Chapter 3:

The Leo Institute of Dueling was said to be one of the top dueling schools in the country, if not the world. Just looking at the hourglass-shaped building gave the impression that its level of technology was above that of its peers. It was no surprise that this was the case, however, as the school was run by Leo Corporation, the company that advanced dueling technology by leaps and bounds with their idea of integrating mass into the solid holograms that every Duel Disk created.

This amount of status, however, was not lost on LID students.

"Tell me again!" cried a student with layered blonde-and-brown hair. "Who's going to be the top at LID?"

"SYLVIO!" cried a trio of other students, each one dramatically gesturing to the first student.

"Yes, yes!" Sylvio swooned as he bathed in their adoration while remaining ignorant of whether or not it was faked. "And who's the best duelist at LID?"

"SYLVIO!" his followers screamed again with another dramatic gesture.

Sylvio dramatically climbed up on the table, spreading his arms wide and showing off his white-and-red school uniform for all to see.

"That's right!" Sylvio grinned. "I, Sylvio Sawatari, possess the skill and brains to win! I, Sylvio Sawatari, will climb on top of the dueling world! And it will be the name of Sylvio Sawatari that all future generations will hear as the name of the world's top duelist!"

"Are you finished? You're standing in my eggs."

Sylvio stopped advertising himself long enough to look down at a scowling Neil. Upon further inspection at his feet, Sylvio found that one foot was indeed lodged in Neil's plate of scrambled eggs. Taylor, sitting by Neil's side, simply shrugged.

"Oh, terribly sorry," Sylvio said as he removed his foot. "Shall I—"

"And take your cheering section somewhere else," Neil interrupted. "I don't want to lose what little of my lunch I've had."

With a glare, Sylvio snapped his fingers and took his followers away.

"Man," Taylor groaned, "people like him give the LID student body a bad name."

"It does a good enough job of that without his help," Neil said as he took his footprint-ridden eggs and proceed to dump them into the nearest trash can.

"Aw, come on, Neil, you can't really mean that!" Taylor said. "Okay, granted, a few students here get a bit full of themselves…"

"Only a few?" Neil snorted.

"Okay, I get your point," Taylor sighed. "But you still came here, not to another dueling school with more likable students."

"I applied to LID because I heard it put out the best duelists," Neil explained as he sat back down.

"Yeah, exactly!" Taylor said. "I mean, I get that it could be better, but nobody's perfect, right? Trust me, from what I've seen of LID, it'll all be worth it."

Neil just rolled his eyes.

"Anyone want to come to our school?" Serenity cried, standing on a sidewalk and holding up a large homemade sign with 'S.P.E.L.L' written on it in marker. "Come to S.P.E.L.L! It's affordable! Students are great! Well…such as they are."

She added a glare to her last sentence, sending it towards Casey. The latter was also on the sidewalk with a sign, but he seemed busy chatting up some passing girls. With a shake of her head, Serenity slipped her sign underneath her arm and set her sights on another location. Casey, realizing that his target was leaving, quickly ended his conversation and followed.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"To do what I came out here for," Serenity shot back.

"Hey, come on, I was telling those girls about our school!" Casey insisted.

Serenity stopped and turned to glare at him.

"I'm not stupid," she snarled. "You say you want to help, then you start hitting on the first female thing you see. I know liars and hypocrites when I see them."

"I'm not a—" Casey began, but cut himself off. "Okay, seriously, what do I have to do to get you to trust me?! I'm on your side!"

"Then act like it," Serenity spat. "Or, if you don't feel like applying effort to anything that doesn't get you in bed, then just leave."

"Wait, you're saying…you really think I'm that shallow?" Casey laughed. "Yeah, I talk to a lot of girls, but I have my reasons. For examp—"

"I couldn't care less about you or whatever 'reasons' you have for being a perverted stalker," Serenity spat.

"I'm sorry, what?" Casey sputtered. "You're taking this way too personally! I have done nothing perverted to you!"

"You just happened to have a spare Duel Disk that just happened to be exactly my size?" Serenity growled, holding up her wrist.

"One size fits all," Casey shrugged. "And you never know when you'll need a spare of anything, right?"

