Judai's POV, first person

I watched as Marie made her way to the dueling arenas, her slightly curly black hair making her easy to spot. I didn't even realize that she was sitting behind us.

"Who is she dueling?" I asked Asuka.

"She's actually dueling an Obelisk named Gregory Mitch."

"An Obelisk?" I wondered aloud. "Just like I did in my first year at the academia..."

"Yeah, well, it's because she is a duelist with an unstoppable deck and skill to match. Even you'd have a hard time against her," Asuka answered.

"Really?" I asked, getting excited. "Then I just have to duel her sometime! Wait, then why is she in Slifer?"

"The same reason you were always in Osiris: she never does her homework and she fails all of her tests," Asuka answered, smiling.

"That's scary; she's just like me!" I exclaimed. It was like watching myself back in Duel Academia. Um, that is, if I was a black-haired girl.

"No, she just shares your laziness," Asuka quipped.

"Hey, I apologized for falling asleep!" Old habits die hard, even if an old friend is the teacher.

"Look, her match is starting," Asuka said, changing the subject.

"So what was that unstoppable deck you mentioned?" I asked.

"It's called the Crimson Monster deck, but it's also known as the Pairing deck or the Dual deck."

"It has pears in it? And I thought all Duel Monsters cards were for doing dueling," I asked, mildly confused.

"How did I know you were going to say that..." Asuka muttered. "Anyway, it's made up of rare monsters that don't have a lot of attack points, but almost all of them have multiple special abilities that render that fact totally useless. Just watch, and you'll see."

I looked down into the arena where Marie was dueling. This match was definitely going to have my undivided attention. "My draw!" Marie cried, quickly pulling a card from her deck.

She actually began to laugh! "Sorry, Greg, but this duel is already in my favor."

Greg, naturally, got pretty angry at that remark. "This match hasn't even started! When it's my turn, I'll show everyone exactly who'll be winning this match, and it won't be you Slifer!" Ah, that line took me back to the good old days when I used to hear that all the time.

"If you say so," Marie snickered. "I play Crimsom Fairy of Vanity in attack mode (lv.4/atk:1000/def:550)! By her effect, I can summon two lower level monsters directly to the field. After all, a vain person always likes to have flunkies around to make her look better. I summon Crimson Flame Fox (lv.2/def:600/atk:400) and Crimson Witch of Fickle Fate (lv.2/def:400/atk:300) in defense mode!" Amazing. Three monsters on her first turn.

I leaned back in my seat. I didn't really see where she was going with this, but she did set up a pretty good defense. Maybe she had a few tricks up her sleeve...

"My turn!" Greg called, drawing. He smiled. "I play Bone Sabertooth in attack mode (lv.4/atk:1500/def:800). Bone Sabertooth, attack her witch!"

The witch disengrated into ruby dust. "I activate my witch's effect! When she is destroyed in battle, you have to show me your hand and I get to send one of your cards to the graveyard. However, I must lose life points equal to my witch's attack points."

"Fine," Greg snarled and the cards appeared in front of Marie.

"Hm," she said, deliberating. "I think I'll send Monster Reborn to the grave." That was kind of like the move Chronos-sensei pulled when I first dueled him. But why did she pick Monster Reborn? One of the cards in Greg's hand was Battle Rage, a card that would allow him to battle again in one turn. Why would she leave it alone? The next target was going to be that fairy of hers, and it was going to become fairy dust if she didn't do something!

Greg looked slightly relieved. "Okay, now to do what I should have done in the first place! I use the spell card Battle Rage. By discarding one card to my grave, I can battle again. Now, time for your fairy to disappear. Bone Sabertooth, attack Fairy of Vanity!" The fairy dissolved, leaving Marie with just Crimson Fox on the field. "I won't make another foolish mistake like that again! My turn's over." Greg warned. (Greg's LP:4000/Marie's LP:3200)

"Why destroy Monster Reborn?" I asked, directing my question towards Asuka. "She could've saved her fairy."

"Actually, it was a very prudent move. Greg's deck is made up of skeletal monsters, meaning it's like a zombie or a ghost deck. It revolves around the graveyard. Did you happen to notice the high-level monster that was in his hand? By sending that monster to the grave, he could use Monster Reborn to special summon it without sacrifices. And since it is a graveyard deck, it probably gains some sort of power boost when it's summoned from the graveyard," she answered. Just what you'd expect from Asuka...no, Miss Tenjouin now.

