The Pacific Duel Academy…

Each year we get a set amount of students.

Some with talent…

Others with brains…

Many people fear that these newcomers will take their place…I know of two certain Obelisk Blues who are the exact definition of that fear.

As for me, I usually look forward to the new students, brings new challenges to this school.

It gets quite boring when you are the top duelist in the academy…

…people either love the earth you walk on…

…or they fear you for the fact that you can probably crush them easily.

I've faced a few interesting duelists during my first and second year here at the academy. Yet only there were a few that were truly memorable to me. First, there was the former Kaiser; his powerful Colossi cards wiped me out in no time at all.

…Of course, that was before I had my real deck.

Then, there was that shorty with his Alchemy cards. He was skilled, but I was more interested in his cute younger sister…who ironically was taller than her older brother was.

Next was the match that got to where I am today…the Kaiser duel last year. I managed to beat the so-called Dark World Prince. His strategy was unique, but I still managed to win with a 'Die Hard' attitude.

Now, I see quite a few challengers in this year's new students…

I've actually noted two in particular…

One is the number one rookie this year, using a deck of Clay and Kaisers…

The other…uh…I'm kind of a loss of words for this one…I'd say maybe a master of the Ninjitsu arts.

Wait a moment, I haven't really introduced myself and why I'm telling you this…

My name is Mustang! And my goal is to become top duelist in the pro leagues! I plan on changing it for the better of the duelists! However, for that to happen I need to face many different people and strategies!

Then and only then when I become the top duelist, I will make my dream come true! So look out duelists of the academy...

HERE COMES ME!

/- /-/-/-/ -/-/- /--/- /

Chapter 8: A Die Hard Kaiser

A Match to Remember!

/-/- /- -/-/-/-- /- /-/- /

From the top of the Obelisk Blue dorm stood Mustang with a tight grasp on a deck of cards, his overcoat tail and scarf flowed wildly in the air as he gazed at the morning sun.

"Truly is a grand day…"

Breathing in deeply, Mustang looked towards the ground seeing a few duelists dueling with a few onlookers on the side. "Truly is a grand day…to duel in the sun."

After slipping his deck into his overcoat pocket, Mustang walked over to the door that led to the inside of the dorm. Thoughts rushed through his head as he opened the door and walked through. "I wonder what other duelists do on a morning this beautiful."

/- -/ -/- /-//-/- -/-/

"Dang it Garu!" Zeff shouted trying to drown out the loud snoring. Rox was sleeping under a pillow while Zeff tried to study. "I've got to at least try to study."

All of a sudden, the snoring stopped. Zeff sighed in relief before he saw Garu jump from his bunk and land on the ground easily. "Morning Zeff! I slept well!"

"More than others I guess…" Zeff just turned back to his book, trying to study while Garu grabbed his uniform and walked into the restroom.

A few minutes later, Garu emerged fully dressed while his hair spiked out wildly as usual. "So what's going on?"

"Studying for the exam…it wouldn't kill you to study a little bit," Zeff replied not looking up from his book. "Remember what Satoshi said? These exams determine if we get to the next dorm level. For us that makes us at the Ra Yellow…but there have been a few people who have dropped dorms."

"Right, I'll study…after I have breakfast!" Garu announced as he walked out of the room. Rox yelped loudly get Zeff to turn towards him.

"I guess you need some food in your belly too," Zeff laughed.

/ -/ -/ -/-/-/-/- /

Walking on the island, Mustang looked at all of the students…well, actually he was more focused on the girl students. "I just love a walk in nature…the views are so beautiful… 'If you get my drift.'"

"I see you haven't really changed over the summer…except for the new uniform Mustang."

With a great smile, Mustang turned around to see Ami standing behind him. A small blush crept on his face. "Ah yes, Ami Sonryu! It is quite nice to see you again. The Ra Yellow uniform looks great on you!"

A small white haired Obelisk Blue sighed loudly as he looked at his sister. "Ami how many times did I have to tell you not to talk to this guy?"

Mustang looked down at the smaller duelist and raised his eyebrow. "Oh Cain…I didn't see you next to Ami. You've certainly gotten smaller."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GRAIN OF SAND YOU CAN EVEN SEE WITHOUT A MICROSCOPE!"

Ami held her forehead, and sighed loudly. "Oni-chan he didn't say anything like that…"

Cain breathed in deeply, before he managed to get control of his anger. "Okay… whatever, anyway, what's new?"

"Well, Vic's up to his usual tricks," Mustang stated scratching his neck. "And there's quite a buzz about that number one rookie, and Vic's been trying to get rid off him and another."

"Vergil right?" Ami asked as Mustang smiled.

"You better believe it my dear Ami…" Mustang said in a smooth voice taking hold of Ami's hand. Mustang didn't notice that Cain was clenching his fist.

WHAM!

Cain stood over a knocked out Mustang with his fist clenched tight. "Don't be so full of yourself!"

WHAM!

Ami sighed over the KO'd Cain on the ground. "Oni-chan, please remember what happens when you hit someone in front of me."

A few seconds later, Cain and Mustang stood up rubbing the new bruises, they each had. "In any case, I'm going to try to figure out what is making Vic try so hard against a Slifer Red student."

"I thought that Vergil guy was in Obelisk Blue?" Cain asked with a confused look in his eyes.