Serenity simply rolled her eyes and walked away. With a frown, Casey pursued her.

"Hey, come on," he pleaded. "Are you jealous that I was talking with other girls?"

Say nothing. Just say nothing, Serenity thought with an irritated sigh. He'll just interpret anything you say as a 'yes,' so there's no point in saying anything.

"Come on, talk to me!" Casey said. "Seriously, what do I have to do to get you interested? How am I supposed to prove to you that I'm not as bad as you think I am if you won't even give me a—"

Serenity suddenly stopped.

"Wait," she said, holding up one hand.

"What?"

"On your left."

Casey looked, and saw a young man—not much older than he and Serenity were—trudging down the sidewalk across the street. His right arm was bent in a rather awkward manner, remaining close to his side. Cradled in his left arm was a battered and slightly soaked Duel Disk.

"That guy?" Casey whispered, pointing to him.

"Don't point, you moron!" Serenity hissed. The young man with the bent arm stopped and turned his head slightly, eyeing them from out of the corner of his eye. "Well, no time like the present, I guess."

She quickly looked both ways and made to cross the street.

"Hey, wait up!" Casey cried, stumbling after her and narrowly dodging an oncoming car in the process.

The stranger smirked and leaned on a wall.

"Hello," he said.

"Hey," Serenity nodded as she approached him. "Is that your Duel Disk?"

By this time, Casey had managed to catch up to Serenity, deciding to spend time catching his breath instead.

"It's mine," the stranger said with a one-shoulder shrug, looking down at his ruined piece of machinery. "But a 'Duel Disk' is probably not what it's called anymore."

"What happened to it?" Serenity asked. "And, if you don't mind my asking, what happened to your arm?"

"And you yell at me for pointing after questions like those?" Casey muttered.

"I've…been in some accidents," the stranger said. Serenity waited a moment, expecting him to say more. Nothing came.

"Oh, uh…sorry to hear that," she stammered. "I'm Serenity, by the way."

"Dylan," the stranger nodded, pointing to himself.

"Nice to meet you," Serenity said. "Say, listen, are you interested in—"

"I'm Casey, by the way," Serenity's follower interrupted. "Just wanted to, you know, remind you that I'm still here."

"Please don't," Serenity sighed. "Anyway, I'm from this dueling school called S.P.E.L.L, and it could really use some students. I mean, I don't know if you're already in a school, but…"

"I can go," Dylan did another one-shoulder shrug. "That is, if I can live there for a while?"

"Sure, we've got dorms," Serenity said. "And we might be able to get you a new Duel Disk, too."

"Can I also have a phone?" Dylan asked. "I'll need to call my family."

"Oh, absolutely!" Serenity nodded. "Come on, I'll take you to S.P.E.L.L."

"Uh, don't you mean 'we' will take him to S.P.E.L.L?" Casey asked.

"That would imply that more than one person is interested in doing the work," Serenity shot back.

Dylan just snickered as Serenity led him along.

Professor Essie slammed the phone down into its receiver and buried her head in her hands. Clark frowned. It was rare to see her so distressed.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Can we talk about it later?" Essie sighed. "I need some time to figure this out."

Clark nodded and left the office without a word. Once outside, he looked up at the ceiling.

"I wish I shared your confidence," he said to the air. He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I have no doubt in her abilities, but…"

"Professor Clark!"

Serenity and Casey, with Dylan in tow, quickly approached the professor. Clark's characteristic smile returned as he beheld them.

"Welcome back, you two," he said. "And who might this be?"

"Dylan," the newcomer said, returning the smile. At the sight of it, however, Clark's smile faded slightly. Something was off about the boy's smile.

"He said he'll attend S.P.E.L.L," Serenity announced. "He does want a new Duel Disk and a phone, though."

"Yes, I can see the need for the former," Clark remarked as he inspected Dylan's former Duel Disk. "As for the phone, you should ask one of your new friends about it. I'm sure they would be willing to lend you their cell phones for a moment or two, but you should choose a dorm first. Then, we can get started on the paperwork."

"I can do that," Dylan said with yet another one-shoulder shrug.

"Very good," Clark said with a nod. "Casey, would you mind showing Dylan to a dorm?"

