damn, that was a good move, hard to believe you're a second year red student."

York rubbed the back of her head before she crossed her arms, "Heh, it doesn't matter what color a person wears, Prof. Raw skill is just raw skill waiting to be tempered. This red uniform is only for decoration, and doesn't show a person's true skill."

Price rubbed his chin again as he jumped to his feet, "Alright, if that's the case, then I'll have to step up my game a little bit! I play my trap card – Shock Draw! Over three thousand points of damage, and I get three cards!"

The Osiris Red Professor pulled off the top three cards from his deck and fanned them out in front of him.

"Searching for something?" York questioned as she fitted two cards into her duel disk, making them appear behind her tall Koalo-Koala, who was hanging over her field.

"Not any more," Price admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, don't keep me waitin'," York chuckled as she pumped her arm towards her chest. "Show me what ya got!"

"I'll try not to disappoint," Price stated as he pulled off another card in his hand, giving him seven cards in his hand. Looking over the group of cards, Price quickly lifted up a single card from his hand. "To start off, I'm playing the spell card Monster Reborn! So, I'll bring back a familiar face!"

A powerful blue light appeared in front of Price, revealing the sleek Sensou back on the field (2300/500), throwing a few punches through the air. Price however held up another card from his hand, "This time, he'll be outfitted with this, Pump Up!"

A powerful blue aura erupted over Sensou's body, and its metallic body began to shine even brighter with each passing second (2300/500 + 2300/0). "So, until the end phase of the turn, my monster's strength is doubled! And to add a little more power to my side of the field, I summon Quality in attack mode!"

Another robot appeared on the field, this one a large bulky white armored machine with a large shield attached to its arm (1200/1500). "Now then, Sensou attack Koalo-Koala!"

The blue armored machine dashed towards the large hybrid beast, which prompted the Koalo-Koala release the branches it clutched onto and threw a powerful punch towards Sensou. However, the quick machine leapt out of the way just as the large fist crashed into the rocks.

Sensou spun around through the air and delivered a powerful kick to the large beast, however, the purple furred monster lifted its other arm up and blocked the kick. The Koalo-Koala immediately lifted its other hand to smash the Arc Mech into the trees, but the nimble machine slammed its hands into the large fist, which pushed the blue armored machine through the air and slammed its foot right into the Koalo-Koala's face.

The large beast slammed into the ground with a loud boom and immediately shattered into million of pixels, which scattered when Sensou landed on the rocky ground.

"Although Pump Up's a powerful card," Price admitted as Sensou leapt back to his field. "Its card ruling changed since the time of the King of Games. Now whenever a player plays this card, all battle damage done by the selected monster this turn is dropped to zero.

"But that's why I have Quality out on the field! Attack York directly!"

The large white armored machine leapt over the field, its shield covered arm prepared to slam into York's body…

"Good move Prof! But not good enough!" York shouted as she pushed a button on her duel disk, making one of her face down cards flip up, revealing a Sabertooth Tiger attacking a horse. "I play Battle Instinct! Since I have no monsters and you declared a direct attack, I get to summon a beastie from my hand!

"And I choose Nimble Momonga!"

The trap card shattered, immediately allowing a large Momonga to float onto the field, hissing loudly as it raised its arms up (1000/100 + 600/0).

"And thanks to your field spell," Price muttered as the Quality stepped back. "I recall my attack."

"Is that all you can do Prof?" York questioned with her arms crossed under her breasts. "In all honesty, I expected a little more from you. You wouldn't happen to be holding back just make sure I don't get expelled, would you?"

Price smirked to himself as he thumbed the glasses in his front pocket, "… To be honest, you've sparked my curiosity. So, I've been reading you and your cards and frankly, from what I've been able to psychoanalyze about you, I think I can make a decent hypothesis concerning your actions."

"Huh?" York muttered with a large question mark over her head.

"Uh, I've been studying you ever since this duel started," Price coughed with a twinge of red on his face at having to explain himself again. "Basically, I'm trying to figure out what makes you tick."