With a bright smile, Mustang wagged his right index finger. "He is, but Vic's also worried about another student who happens to be in Slifer Red."

"And who might that be?" Ami asked as Vergil pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket.

"Let's see…" Mustang muttered looking at the paper. "Ah yeah, it's the one guy who defeated Professor Satoshi's true deck at the entrance exams. I think his name is Garu Honzou."

Cain got a sly look as he poked his elbow in Ami's stomach. "I guess your crush is quite the talk of the academy, eh Ami?"

A few seconds later…

WHAM!

Cain moaned as a second bruise joined his first as he sprawled his arms and legs on the ground. Ami sighed with a slight blush over his face. "Cain please refrain from doing that…"

Mustang pulled Cain up back onto his feet. "Alright then…Actually Cain I'd like to ask a favor from you…"

"Get me a couple of bandages and you got a deal…"

/-/- /- -/ --/-/-/-/- /-/-/-/

"Ah now that was a great breakfast!" Garu sighed loudly putting down his bowl. "Nothing like Ramen noodles for breakfast!"

"I swear you've got ramen on the brain…" Zeff sighed while feeding Rox some meat. "But then again, with that down you might as well study for the exam, you've got a few days."

With a loud sigh, Garu lowered his head. "Okay, so any clue on what's on the exam?"

"I can be some help…"

Cain and Zeff turned towards the side of the table to see Fortanu standing at the end holding onto multiple red booklets. "…or to be more specific these booklets can."

Fortanu tossed two of the books on the table; Garu quickly grabbed the book and scanned the first page. "So what exactly will this do?"

"These are the Slifer Red exam booklets, I pass them out to each Slifer Red on the first day of the three study days," Fortanu explained as he lifted the books into the air. "You see, since the Slifer Red students need some help to advance, I prepare them with practice questions.

"As well as those questions, I included some notes on some of the essay questions that may or may not appear on the exam. As for the field exam, I can't really help you there so I'm a little sorry about that. Now then, do you two have any idea where your roommate Yae is? I have to give her one of these."

Garu looked up from the booklet and his eyes filled up with shock. "Uh, no we haven't, but why don't you leave one with us and we'll give it to her if we see her."

Placing another booklet on the table, Fortanu began to walk away. "Very well, now then I wish you luck in your studies."

Grabbing the two booklets, Garu quickly jumped from his seat and ran towards the door. "See ya later Zeff! I'm off to try to find Yae!"

Shrugging it off, Zeff just watched Garu disappear behind the doors, and then turned towards his study booklet. "Okay…I'm just going to study then."

/--/ -/-/--/-/--/-/

"So Seika appeared…I thought I saw her," Takashi stated as he stretched his arms. "Truly is a good day for relaxing in a tree."

"Takashi, please try to stay ahead of the game," Yae sighed looking through a yellow booklet. "So…this is the Ra Yellow study guide?"

"Yeah, so what are we going to do?" asked Takashi looking left and right near the forest trees they were in. "If Garu finds you again, he'll more than likely try to get an explanation. And he'll more than likely use the Ninjitsu skills he's got to do so."

"I know that…but there has to be something that we can do to prevent that from happening…" Yae stated looking up from the booklet.

Snapping his fingers, Takashi's smile brightened up. "I've got an idea…there is that one Ninjitsu, remember the transformation jets?"

"Yeah, but I kind of doubt that I could maintain it for a while," Yae stated as Takashi rubbed his chin.

"Well maybe, it would be better if you were just come out with it?" Takashi offered before Yae pushed him out of the tree. "It was just a suggestion!"

With a loud crash, Takashi slowly stood up rubbing his head. "Dang it Yae…"

"I found him!"

Takashi turned his head to see Iruka pointing towards him. A few seconds later, the rest of the T-Team ran next to Iruka and started to run towards Takashi. Unfortunately for Takashi did not manage to get up fast enough and was pulled away.

Yae just sweat dropped at Takashi being pulled away. "Okay…that was truly weird."

/-/ -/ -/-/- /--/ -/-/- /-/-/-/

A few hours later…

"Dang it…after all of that searching nothing," Garu sighed as he reached the Slifer Red Dorm. "At least I managed to get back in time for lunch!"

As soon as Garu entered the Slifer Red cafeteria, he spotted Fortanu sitting at the door. "Hey Professor Fortanu!"

"Ah Garu, about time you got here," Fortanu stated as he stood up. "You have some guests waiting for you in your room. I think Zeff is talking to them currently."

"Guests? I don't really know that many people," Garu said with a confused tone. "Any idea who they are?"

"Well, one of them is quite famous around here with some of the older students and higher level students, he said he had something to talk to you about," Fortanu explained as walked over to the kitchen. "Now then, you mustn't keep them waiting."

"Dang it…and I was looking forward to lunch," Garu sighed as he weakly stepped out of the cafeteria.

"Lunch will be here after you talk to your guests!" Fortanu shouted as the doors closed. "Sides, someone needs to eat the ramen noodles we've got here."

After reaching his dorm room door, Garu quickly twisted open the door.

"…and then they made me their chief," Zeff laughed as Garu opened the door.

Mustang and Ami blinked at the end of Zeff's tale, Rox as lying next to Ami. Mustang coughed not noticing Garu. "Well, that was quite the tale Zeff…"

Ami sweat dropped as she scratched Rox behind the ears. "Yeah that was…interesting."

