For this chapter, I did use the tournament idea from the manga. It's pretty much the same, just different people in a different place.

Marie's POV, first person

I heard Mr. Thompson's voice as he ordered an assembly in one of the homerooms over the intercom. I wondered vaguely what is was for as I followed the crowds. At one point, I thought I saw Judai moving through the crowds, but he was gone a second later, leaving me to wonder if I really saw him or not.

Then again, what did I care? Judai was a lying bastard, and there was no way that I wanted to talk to him ever again. The kids that were walking around me seemed to give me a wide berth and whispered as they moved past. I gritted my teeth and ignored it. This was all Judai's fault, after all, not mine. Not that anyone would believe me if I told them.

But it was a mystery as to why there was an assembly today. The only time there were assemblies held during the year was if there was something important about to happen.

I followed the flow of kids to aforementioned homeroom.

Once all the students were squeezed into the big room, it was a few minutes before the announcement was made. There were whispers and uneasy murmurs running through the crowd. I heard a couple of conversations.

"What do you think this is about?" "Do you think that we're in trouble for something?" "No, no. If we were in trouble, then why is the whole school here?" "Maybe there's going to be an award for something." "Have you heard anything?" "Does anyone know what's going on?"

I glanced around, to see if it looked like there was anyone in the room who might have a clue. Even the teachers looked confused. There was only one person in the room who didn't look surprised. Judai.

At least he was on the other side of the room. It wouldn't surprise me if he had a hand in this himself. That creep seemed to somehow have a lot of power, and I didn't just mean from Yubel.

Oh, well. I supposed I'd find out what this little charade was all about when Mr. Thompson told us. Speak of the devil, he came into the front of the room and told us all to quiet down. It was a long time before anyone shut up.

Mr. Thompson waited patiently for all the nervous muttering to die out. Once it did, he spoke. "Students! I know you're all wondering why you're here, and I assure you that you'll like the reason once you hear it. A pro duelist had returned to this school!"

There was a lot of deafening clapping and cheers at that. I did some clapping, all right. Over my ears. Still, I couldn't deny that I was excited to know that a pro was coming back to the school. I glanced over to the other side of the room. Judai looked slightly surprised, but not much. Apparently he didn't know about this little part of the plan.

"Everyone, please give a warm welcome back to...Johan Andersen!" Mr. Thompson announced, sweeping his arm behind him. Silence.

"Um, where is Mr. Andersen?" Mr. Thompson asked.

"Righ' *huff* here, Mr. Thompson!" someone panted. We all looked to the door behind us to see a familiar blue-haired guy. We all knew him: the unstoppable pro duelist with the Gem Beast deck. I snapped a look over to Judai.

It was oddly satisfying to see a sick look wash across his face. He looked really nervous now. Good. Maybe Johan knew him in the past and could expose Judai for the monster he truly was.

"Man," Johan continued, interrupting my thoughts. "It's been so darn long since I've been here, I just plum forgot how to get around," he said, laughing. Johan really seemed like a teenager. He didn't look older than any of us, and he didn't act like he was either. That was just a part of his charm, I guess.

Everyone gave him space to walk down, and Judai somehow got pushed to the edge. As Johan happily made his way down the aisle, it was impossible to miss Judai. Just as Johan reached him, Judai tried to sneak away, but it only drew Johan's attention.

The way Judai was acting, I thought that Johan was going to say something, but Johan just snapped a quick glance at Judai before hurrying to his spot next to Mr. Thompson. He seemed happy for some reason after seeing that snake. Was he friends with Judai, too?

"Anyway," Mr. Thompson continued as if nothing was wrong, "In celebration for the return of Mr. Andersen, a special tournament will be held here, at this academy. Everyone has to preticipate, but I don't think that any of you will begrudge the chance to show your skill, right? Whoever wins in the final rounds gets the honor to duel against Mr. Andersen!" There were a lot of cheers at that, and I completely forgot my hatred against Judai in that moment.

I was too excited about getting the chance to duel a pro to worry about a kid that should be nearly thirty now. I clapped and cheered along with rest.

"The tournament starts as of tomorrrow, and classes shall be suspended while tournament is held," Mr. Thompson continued, earning more cheers from the crowd of students. "I suggest you all get your decks in order today. All matches are elimination. You may choose who you wish to duel, but must duel once a day in order to stay in the competition. Simple enough?"

Yells of agreement were inaudible through all the excited chattering that was going on. Mr. Thompson just took it as a yes and dismissed all the students. Kids flooded the halls and bled out in separate directions to their rooms. A good chunk of kids were heading for the campus card shop at the other end of the school. I noticed as I left that Judai kind of hung back in the room. I didn't care much, just went to dorm to prepare my deck.