"Ah, I get it," York laughed loudly as she smiled brightly. "So, what did your 'sci-ko-anna-lies' come up with?"

Price took a few moments to look at York with a deadpanned look before he shook his head. "Let's take a look at you actions first – You stand up to a bunch of Obelisk Blue Students who are messing with a fellow red student. You were only going for intimidation tactics until they laid a hand on you, then it was in self-defense.

"Next, let's take into consideration your dueling skills. So far, you're able to dodge attacks well as well as pull of some pretty powerful combos that could easily defeat some meta-players.

"Now, let's take into the last part – the color of your vest there. That design was made for a second year student – Before I came here, I looked up your and Tenri Kujo's records, I kept to only recent years. So I saw your prior grades from the previous years, you had high marks and were even offered several chances for dorm transfers in the last year.

"However, you declined them all, even the automatic promotion that most students are offered. And listening to your words in this duel - about your knowledge about the red dorm, a pride of the color red, as well as your confidence in your skills – I can conclude a few things about you."

York turned her gaze a little bit to the side, and rubbed her head slightly.

"Adrian York, either you say it, or I will," Price stated with his eyes narrowed slightly. "From where I stand, I can see what drives you."

"I'd like to see you try," York growled as Price held up three cards from his hand.

"If that's how you want to play it," Price answered as he slipped all three of the cards into his duel disk, making them immediately appear behind this two robotic monsters. "Then fine! I set three cards and end my turn!"

It was then that Sensou's armor began to return to its regular shade (2300/500).

"I don't know what you think you know about me," York growled as she reached for her deck. "But I would prefer if you didn't 'sci-ko-anna-lies' me and then leave me hanging."

"I just need to confirm one last thing before I speak my mind," Price answered as he lifted his hand up to his face and rested his other arm over his waist. "If I insulted you, I apologize."

"Heh, feel free to study all you like," York answered back as she looked over the cards in her hand, a smirk appearing on her face. "It's not going to help. I set one monster face down. Then I'll switch Momonga to defense mode as well. And to end my turn, I'll set one card face down."

The set cards appeared around the crouching Nimble Momonga.

"… Going defensive now?" Price questioned as he slowly drew from the top of his deck. "Fine by me, cause its at this time that I can now activate my Future Fusion's effect right now! Now, since I sent my three Quantities to the graveyard, I can summon their fusion monster!"

A powerful explosion of flames erupted from the spell card, immediately building up into a large and tall form. The flames immediately scattered to reveal a large bulky armored, man-shaped machine that stood tall amongst Price's monsters. The light gleamed off of its silver and black armor as well as the large guns that were positioned at its waist. Resting on the large machine's shoulder was a large rocket launcher that had four white missiles attached to it (2500/2400). "So, I can summon out Heavy Artillery Q-3! And now, I activate my trap card – Meteorain!"

York's eyes widened as she watched a powerful red aura cover all three of Price's monsters. "What the…?"

"I don't normally use this trap," Price announced as he slipped another card into his duel disk. "But I felt the need to do so, and next I'll play Fighting Spirit! So, by equipping it to my Quality, it gains three hundred extra attack points for each monster on your field! So far, that's two, but that'll be more than enough!"

The fiery aura around the white machine began to also pulse with golden energy, making the machine make a dramatic pose (1200/1500 + 600/0).

"And I'll have him lead the fight!" Price continued as the shield armed machine leapt through the air. "Quality! Attack Nimble Momonga! Shield Crash!"