"Hello?" Garu greeted as everyone in the room turned towards him. "I take it you're my guests?"

"Hey Garu!" Ami greeted as Garu rubbed the back of his head. "It's nice to see you again."

"Wow…I haven't seen you in a while Ami…" Garu chuckled with a light blush on his face, his attention then turned towards Mustang. "…And who the world are you?"

Mustang stepped up from his seat and offered his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mustang…"

"Mustang? Is that your first or last name?" Garu asked shaking Mustang's hand.

"I don't like people to know that…" Mustang replied as he took his hand back. "I am here to ask you a few things…I hope you don't mind."

"Uh, sure, why not," Garu answered as he sat on the ground.

"Hope you don't mind me and Rox staying here," Zeff stated as he laid down on his bed. "Cause we're not leaving…"

"Didn't expect you to," Mustang sighed as he sat back down and stared at Garu. "Okay let's get started then. Garu…were you challenged by a mysterious duelist in the past?"

"Yeah, but when I reached the area, the guy I dueled wasn't the guy who originally challenged me," Garu answered as Mustang raised an eyebrow. "The guy who I faced was that guy, Vergil Redgrave."

Mustang's expression changed at the name, from an intrigued look to a surprised look. "Really…you faced the number one rookie?"

Garu's eyes widened at the news. "He was number one!"

Mustang laughed to himself as he threw his hair back. "No, he's the number one first year here at the academy…the definite number one duelist is someone else."

"Okay…anyway, you got some other questions?" Garu asked as Mustang stood up.

"Just two more…" Mustang answered. "Is it true that when you face professor Satoshi that you really didn't know how to work a duel disk, let alone turn it on?"

Lowering his head, Garu sighed loudly. "Well yeah, I guess so… I mean, I'm kind of technically impaired."

"I see…then for the final question…" Mustang started as he lifted his left arm revealing a silver duel disk with a deck in the slot. "Would you care for a duel against me? It'll just be for fun."

Ami's gazed widened at Mustang as Garu jumped to his feet. "He plans on facing Garu?"

Slapping his fist to his palm, Garu smirked. "Sure why not? I've wanted to get another crack you Obelisk Blues for a while..."

"Don't bite off more than you can chew Garu…" Zeff warned as he crawled from his bed. "But it'll be fun to watch at least."

"Are you sure you want to do this Mustang?" Ami asked as Mustang smiled.

"Of course! I simply offered a challenge to Garu, and he accepted!" Mustang announced loudly scarring Ami, Garu, Zeff and Rox. "And a duelist must duel in order to become strong! It is a key motive!"

A large drop of sweat appeared on Garu's forehead as he quickly put his duel disk on. "That's creepy…but, where do you want to duel?"

Turning his head, Mustang smiled brightly. "How about behind this dorm? It's a beautiful afternoon and we've got plenty of time to spare before dinner."

"You got it!" Garu announced.

/ - /- -/-/- --/-//

Mustang and Garu stood across from each other, their duel disks humming to life. Ami, Zeff and Rox watched form the dorms back wall. The sea breeze filled the air as the waves crashed onto the beach.

Zeff leaned to Ami and whispered. "So tell me…how good is this Mustang?"

Ami gulped before she put her hand to Zeff's ear. "He's actually the Kaiser of this school…the top duelist."

Zeff and Rox look shocked as they turned to see Garu and Mustang draw their cards. "Not good at all…"

"DUEL!"

Snapping his sixth card, Mustang smiled at his hand. "Alright, I'll start this duel out easy…I summon Die Hard Lancer (1800/1200) in attack mode!"

From the sand in front of Mustang, materialized a young handsome man with spiky black hair, with a white shirt hung loosely over his skinny body, and his black pants were extremely baggy. A long red scarf is around his neck. In addition, a red clothed lance is in his hands. Smiling a bright smile, the warrior lifted his lance onto his shoulder.

"Die Hard?" Garu question as Mustang took another card from his hand.

"Tenacious, stubborn, never giving up, the many words that my strategies revolve around, like this card!" Mustang announced while a spell card appeared before him displaying a silver haired man wearing a blue cloak trying to talk to a pretty girl only to get slapped across the face. "Say hello to the continuous spell card, Die Hard Persistence!"

"And what the heck does that do?" Garu asked as Mustang smiled.

"You'll just have to wait to find out," Mustang replied as he looked over his hand. "Since I summoned this turn, I think I'll end my turn."

With a quick snap off the top card of his deck, Garu smirked and slapped another card onto his disk. "Last time said that to me, I lost the duel. So I'm not taking any chances! I summon Ryu – Kitsune Ninja (1400/900)!"

Landing onto the sandy ground, the blue haired ninja appeared and lifted his kitsune towards the Die Hard Lancer. Garu took another card from his hand and slid it into his duel disk. "But next I'll play the equip spell Fuhma Shuriken! This increases my Ninja by 700 attack points! (2100/900)"

Mustang could only smile at the sight of Ryu grabbing multiple shuriken that appeared in the air before him. "Interesting, but you should know that it takes more than power to win a duel…"

"True! But to win the first battle that's good for a start! So Ryu, attack the Die Hard Lancer!" Garu announced as Ryu threw the three shuriken towards the lancer.

Seeing the multiple shuriken coming, Lancer lifted his lance and blocked all three of the ninja tools with quick movements. However, while doing so, he didn't notice that Ryu had appeared behind him and whacked the Lancer directly in the back of the head sending him to the ground.