"Although," she continued, interrupting my thoughts. "He might still have a chance to summon it. He still used Battle Rage and the card he sent to the graveyard was probably that high-level monster. So, Greg probably still has least one card that he can use to summon his monster. But don't count Marie out, either. Her fairy has a special effect that activates when it's re-summoned to the field, that's why she wanted Greg to destroy it."

"She did?" I asked, amazed.

"Just watch," Asuka ordered.

"My draw! And I summon...Crimson Pheonix (lv.3/atk:600/def:1500) in attack mode. However, it won't stay for long. By sacrificing it, I can summon a monster back from my graveyard. I call back my Crimson Fairy of Vanity in attack mode. When she's successfully summoned from the my graveyard, her attack and defense points triple (atk:3000/def:1650). A beautiful woman does not take kindly to her pride getting hurt."

"Th-three thousand attack points?" Greg stammered.

"And that's not all. You forgot about my cute little fox on the field, didn't you? I will now activate his special ability and add his attack points to my fairy's for one turn. Plus, due to another of Pheonix's abilities, he can come back to my field after he is destroyed." Crimson Fairy's attack points were now three thousand four hundred! Simply awesome. I definitely had to duel Marie.

"Crimson Fairy of Vanity, attack his Bone Sabertooth with Shattered Mirror Slicer!"

"Kuri!" Hane Kuriboh cried, appearing suddenly at my shoulder.

"Huh? That card has a duel spirit?"

"Kuri, kuri!"

"That witch of her's, too?" It had been a while since I had seen any new duel spirits besides my friends from my own deck. Not since Honest if I remember right.

I watched as Greg's Bone Sabertooth crumbled into chalky dust and faded away. His life points dropped all the way down to two thousand one hundred.

"I also play the field spell Rose Garden of Remembrance! By it's effect, I'm allowed to summon back one monster from my grave per turn. It will return to the grave after that turn. I summon my Witch of Fickle Fate. However, I now sacrifice my witch, my fox, and my pheonix in order to summon Crimson Dragon of Rage!"

A monstrous behemoth stepped out on to the field. The dragon had two heads, both with curling obsidian horns and a whip-like tail with spikes to match the horns. It let out a blood-curdling roar, making me shudder. This dragon felt...off. Almost downright evil.

"KURI!" Kuriboh cried before disappearing.

Judai, that dragon is cursed, Yubel's voice whispered from inside my mind. Asuka pretended not to notice my glowing miscolored eyes and acted like she was watching the game. She didn't seem to notice anything wrong about the monster, but she knew that Yubel's power only showed up when there was trouble.

Cursed? What about the rest of her cards?

They are all afraid of that beast. They fear its power, and they fear its anger. I don't know what happened, but that dragon apparently can have influence over that girl's mind.

You don't think...that Marie could have a similar situation to the one we used to, do you?

I'm not sure... Yubel's voice faded away and I was left with troubled thoughts. What was going to happen to Marie? How did that card of hers become cursed? Apparently I wasn't the only one with a troubled past. I focused my attention back to the match.

Crimson Dragon of Rage (lv.7/atk:?/def:2600) and Crimson Fairy of Vanity (lv.4/atk:3400/def:1500) were on Marie's (LP:3200) side of the field and Greg's (LP:2100) field was wide open. Marie suddenly spoke up. "My dragon's attack points are determined by the levels of all the monsters on my field combined multiplied by a thousand. Since I only have my fairy, however, her four levels will have to suffice." Was it just me, or did Marie's way of talking just totally change?

"This dragon has a power similar to Slifer's and has the capability to surpass an Egyptian god!" Asuka gasped. I agreed, though that made my bad feeling even worse. A card that powerful and holding a serious grudge against someone or something couldn't be good news.

"With that said, my dragon's attack power becomes 4000!" Marie exclaimed, a wild look in her eyes. For a second, I even thought I saw them flash red. "Crimson Dragon of Rage, attack Greg directly with Vengeful Justice!"

The dragon opened both of its mouths, revealing four rows each of black teeth. A dark blast erupted from those maws and struck Greg, completely obliterating his remaining lifepoints. He didn't stand a chance. "Next time give me a better match," Marie sneered at the collapsed duelist before storming off the arena.

It was a few minutes before Greg was able to get to his feet and stagger off the field. Medics were gathering to help him to the nurse's office. That dragon definitely caused Greg some real damage. Looks like I wasn't going to have a peaceful year after all.

So, how did you enjoy the first duel of my story? Review and let me know! I did have to go back and fix it though. At first, I called Greg's monster "Bone Sabertooth" and then called it "Bone Snake" for some reason for the rest of the match. I decided that I liked "Bone Sabertooth" better and changed it. If you notice anything else like that, please tell me.