Just as the machine was about to slam its shield into the small flying squirrel, three priestesses appeared on the field. York smirked as she lifted her hand up to the side, "Not gunna happen! I play my trap card Waboku! So your attacks…"

"Will go through!" Price roared back as he pushed a button on his duel disk. "I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit!" (PLP: 3400)

All three of the priestesses shrieked loudly as all three of them shattered like glass, their remains flying out of the way of the oncoming Quality as it slammed its shield into the Nimble Momonga, slamming it into the ground before it exploded into pixels that flew into York's body. "Gargh!" (YLP: 6300)

However as the pixels began to disappear, York stood up straight and took a deep breath. "You may have finally inflicted damage, but for destroying my Momonga, I can increase my life points by a thousand!" (YLP: 7300)

"You do have your Momonga's other ability," Price pointed out with a smirk on his face. "You could summon the other two from your deck to reinforce your field and pad your points."

'Yeah right, if I do that,' York thought to her self as she looked at the field. 'Then I'll take more damage than gain more life points. My face down monster may not the best, but it can at least take a few more attacks.'

"Just continue your turn," York replied as the Quality (1800/1500 – 300/0) leapt backwards.

Price perked his eyebrow up. "Very well, if that's what you want… Q-3! Attack her face down monster! Rocket Barrage!"

Taking aim, the large humanoid mecha turned its missile launcher at the face down monster and immediately launched one of the missiles that crashed into the face down monster.

The rocket exploded into a fiery storm that made the face down monster reveal a small cute mole with a pickaxe in its paw and a mining helmet covering its head (1000/1200 + 700/0). Miraculously, the small flower nosed mole survived the missile onslaught, unfortunately, York's life points weren't as lucky. "Gargh!" (YLP: 6000)

"Mine Mole," Price muttered to himself as he crossed his arms. "Once per turn, that beast can't be destroyed in battle. It's a handy monster in beast decks… But its effect is moot at the moment! Sensou!"

The blue fighting machine leap through the air and slammed its foot into the Mine Mole's helmet, which broke the protective gear and sent the small mole into the ground. (YLP: 4900)

'Damn,' York thought to herself as she fitted the Mine Mole's card into her duel disk's graveyard slot. 'I guess Prof isn't a professor for nothing, it was almost as if he could see what I was about to try…'

"And like that," Price stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I can see the truth."

"Huh?" York questioned.

"I can see the reason why you remain as a red student," Price answered as he snapped his right arm away from his chest and pointed towards York. "And why you chose not to advance to the Ra Yellow dorm…

"You're afraid of change, or rather, you're afraid what the change will do to you. Even if it hurts you, you'd rather not experience this change, for you think that it will cause you more pain."

York blinked a few times. "W-What?"

"Your last move revealed that to me," Price explained with a smirk on his face. "If you had chosen to use your Nimble Momonga's effect, yes, you would've taken more damage, but you'd get a buffer of a thousand points for each, and would still have a monster out on the field for use next turn.

"Tribute, or even Synchro summon if you had one of those cards, and with your Mine Mole, you would've been able to sustain less damage next turn."

"How the hell do you get that from a card game?" York questioned, taking a step back.

"You don't look at the cards themselves," Price answered with his eyes closed. "Rather you look at the person playing the cards, everyone has something that gives them away. It can be seen on a person's face, their body language, or even in the moves themselves. What it can't tell me is the reason why there is that fear, the only one who can is standing right in front of me.

"Adrian York, you can keep dodging this fear of yours, but you'll never be truly strong. You can be afraid, but you can't let that fear control you. We can keep playing this dodging game, but it won't get either of us anywhere, so please, tell me your reason."

York clenched her fists tight and turned her head away.

"YORK!" Price snapped.

The muscular girl threw her arm to the side, "You wanna know so bad? Fine! I had friends who were in the Red dorm last year, but they were all given a chance to be promoted to the next dormitory, and took it.

"I was happy for them, don't get me wrong. I was proud to be their friend when they ascended into Ra Yellow, but as time went by and as I was still climbing the ranks to get to my promotion exam, I noticed something about my so-called friends. They started avoiding me, it started slowly at first, but it began to happen more and more often.

"I got sick of it, and so I decided to confront one of my so-called friends about the matter… And she insulted me, she and a whole bunch of other Ra Yellows gained up on me and really hurt me – physically."