However, instead of shattering into pixels, the Die Hard Lancer turned into an orb of light and flew back onto his card onto Mustang's duel disk. Mustang quickly took the card and shuffled it into his deck and quickly drew the top card from his deck. Garu had a flashing question mark over his head. "…What in the world was up with that?"

With a big smile, Mustang gestured towards his Die Hard Persistence that was glowing with a bright blue aura. "Its all thanks to my persistence…you see, when a monster is destroyed as a result of battle with 'Die Hard' in its name, instead of being sent to the graveyard, its shuffled back into my deck and I get a new card to replace it." (MLP: 3700)

"That's a unique strategy," Garu stated taking another card from his hand and sliding it into his duel disk. "But my strategy is also unique! So I'll end my turn with a card face down."

"The strategy works for whoever makes it, like mine does," Mustang stated drawing his card calmly. "And here's a good card to describe my strategy! I activate the spell card Die Hard Drama!"

As the spell card began to appear in front of Mustang, a large picture that had the Die Hard Lancer comforting a beautiful young woman crying in his arms. "This spell allows me to summon two monsters this turn as long as they have Die Hard in their names. So let's bring out a new player in this game! I first summon Die Hard Boarder (1600/800) in attack mode!"

The Die Hard Drama card glowed a light blue as the waves seemed to swell at the beach. From the waves, jumped a young teenager who managed to land on the sand without any trouble. His wild icy blue hair flowed through the air and was held up with a white and black headband. The baggy dark blue jacket that covered up his upper body flowed over a pair of black shorts that reach his shins. At his feet was a light blue snowboard that seems to make ice appear underneath it.

But Mustang wasn't done yet, he slapped another card onto his duel disk and the sand began to fly up. "Next up is the rugged yet cool, Die Hard Martial Artist (1200/1000)!"

When the sand died down, a white haired teenaged man with weird markings over his face appeared with a huge smirk. His tight white shirt exposed his chiseled chest, while two bracers covered his fists; the youth also has bracers on his shins connected to his black pants. At the sight of the Die Hard Boarder, he gave his comrade a thumbs up.

"Neither of them can take on my monster," Garu pointed out as Boarder smirk became wider. "And even if they could, he can't be destroyed as a result of battle."

"I know a little bit about your ninja, and my attacks this turn aren't for generally him," Mustang stated as his Boarder smirked widely. "You see, my Boarder can attack you directly! So go with clean ice slammer!"

Garu couldn't believe his eyes, as the Die Hard Boarder jumped into the air a long stream of ice appeared before the board and the Boarder began to skid across it towards Garu.

Lifting his arm over his face down card, Garu caused a small aura appeared over Ryu as he performed multiple hand signs before slamming his hands into the ground. Then all of a sudden, the sand erupted multiple dogs pouncing towards the Boarder. "Nice try Mustang! But I activate my trap card Ninjitsu Art – Fanged Vengeance! So your boarder will have to deal with my dogs!"

But, just as the dogs were about to sink their fangs into the Die Hard Boarder, the young teen spun around extremely fast causing a powerful blizzard to freeze the dogs in their place. Garu's jaw just dropped as the frozen dogs shattered as did his trap card.

Mustang smiled brightly as his Boarder began to continue his attack towards Garu. "Nice try Garu, but in addition being able to attack directly, my Boarder can negate and destroy one spell or trap card that targets him by simply cutting his attack points in half for as long as he's on the field! (800/800)"

"This will probably hurt…" Zeff sighed before Garu received the icy snowboard to the chin sending him to the ground. (GLP: 3200)

As soon as the Die Hard Boarder landed on the sand once more, Garu jumped to his feet. "Cheap move…"

"Yet I'm not done, next I'll activate my Martial Artist's effect! All I have to do is discard one card from my hand, and I can double his attack points for one turn!" Mustang announced discarding one card from his hand into his graveyard slot. However, the card immediately shot back out into Mustang's hand.

"However, the card that I discarded was Die Hard Trickster (1500/1500) and when he's sent to the graveyard, I can immediately shuffle him back to the deck and draw one new card.

Mustang slid the card back into his deck…

…shuffled…

…and drew a new card…

"Next I hope you didn't forget about the reason why I discarded…now my Die Hard Martial Artist! Pump yourself up and attack his ninja!"

Breathing in and out, the Die Hard Martial Artist began to move his arms in a circular motion slowly and closed his eyes. Then as soon as he opened his eyes, his muscles began to bulge and increase in power. (2400/1000)

Running as fast as he could, the Martial Artist jumped into the air and slammed his heel into Ryu's jaw sending the ninja to fly back into Garu sending them both to the ground. (GLP: 2900)

"I think that's enough damage for now, so I'll just end my turn with a face down card," Mustang announced as the holographic card back. "So now…I'd like to see why Vic is trying to get rid of this kid…though I'll admit this, he's got spirit."

"Come on Garu! Show him what you can do!" Zeff cheered as Rox barked loudly.

With a smile, Garu drew his next card. "Right! So this turn, I'll…"

Looking at his hand, Garu's smile grew. Then with a quick slap onto his duel disk, the sand in front of Garu began to spin rapidly. "…Summon Ninja Swordmaster Masamune (1600/1000)!"