"Sure, happy to help," Casey grinned, casting a wink at Serenity. She simply glared at him, crossing her arms with a huff. With a shrug, Casey took Dylan away.

"Now, then," Clark said. "Serenity, may I have a word with you?"

"Sure, what about?" Serenity asked.

"I wanted to ask how you felt about this idea of yours," Clark replied. "Do you really think you can save this school?"

Serenity frowned.

"Honestly, Professor? I don't know," she said. "But I'm willing to try."

"That's all well and good, but…well, since this was your plan to begin with, I may as well give you the full details," Clark sighed. "You see, Professor Essie was on the phone with Mr. Gats today."

"What did he want?" Serenity tensed.

"He is persistent in his offers to purchase the school," Clark said. "Taryn told him that we have students who are, and I quote, 'adamant in their position against the merging of S.P.E.L.L and LID.' Gats, however, suggested that we let the cards decide the fate of the school."

"Are you saying…?"

"Yes," Clark nodded. "In several days time, one student from S.P.E.L.L will participate in a duel against a student from LID. That duel will decide the outcome. If the S.P.E.L.L student wins, then our school will remain as it is. But, if the LID student wins, then S.P.E.L.L will be bought and converted into a facility of LID' choosing."

"Great," Serenity sighed. "It always goes back to dueling."

"That's simply the world we live in, as strange as it is," Clark said. "On the bright side, we no longer have to deal solely with business politics."

"I guess," Serenity grimaced.

Clark smiled.

"You're a bright young lady," he said. "I have no doubt that you can help us through this."

"Yeah," Serenity said morosely. "Let's hope so."

"All right, here you go," Casey said, gesturing to a dorm. "Might be a little small, but it's not too shabby."

Dylan stared at the door for a moment before turning to Casey.

"Can I borrow a phone?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, sure," Casey said, fumbling through his pocket. He eventually pulled out a small flip-phone. "Sorry, not really able to grab the latest model or whatever."

"Doesn't matter to me," Dylan said with another one of his one-shoulder shrugs.

"Cool," Casey nodded. "All right, I'm going to go check on Serenity. Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

Dylan nodded, and Casey left. The new student leaned on the wall as he dialed in the desired number, smirking as he held the phone to his ear.

"Hello," he said, his smirk growing decidedly wicked. "It's been a while, hasn't it? What with my being dead and all."

He began to stroll down the hall as the person on the other end made a frantic reply.

"Oh, don't bother looking for me," Dylan said. "I'll find you. And then I can show you what a dead person really looks like."

A click. Dylan frowned as he closed Casey's phone.

"Well, someone has stopped being any fun," he pouted. "All the same, there's more than one way to skin a cat."

Serenity sat at the door to S.P.E.L.L, arms wrapped around her knees. In spite of Clark's encouraging words, the idea of dueling a representative from LID weighed heavily on her. She had no idea what Dylan was capable of, and Casey could not be trusted, so—by the process of elimination—that left her as S.P.E.L.L's representative duelist.

The gods really did have it out for her.

"Hey," Dylan said as he approached.

"Hey," Serenity replied. She looked at the object he held in his left hand. "Got your new Duel Disk, huh?"

"Yeah," Dylan said, looking it over. "It's not bad."

"Good," Serenity sighed.

"You okay?" Dylan asked.

"Not really," Serenity admitted.

"Want to duel?" Dylan asked. "Makes me feel better when I get down."

"I," Serenity began, but stopped. While her first instinct was to refuse, the imminent duel with LID reminded her that she needed practice. "Sure, might as well."

Dylan gave his one-shoulder shrug, and the two headed over to the dueling arena. Once they took their places, Dylan began to slip his new Duel Disk onto his bent arm.

"Uh, are you sure that's a good ide—" Serenity began, noticing Dylan's wincing.

"Don't worry about it!" Dylan grunted, a small twisted smirk appearing on his face. "It tickles."

"Um…okay," Serenity said slowly. "Might as well get started, then."

Each duelist's deck was shuffled, and five cards were drawn. Dylan began with a malicious grin.

"I'll go first," he said. He used his teeth to grab one card out of his hand and drop it onto his Duel Disk. "I Normal Summon Gishki Abyss!"