"Uh," Price muttered out loud.

"This was before I was this buff," York answered quickly with her arms crossed. "In any case, I was hurt… Badly, but when I told the previous red dorm professor, the guy you replaced, he only listened to the Ra Yellows and I was disregarded save for only getting my bruises covered. At first, I thought that the sooner I get to Ra Yellow, the faster I could put that mess behind me…

"But then I thought 'what if I become like that?' My friends were so nice to me when we wore the same colored uniform, but all of a sudden, they hated me. And why? Just because I wore red. I didn't want to become like that, I didn't want to lose who I was…"

"I see," Price stated with his eyes opened. "York, first, let me apologize for pushing you so hard. I didn't mean to have you recall the pain of your past, and I might not have known about this, but let me tell you this…

"If anyone ever messes with any student of mine, even if it's another student, I will judge the situation fairly, and I will listen to all sides! I won't brush off any incident!"

"Words are all fine like wine," York answered with her eyes narrowed. "But they're meaningless!"

"How right you are," Price retorted. "However, would my words be meaningless if we were standing here? After you assaulted some fellow students I could've just expelled you right off the bat, but I listened to your half of the story and even offered this duel to give you a chance to stop any punishment that would befall you…

"I'm listening to you, I'm giving you a fair shot, and I'm giving you my word – Not as a professor, but as a fellow duelist! If anyone ever harms my students, I will do whatever I can in my power to help my students!"

York blinked a few times at Price's declaration, and the seriousness that was in his eyes. She stepped back slightly from the sharp eyes aimed at her. "Prof… Price…"

"York," Price stated as he held up a card and slipped it into his duel disk, making it appear behind his three machines. "We have a duel to finish, come at me with everything you have."

"And what's that going to accomplish?" York questioned with a blink of her eyes.

"I told you that this duel would determine your fate at the academy," Price answered back as all three of his machines struck dramatic poses. "For now, it's your own hands that'll determine your fate. You can surrender right now and remain as you are – a weakling who's falsifying her comfort zone…

"Or you can fight! Become truly strong! And break this façade!"

York lowered her gaze slightly.

"You say you're strong," Price added with his arms crossed. "But if you cling to this façade, then you'll be nothing more than the same person who was hurt and you'll continue to be hurt in the same manner! Prove me wrong! Prove that you are strong!"

York lifted her head up and smirked, "You wanna see strength? Fine! I'll show you just how strong I truly am!"

Immediately, York pulled off the top card from her deck. However, there seemed to be something to this duel as a powerful burst of air stretched over the rocky ground in front of Price making him lift his arm up. 'What the?'

And from her perch, Tenri raised an eyebrow as she eyed York's body, "Hmm… Looks like I found something that'll really get Mustang's attention."

York turned the card for her eyes to see, and a smile appeared on her face, 'I drew you! My favorite card!'

"Alright Prof," York announced as she slapped a card onto her duel disk. "You wanted to see my best, well, you're about to get it! I summon my deck's star and my favorite monster in this entire game!"

A could of large black smoke popped in front of York, immediately scattered to reveal a small furry creature that had a large green, yet cute face with two yellow and black eyes. The creature landed on the rocky ground and yawned loudly (100/100 + 800/0). "Moja!"

"Moja?" Price muttered under his breath. 'If I recall, its effect activates when it's destroyed in battle…'

A smile grew on York's face at the sight of the odd snoozing creature in front of her. "I don't know why, but this little guy here just makes me feel good whenever I see him… In any case, it's at this point that I'll be taking back this duel! Because I have Moja out on the field, I can activate the effect of a monster in my graveyard…

"… So my little Moja is about to grow up big and strong!"

The Moja suddenly woke up, its entire body of black fur began to ripple. And with a loud roar, the Moja created four bone like legs to shoot out of its body and slam into the rocky earth. The Moja's body began to grow larger and larger with each passing second until it towered over the field, looking down on the three monsters on Price's field with a now horrifying skull-like face with two horns protruding from its head (2500/800 + 800/0).