From the swirling sand emerged a ninja with a huge sword hanging off his back, the sand blew in his wild raven colored hair that reached past his dark green ninja suit covered in rips and tears. Grasping his powerful weapon, Masamune glared at both of the Die Hard monsters.

"Interesting…" Mustang thought at the sight of the monster. "I may not know all about ninja monsters, but I know enough about them to hear about this one. If I cause his destruction, he'll ruin my strategy…maybe this kid is a threat, at least in Vic's eyes."

"Next I'll play a card face down," Garu announced as the face down card appeared behind his ninjas. "Then I'll, have Masamune attack your Die Hard Boarder! Demon Ninja Slash!"

Disappearing into the sand, Masamune smirked brightly.

Confused as to where his opponent was coming from, the Die Hard Boarder looked left and right. All of a sudden, the sand behind the Boarder exploded up.

The Boarder looked backwards and tried to lift his snowboard in defense…

But it was too late.

Masamune's blade slashed right through Boarder's back, but instead of shattering into pixels, he formed into an orb of light and returned to Mustang's deck. "Remember Garu…I still have my Die Hard Persistence out. So I get to shuffle my Boarder back and draw a new card." (MLP: 2900)

With a loud sigh, Garu glared at the Martial Artist who looked ready for a counter attack. "That'll just keep going till I destroy that spell card. And I'm not going to attack that other Die Hard monster cause there's something about it that makes me think that you can activate its effect during my turn."

Mustang's eyes widened, then his lips curled into a smile. "Very good, you managed to accurately discovered what my card is capable of…not many people figure that out on the first time they duel me."

"I just mainly took a guess…" Garu admitted causing everyone to sweat drop at his answer.

Regaining his composure, Mustang adjusted his scarf and smiled sheepishly at his opponent. "Well, I guess that's one way at finding an opponent's cards."

"Either Garu planned that…" Ami sighed as she lowered her head. "Or that was just a stroke of dumb luck…"

"Which do you think it was?" Zeff asked as Mustang drew his next card.

"I was wrong…" Mustang muttered looking at his card.

A large question mark appeared over Garu's head. "Uh, what do you mean by that?"

"I still have a question or two for you," Mustang answered as Garu sighed. "Why do you duel? What do you dream for?"

"What's with being all serious?" Garu asked as Mustang's gaze increased.

"Just answer the questions…"

Garu rubbed his chin in deep thought. Then his stare became as serious as Mustang's. "I…I don't know. I guess I want to find my place in this world. 'Not only that…maybe I'll find something out about my parents.'"

With a huge smile, Mustang chuckled. "I see…your dreams are admirable. You dream to be treated as a great person. But you're not the only one.

"I too want to go to greatness! But my dream is quite different! I plan on going to the top of the dueling league! And once I do that, I'll fix the crooked rules that have been going on through that league!"

"What in the world does that have to do with anything?" Zeff asked as Ami sighed loudly.

"I'm glad you asked master of the wolf!" Mustang shouted as he stomped his foot into the sand. "I will make changes to the league! The day that happens…all female duelists that are in the league will be required to…

Garu, Zeff and Rox leaned their heads in closer to get a better grasp on what Mustang was saying.

"…wear the exact same kind of miniskirts that are here!"

Ami sighed even louder as Zeff, Garu and Rox imagined even more girls in the skirts that were issued to the school. "Are all men in this school perverts other than my brother?"

"Just the guys you know," Mustang chuckled with a blush on his face.

"I'll join that league!" Zeff announced as Rox barked loudly. "I'll follow you Mustang!"

"Excellent! But for now, we must continue this duel in order to advance our dreams!" Mustang laughed as he took another card from his hand and slid it into his duel disk.

"So I'll activate the spell card Pot of Greed!"

The green grinning pot appeared before Mustang…

…He drew his two cards…

And the look on his face became more serious.

"Garu, I truly enjoyed this duel, and hope to become good friends with you afterwards," Mustang stated as he took one card from his hand lifting it into the air. "But you are an opponent worthy of my true strategy!"

Taking a step back, Garu's eyes widened at what Mustang was saying. "Yeah right! I figure you like retuning cards back to your deck! But I'll stop that as soon as you destroy my Swordmaster Ninja Masamune, his effect will kick in and…"

"…destroy all spells and trap cards out on the field," Mustang interrupted as he slid the card in his hand to the graveyard. "I actually know about your ninjas…but I'll still attack it! So I'll discard this one monster to double my Die Hard Martial Artist's attack (2400/1000)!"

Pumping up his muscles for a second time, the Martial Artist jumped into the air.

"Attack Masamune! Die Hard Drop Kick!"

Dropping at a great speed, the Martial Artist slammed his heel right into Masamune's head. A sickening crack filled the air as Masamune fell to the ground throwing his sword into the air.

As soon as Masamune shattered into pixels, the sword trapped in midair began to spin around fast, causing a large amount of sand to fly into the air. "Fine, then say goodbye to all spells and trap cards out on the field!" (GLP: 2100)

The flying sword caused a powerful windstorm that sucked up all of the back row cards into it. Then inside the windstorm, the cards shattered. Mustang lowered his arms to see if the sand had dropped, but was immediately met with a multitude of shuriken that struck his arms, legs, and torso. "And since my Fuhma Shuriken was destroyed, Ryu does lose some attack points (1400/900), but you lose 700 life points!"