The large beast roared loudly as all three of the machines on Price's field stepped back, "The King of the Beasts! Now, attack his Sensou!"

The powerful beast roared into action, immediately stomping over the field and immediately tackled into the blue armored Arc Mech, shattering the machine upon impact and sending the remains flying over Price's body. "URK!" (PLP: 2400)

"But I'm not done!" York announced as she pushed a button on her duel disk, allowing a ghostly aura to appear over her King of the Beasts. "I now play my trap card – Beast Soul Swap! So, he comes right back to my hand!"

All at once, the mighty titan of power disappeared, however, York simply held up the card in her hand and quickly slapped it back onto her duel disk, "But he's not staying there for too long! Cause thanks to my trap, I can summon him right back onto the field!"

York slapped the card onto her duel disk, allowing the large King of the Beasts to reappear on the field, roaring loudly (2500/800 + 800/0). "Now, smash Q-3!"

Once again, the large beast charged over the field and crashed into the heavily armed robot, crushing it under its massive weight. (PLP: 1600)

"Not bad," Price admitted as he lowered his duel disk. "Certainly fierce."

"Thanks, now to seal the deal," York announced as she slipped one of the last few cards in her hand into her duel disk. "One set card. Turn end!"

Price slowly drew from the top of his deck and nodded, "I'll end my turn by simply having my Quality move to defense position."

The large white armored robot immediately crouched down, lifting its shield up to cover itself (1500/1500). "And that's all I can do."

York smirked as she drew her next card and immediately slapped the card onto her duel disk, "And I'll just keep upping the ante! I summon Des Wombat in attack mode!"

Leaping from the trees of the Closed Forest, a large furry wombat appeared in front of the muscular girl. As soon as it landed on the ground, it began to scratch its ears with its hind leg (1600/300 + 800/0).

"Now, Des Wombat!" York announced as the large wombat jumped into the air and slammed into the Quality, however, the machine didn't break but the golden aura around its body did (1200/1500).

"Thanks to Fighting Spirit," Price explained as he fitted the card into his graveyard. "My machine doesn't get destroyed in battle, it does."

"True, but I've got my King of the Beasts out!" York roared as her large black furred beast roared alongside her. "And he'll be the one crushing your machine! King of the Beasts!"

The powerful beast roared loudly and leapt into the air, immediately fell to the ground to crush the large machine beneath it.

However, as the King of the Beasts began to walk away from the remains of the machine, three silver hands erupted from the ground. Price smirked as he held up three cards from his graveyard and slid them across his duel disk, "And I have to thank that big beastie for activating Quality's effect, now I can special summon as many Quantity cards from my graveyard as possible!

"And the fusion components for Q-3 were all three Quantities! So I can summon all three of them!"

Three small robots appeared in front Price, each of them a more simplified version of the Quality (500/500 x3).

"I was wondering what that thing was made of," York admitted as she crossed her arms. "In any case, I end my turn!"

Price slowly drew from his deck, and nodded at the cards he drew. "Well, York, I have to say, you've really impressed me. If there wasn't a red vest on ya, I'd have mistaken you for a duelist from a higher dorm with some of the moves that you pulled. And for that, I'd tip my hat to you if I had a hat on."

"Heh, why are you talking like this is the end?" York laughed with her arms crossed.

"Cause it is!" Price announced as he slapped a card onto his duel disk. "First, I summon Kamakiri Blades in attack mode!"

A green light appeared in front of Price, immediately shattering to unleash the green armored praying mantis machine appear in front of him (1400/800). "Next, I'll activate the spell card – Power Bond!"

"Power Bond!" York yelped.

And from the cliff, Tenri's eyes widened when she saw all three of the Quantities leap up into the air, their bodies starting to come apart and reassemble themselves into a familiar powerful machine. 'He runs a card like that in his deck! He must be sure of himself!'

As the parts finally finished coming together, a second Heavy Artillery – Q3 crashed onto the field, this time with a second rocket launcher that was strapped to its other shoulder (2500/2400 + 2500/0). "And now, his attack is doubled thanks to Power Bond's effect!"

"It's a powerful monster," York stated as she pushed a button on her duel disk. "Too bad I can't let you use him! I play my trap card, Threatening Roar!"

The King of the Beasts immediately unleashed a powerful roar that began to shake the entire rocky area. "So, you don't get a battle phase this turn! And the moment you end your turn, you'll take enough damage to allow me to win this…"

Before York could continue, the King of the Beasts' roar was immediately silenced, and instead the powerful beast was actually starting to cower slightly. "What the?"

"Royal Decree," Price explained as his forgotten face down card had flipped up, creating a powerful red barrier that shattered York's trap card. "I chained it to your Threatening Roar, so your trap card's effect is negated! So I can continue my assault!

"But before that, I'll use the union effect of my Kamakiri Blades and equip it to Q-3! So now, not only does he gain three hundred more attack points, but he'll gain a few more weapons to his already impressive collection!"

The praying mantis began to come apart and then merged with Q-3's body, adding a pair of green blades to the machine's arms (5000/2400 + 300/0). "And now, attack King of the Beasts!"

Taking aim with one of the rocket launchers, Q-3 fired several missiles through the air and crashed into the large black furred beast's body, shattering the monster's body. (YLP: 2900)

York stumbled slightly at the sight of her powerful beast being destroyed so easily, and even the Des Wombat staggered a little bit as well (2400/300 + 100/0). "And now, thanks to the Kamakiri Blades, Q-3 can attack once more!"

Taking aim once again, Q-3 fired off the missiles and instantly destroyed the Des Wombat which sent a powerful surge of fire that racked over York's body, which made her stumble backwards. "GARGH!" (YLP: 100)

York took a deep breath as she began to recompose herself, but looked worryingly at Price who was fingering one of the last cards in his hand. 'That card… I may have only one hundred points left, but that card, it might… It might just…'

"I end my turn," Price announced as several sparks of energy began to erupt around his body. "Of course, since I played Power Bond, I now take damage equal to the original attack of my monster.

"Therefore, I lose." (PLP: 0)

"Huh?" York questioned.

"Huh?" Tenri yelped.

Slowly the holograms began to disappear, which allowed Price to walk towards York with a smile on his face as he reached for his glasses, "Well now… Congratulations Miss York."

Price placed his glasses on his face, and smiled slightly at York, "That was an excellent duel, and I look to see several more while you're still a student here."

When Price opened his eyes, it was revealed that his sharp, serious eyes had returned to their calm and serene state. "S-So, please s-stay in class t-t-tomorrow, if that's n-not too much trouble."

"W-Wait a second," York stuttered as she stomped forward slightly. "Why did you take that damage! You could've done something to stop that, couldn't you?"

"S-Sorry, but I didn't," Price chuckled sheepishly as he staggered back slightly. "And as m-much as I would like t-to stay and c-chat, but I have a f-few matters to deal with and… Have a n-nice day!"

And just like that, Price dashed off towards the rocky stairwell that would lead him back to the top of the cliff, unaware that he had dropped a card from his hand in the process. York blinked a few times in confusion at the professor's weird transition and slowly lifted up the card that Price dropped. "This is…"

All the while, Tenri slowly began to stand up and dust the wrinkles out of her uniform. "Hmm, how interesting. It looks like we've got another potential member to Mustang's little club. I wonder how she managed to get under the radar, she's a second year actually."

As Tenri turned to walk back to the dorm, a small, transparent flame appeared around her body, twisting around her frame until it just disappeared barely five seconds later.