After the shuriken disappeared into pixels, Mustang smirked as he looked at the remaining three cards in his hand. "I'll admit this Garu, you do have some good strategies…but they're not enough to end this duel for your victory." (MLP: 2200)

"Says you…" Garu scoffed to the side as Mustang laughed loudly.

"Don't believe me? Fine, now since I'm ending my battle phase, the trap card that was destroyed goes active," Mustang stated as the sand around him began to stir up creating a trap card to form in front of him. The card had the Die Hard Boarder clutching his chest with one hand but punching a Marauding Captain right between the eyes. "It can only be activated when it's destroyed."

A card popped out of Mustang's graveyard and into his hand. "It's called Tenacious Die Hard and allows me to return one card with Die Hard in its name! And next, I'm playing it! Go, Die Hard Persistence!"

Garu slapped his forehead at the sight of the card reappearing behind the Die Hard Martial Artist. "I'm starting to see why that card has persistence in its name."

"Yeah, but I'll end my turn on that note," Mustang stated as Garu drew his next card. "Let's see what you're going to do to stop me…"

"You really want to know?" Garu asked with a creepy tone in his voice, causing Mustang to step back with a small droplet of sweat on his face.

"Maybe not…" muttered Mustang as Garu slapped a card onto his duel disk.

"Too bad! I summon Feral Ninja (1300/0)!" Garu announced as a loud howl filled the air.

Everyone turned his or her head to the top of the Slifer Red dorm to see a beastly ninja with wild brown hair covering his face only showing his fanged teeth and a fanged necklace over his tattered gray ninja clothes. His fingernails and toenails look more beast like looking like they haven't been cut in ages.

A card shot of Garu duel disk, and he immediately lifted up to show everyone. "Here's how this ninja works! He hates working with other ninjas other than his type, so when he's normal summoned successfully I can summon another Feral Ninja (1300/0) from my deck!"

A second howl filled the air and everyone turned their attention to the sea to see a second Feral Ninja leap from the waves and onto the sandy beach. Mustang simply turned his head at the Feral Ninja on the roof and to the one on the beach. "And the point of doing that is…"

"You see, by forfeiting the other's attack, I can combine their attack points together for one attack!" Garu announced while the Feral Ninjas howled into the air.

"Interesting ability, reminds of couple of my cards," Mustang admitted as Garu lifted his hand towards Mustang.

"You better believe that it's interesting! Now then…"

"Feral Ninja (2600/0)!"

"Attack the martial artist with all fours jitsu!"

Running like a wolf, the Feral Ninja charged towards the opposing monster ready to sink his teeth into him. Surprisingly, Mustang just watched as his Martial Artist was ripped to shreds, but it turned into an orb of light and combined with his deck. With a quick shuffle, Mustang immediately drew his next card. "I think you know what happens when you destroy a Die Hard monster." (MLP: 800)

"How come you didn't use your Martial Artist's ability?" Garu asked as Mustang smiled.

"Does it matter? You can end this duel right now if you want," Mustang stated as Garu shook his head.

"Alright then! You want an attack, you got it!" Garu shouted as Ryu nodded to his duelist. "Ryu smack him around with your Kitsune Staff!"

"Its over?" Zeff asked as Ryu ran towards Mustang.

"I can't believe it," Ami stated staring at Ryu readying his attack. "Mustang lost."

Just as Ryu's Kitsune Staff was about to slam into Mustang, the calm duelist slid a card into his graveyard. Then out of nowhere, multiple brown puffballs with cute eyes, and small claws appeared and took the attack for Mustang.

Ryu and Garu looked confused at the sight of the monsters, and Ryu jumped back to Garu's side of the field. "What in the world are those things?"

The cute little puffballs just disappeared, as Mustang lifted a card from his graveyard showing a picture of one of the puffballs. "It's a cute monster called Kuriboh (300/200), and if I'm willing to discard it from my hand, I can change the damage from one of your attacks into zero. I drew it thanks to my Die Hard Persistence."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to see how you're going to get out of what I have out!" Garu shouted looking over his hand. "And to make it even harder, I'll just place a card face down."

"I didn't know you had that card in your deck Mustang!" Ami shouted, giving Mustang a slight blush to his face.

"I put it in as a memento of you Ami!" replied Mustang with a sheepish smile.

Then shift his eyes to Garu, Mustang's smile grew larger as he drew. "And as for you Garu, you really are a good duelist. You just need to apply yourself more, and when you do, you'll be able to beat me."

"What in the world are you taking about?" Garu asked confused for another time this day. "Look at the field and our life points! You tell me who is going to win!"

"I am! And with the cards I have in my hand I can do just that!" Mustang announced taking one card from his hand. "And I'll start with the spell card Die Hard Sacrifice!"

As the spell card came into play, showing some of the Die Hard monsters he had played falling into a pit, five cards shot out of his deck and he immediately placed them into his duel disk. "Here's how this card works, I have to send five different 'Die Hard' monsters from my deck. Then if I summon any monsters with Die Hard in their name this turn, I gain 500 life points back!"

"Well that seems like a dumb card," Garu stated as Mustang took another card from his hand and slid it into his duel disk...

"Normally yes, but when played with the right combination," Mustang replied while his spell card appeared, showing off multiple Die Hard monsters raising their fists and weapons into the air. "Like this card, Die Hard Dynamo Plan! I bring all five of them back with half of their attack points! So let's give a big round of applause for my monsters!