TTTTTTTT

The next morning…

Unlike the previous morning, Price wasn't late to his class, in fact he was actually quite early. The downside to this was that he was extremely tired, and showcased it by the dark marks under his eyes and his sluggish movements. "Ugh…"

At this point, some people could've almost mistaken the red professor as nothing more than a zombie. 'I spent most of the night trying to convince Hund to overlook the incident… After all, it turned out those Obelisk Blues made complaints, s-so I had explain to H-Hund what happened…

'Took until the early hours of the morning. And Hund's allowed to sleep in since his classes are in the afternoon.'

Price rounded the corner slowly, and was on the final stretch of his classroom, his footsteps echoing through the near emptied hallway. But he noticed that there was someone standing out of his classroom, making him stop when he realized who it was in front of his classroom.

It's hard not to miss a tanned, muscular girl who rivaled the red professor in height.

She seemed to notice him as well and walked up to Price, her arms crossed at the tired professor. "Good Morning, Professor Price."

"Yes, it's a good…" Price yawned loudly. "Morning, Miss York… C-Can I help you w-w-with something?"

"Yeah, after our duel yesterday," York answered as she uncrossed her arms, holding up a single duel monster card towards Price. "You dropped this."

Price blinked a few times when he realized that the card he had dropped was a quick-play spell card called De-Fusion. "Oh… T-Thank you."

York tossed the card to Price who gingerly caught the card in his hand, smiling bashfully as York smirked at him. "Naw… Thank you."

And with that, York walked into the classroom, with Price watching as the muscular teenaged girl disappeared into the classroom.

A smile on his face, Price fitted the card in his front pocket and slowly began to head into his classroom, this time hoping that he wouldn't be assaulted by thrown students.

TBC

TTTTTT

Card Stats

Koalo Koala / Earth / LV. 6 / ATK: 2800 / DEF: 200 / Beast/Fusion/Effect: [Sea Koala + Tree Otter] You can send 1 Beast-Type monster from your hand to the graveyard to destroy one monster your opponent controls.

Description: a large, overly muscular, blue furred, koala/otter monster that stood on its hind legs with a large otter like tail

This is a Japanese Promo card that has yet to reach the shores of America.

Pump Up / Normal Spell / Effect: Select 1 face-up monster on the field. Double it's ATK until the End Phase. All Battle Damage done by the selected monster during this turn is lowered to 0.

Image: A large dark furred horned Kuriboh growing larger with each passing second

This card was used by Yami Yugi in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime. However, in order to make this card more fair, I edited this card slightly.

Beast Burial Ritual / Normal Trap / Effect: Destroy 1 Beast-type monster you control and draw 2 cards. Cards drawn by this effect cannot be used this turn.

Image: A large stone alter being struck with a large amount of light

This card was used in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

Quality / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1500 / Machine/Effect: When this card is destroyed in battle, special summon as many 'Quantity' from your graveyard as possible.
Description: A large white armored robot armed with a laser cannon and shield
This card was used by Reggie in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Manga.

Spade Bureido / Earth / LV. 4 / ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1200 / Machine/Effect: ?

Description: A silver armored machine that has sharp shoulder pads and helmet that had several green spade marks on it. And strapped to the armored monster's back was a large black broad sword that had a large spade design carved into it.

Heavy Artillery Q-3 / Earth / LV. 7 / ATK: 2500 / DEF: 2400 / Machine/Fusion/Effect: [Quantity + Quantity + Quantity] This card cannot be special summoned except by Fusion Summon. When this card would be destroyed by a card effect, you may remove one 'Quantity' from your graveyard to negate this card's destruction.
Description: a large bulky armored, man-shaped machine, its armor silver and black. All over the machine's body were several cannons, machine guns and heavy weapons

TTTTTTT

So, what's a Duel Spirit?

You'd be surprised at what students can do.

So, why does she do this?

Father…

The abandoned dorm…

WAHAHAHA!

You foolish mortal…

What in the world are you?

H… Help me…

I will not go back so easily!

For messing with my student's feelings

I will not forgive you!

Next time:

Draw 5

Blues, Abandoned Dorm and Spirits