"Die Hard Boarder (1600/800 – 800/0)!

"Die Hard Martial Artist (1200/1000 – 600/0)!

"Die Hard Slasher (2000/500 – 1000/0)!

"Die Hard Dual Blader (1450/1100 – 725/0)!

"And Die Hard Detective (900/2100 – 450/0)!"

From the sand emerged five monster, two of them were the Die Hard Boarder and Martial Artist, but the other three were new monsters.

One of them was muscular handsome man with light green hair that's tied up with a blade at the end. His green armor attached to the sleeves of his black vest exposed his armored arms have blade like fingers on the end. While his black pants have gray shin guards that have clawed armor on his heavy black boots.

The next one was young handsome man with shaggy blonde hair while a blue shirt covered with a black vest covered his scarred arms. His black pants were ripped and in his hands were two light katanas made of the same style.

And finally, the last monster was a teenaged boy with dark red hair; a crimson-checkered cloak covers his shoulders and a light gray shirt. At his tight black pants are armored crimson boots.

"So meet the all star team!" Mustang announced as his five monsters performed a pose involving all of them. "And thanks to my Die Hard Sacrifice, I now gain 500 life points per Die Hard monster!" (MLP: 3300)

"Um, what exactly are you going to do with all of them? None of them can really do much damage," Garu questioned as Mustang took the second to last card from his hand and slid it into his duel disk.

A powerful white light appeared behind Mustang, and a powerful white and blue cannon emerged from it. "I don't plan on attacking with these monsters; I plan on using my Mass Driver to win this duel! You see, for each monster I tribute to it, I can blow 400 life points from you!"

Garu stepped back as all of the Die Hard monsters smirked evilly at him. "But that means!"

"You better believe it! Normally I'd have a way to restore my monsters, but this is enough for now! Now then! Go my Die Hard monsters! Let's blast Garu into the next century!"

The four monsters immediately jumped into the cannon that was currently aiming at Garu. In defense, Garu lifted his arms up to protect himself.

The cannon fired!

And all five of the Die Hard Warriors flew towards Garu, slamming directly into him sending him to the ground. After their jobs were done, the Die Hard monsters shattered into pixels with smiles on their faces. Garu was barely even able to stand up after that onslaught of monsters. "Man…that was low…" (GLP: 100)

"I feel bad for my monsters," Mustang stated as he took the final card from his hand and slapped it to his duel disk. "But their sacrifice will not be in vain! I summon a guy you might remember!"

From behind the huge cannon, the Die Hard Lancer (1800/1200) jumped into the air with a large smile on his face. "And since I summoned another Die Hard monster, I gain 500 more life points." (MLP: 3800)

"All that work to get you down and you're almost back to where you started," Garu sighed as the Lancer laughed loudly.

"True, but you dueled with style! And now! I'll have my Lancer attack Ryu!" Mustang announced as his Lancer began to run towards Ryu.

"Not so fast I activate my trap card!" Garu announced…but his trap card didn't lift up. "What the?"

"I forgot to tell you Garu, but my Lancer makes it so you can't chain your spells or trap cards when he attacks," Mustang admitted as Ryu lifted his staff to block the Lancer's attack.

"Now you tell me!" Garu shouted before Ryu was knocked back into him sending them both to the ground. (GLP: 0)

The holograms just disappeared as Garu sat up and sighed loudly. "Dang it, how come I keep losing?"

Mustang walked over to Garu and knelt down to be eye to eye. "Relax; I didn't expect you to win. I just needed to test you."

"How in the world made you think I wouldn't win?" Garu asked as he jumped to his feet.

Lifting a hand to his chest, Mustang smile grew brighter. "Cause you see, I am the top student here at the Pacific duel academy! Better known as the Die Hard Kaiser!"

Garu's jaw just dropped, he couldn't believe that he faced off against the number one student duelist on the island. "And you didn't tell me because…?"

With a laugh, Mustang just gave Garu a sly look. "Like the last Kaiser stated, I didn't want you to choke up against a very powerful opponent!"

Turning his head to Zeff, Rox, and Ami, Garu's eyes narrowed. "And did you guys know?"

"Well yeah…" Zeff replied while rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry Garu, you actually gave me a run for my money, if I hadn't of drawn Lancer, you could have beaten me that last turn," Mustang laughed before his face turned serious. "But back to business the real reason why I challenged you was to see if you good enough."

"Good enough for what?"

"Good enough to beat that duelist who had challenged you originally," Mustang answered as he closed his eyes. "His name…Vic Vanhemer."

"You mean that big headed jerk who gave that speech on the boat here?" Garu asked as he remembered Vic's speech. "But why in the world would he be trying to get rid of me?"

"He and a partner of his fear power, especially the power of the underdog," Mustang answered as he turned his back. "You have that skill, and when you face Vic, you'll be ready. Till then…I wish you the best of luck in the exams!"

Mustang walked off into the distance on the beach with Ami following while waving goodbye to Garu and Zeff. Zeff walked up to Garu who was looking out to the sea. "So you dueled against the Kaiser here…How do you feel?"

Just as Garu was about to answer, a loud growling sound caught the attention of both duelists (and wolf cub). With a slight blush, Garu rubbed the back of his head. "Hungry actually…I wonder if the cafeteria is still serving Ramen Noodles."

"I see…I'm hungry too!" Zeff laughed loudly as he walked with Rox to the front of the dorm. "You coming Garu?"

"In a minute, you go ahead," Garu replied before turning back to the sea. "Mustang and Vergil…even though I haven't been dueling that long, I can see you two duel for reasons of your own. As do I…and nothing will stop those reasons!"

A louder growl caught Garu's attention, as he blushed a little bit more. "Okay, okay, I get it! You're hungry."

Card Specs

Die Hard Lancer / Fire / LV 4 / ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1200 / Warrior/Effect: When this card attacks, your opponent cannot chain any spell, trap or monster effects.

Description: A young handsome man with spiky black hair. A white shirt hung loosely over his skinny body, and his black pants were extremely baggy. A long red scarf is around his neck. In addition, a red clothed lance is in his hands.

Die Hard Dual Blader / Earth / LV 3 / ATK: 1450 / DEF: 1100 / Warrior/Effect: This card may attack twice during the battle phase.

Description: A young handsome man with shaggy blonde hair. A blue shirt covered with a black vest covers his scarred arms. His black pants are ripped and in his hands are two light katanas.

Die Hard Slasher / Wind / LV 4 / ATK: 2000 / DEF: 500 / Warrior / Description: When this card inflicts damage to your opponent's Life Points, draw one card from your deck. If the card drawn is a monster card, deal damage to your opponent's Life Points equal to half the ATK of the drawn monster card.
Description: A muscular handsome man with light green hair that's tied up with a blade at the end. He has green armor attacked to the sleeves of his black vest. His armored arms have blade like fingers on the end. His black pants have gray shin guards that have clawed armor on his heavy black boots.

Die Hard Martial Artist / Earth / LV 3 / ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1000 / Warrior/Effect: During either player's battle phase, you may discard one card from your hand. If done so, double the attack of this card until the end phase.

Description: A white haired teenaged man with weird markings over his face. His tight white shirt exposes his chiseled chest. With two bracers on his fists, the youth also has bracers on his shins connected to his black pants.

Die Hard Boarder / Water / LV4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1200 / Warrior/Effect: This card may attack your opponent directly. You can negate the effect of a trap or spell card's activation and destroy the card when this card attacks by cutting the attack of this monster in half as long as this card remains face up.

Description: A young teenaged man with wild icy blue hair held up with a white and black headband. A baggy dark blue jacket covers up his upper body, while a pair of shorts that reach his shins flow. At his feet is a light blue snowboard that seems to make ice appear before it.

Die Hard Detective / Light / LV4 / ATK: 900 / DEF: 2100 / Warrior/Effect: Once per turn during your main phase, you may take one card from your deck with 'Die Hard' in its name and add it to your hand. After done so, select one card from your hand and return it to your deck. The deck is now shuffled.

Description: A teenaged boy with dark red hair, a crimson-checkered cloak covers his shoulders and a light gray shirt. At his tight black pants are armored crimson boots.

The Die Hard Drama / Spell card / Effect: During the turn this card is activated, you may normal summon two monsters with 'Die Hard' in their name this turn.

Image: A beautiful young woman crying in the arms of the Die Hard Lancer who is smirking widely.

Die Hard Persistence / Continuous Spell / Effect: As long this card remains face up on the field, any monster with 'Die Hard' in the card's name is sent to your graveyard as a result of battle is shuffled into your deck instead. Then you may draw one card from your deck.

Image: The Die Hard Slayer trying to talk to a pretty girl only to be slapped across the face.

Die Hard Sacrifice / Spell / Effect: Send five different monsters from your deck with 'Die Hard' in their name to the graveyard. During this turn every time summon a monster with 'Die Hard' in the cards' names, increase your life points by 500.

Image: Multiple 'Die Hard' monsters falling into an abyss with piercing red eyes watching them.

Die Hard Dynamo Plan / Spell / Effect: Special summon up to five level four or lower monsters from your graveyard with 'Die Hard' in their name to your side of the field with half of their original attack points. At the end of the turn this card is used, return all monsters on your side of the field to your deck and discard the top two cards from your deck for each monster returned this way.

Image: Multiple 'Die Hard' monsters raising their weapons and fists into the air in triumph.

Tenacious Die Hard / Trap / Effect: This card can only be activated when it is destroyed by a card effect. You may select one card from your graveyard with 'Die Hard in its name and return it to your hand.

Image: the Die Hard Boarder clutching his chest with one hand but punching a Marauding Captain right between the eyes.

Ninja Swordsman Masamune / Dark / LV. 4 / ATK: 1600 / DEF: 1000 / Warrior/Effect: When this card is destroyed as result of battle, send all face up spells and trap cards on the field to the graveyard.

Description: A muscular ninja with a huge sword hanging off his back. His wild raven colored hair reached past his dark green ninja suit covered in rips and tears.

Feral Ninja / Earth / LV. 3 / ATK: 1300 / DEF: 0 / Warrior/Effect: When this card is normal summoned successfully summoned to your side of the field, you may special summon one 'Feral Ninja' from your deck or graveyard. By forfeiting all but one 'Feral Ninja' cards' attacks, you can combine their attack points together.

Description: A beastly ninja with wild brown hair. Has fanged teeth and a fanged necklace over his tattered gray ninja clothes. His fingernails and toenails look to more beast like.