The first monster on Dylan's field was a blue-skinned humanoid whose head appeared to be a tentacle-mouthed shark.

"When Summoned by any means," Dylan explained, "Gishki Abyss lets me add a Gishki monster with 1000 or fewer defense points from my deck to my hand. I'll pick a little friend named Gishki Vision."

He showed Serenity his new card, a green serpentine monster with a blue-and-gold amulet on its face.

"Now, I'll activate the effects of two monsters in my hand; Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow!" Dylan grinned. "By discarding them, I can add two types of card to my hand. Gishki Shadow lets me add a Ritual Spell card, and Gishki Vision adds a Ritual Monster, but both need to have 'Gishki' in their name."

By dropping the green serpent and a blue reptilian monster into a graveyard portal, Dylan prompted two cards to jut out of his deck: a blue monster card and a spell card with Gishki Vision's amulet on it.

"Wait…Rituals?" Serenity blinked.

"That's right…let me show you how they work," Dylan grinned. "I activate the spell card I added earlier…Gishki Aquamirror!"

The amulet appeared on Dylan's side of the field, generating a faint blue light.

"I can Summon a Ritual Monster from my hand by tributing any number of monsters whose levels add up to the level of the Ritual Monster," he explained. "The monster I want to summon is level six, so I'll tribute the level two Gishki Abyss from my field and the level four Gishki Ariel from my hand."

Gishki Abyss became surrounded by a blue aura, as did a card in Dylan's hand. As the Aquamirror's blue light grew in strength, Abyss and Ariel—transforming from a card into a blue-haired girl in dark clothing—were completely consumed by their auras, seemingly wiping them from existence. The Aquamirror shined brightly as a large black tentacle emerged from within it.

"Prince of the dark oceans, release your wrath and drown out all joyful cries with screams of pain and terror!" Dylan cried, his eyes gleaming madly. "I Ritual Summon Evigishki Gustkraken!"

The black tentacle was soon joined by more of its kind, and soon their owner—a yellow-bodied, green-eyed octopus with a small red reptile astride it—exited the mirror. Upon entering the field, Gustkraken let out a guttural roar, lashing out with two tentacles and snatching two cards from Serenity's hand.

"Hey!" she cried, reaching for her cards but finding herself two slow to retrieve them. "What's the big idea?!"

"When Evigishki Gustkraken is Ritual Summoned," Dylan smirked, "I can look at two random cards in your hand and shuffle one of them back into your deck."

"Well, that's not stupid at all," Serenity growled.

Gustkraken brought the cards over to Dylan, who looked over them for a brief moment.

"Hmm…Monster Reincarnation and—what does this say? Pilica, Descendant of Gusto?" he muttered. "I don't think I like that one. I'll put it back in your deck."

He poked Pilica's card, and as Gustkraken's eyes took on a blue glow, so did Serenity's cards. One of them—a spell card—went back to her hand, but Pilica was thrust back into Serenity's deck.

No! she thought. Wonderful. There go my Synchro plans.

"I'll put a card face-down and end my turn," Dylan smirked. "You're up."

"Gee, thanks," Serenity sighed as she drew. "I'll place two cards face-down. That's about it for me."

One face-down monster and a potential spell or trap card appeared on Serenity's side of the field. Dylan grinned. This was going to be more fun than he thought.

"All right, then…my turn," he said as he conducted his draw. The card he drew was another green serpent monster, but this one wielded a spike-tipped chain. "I Normal Summon Gishki Chain!"

The chain-wielding serpent soon materialized onto the field, whipping its weapon about with a snarl.

"When Gishki Chain is Normal Summoned, I can look at the top three cards of my deck." Dylan said. "If there's a Ritual Monster or a Ritual Spell in those three, I can add it to my hand, then put the rest of the cards back on top of my deck in whatever order I choose."

He put the two remaining cards in his hand into his mouth, allowing his one mobile hand to view his deck's next three cards. He grinned at the sight of one, then revealed it: a Ritual Monster, this one a blue-and-yellow serpentine monster with antlers, webbed feet, and bat-like wings. Once the other two cards were back on top of his deck, he took the cards from his hand out of his mouth.

"This is where the fun really starts," Dylan said with his darkest grin yet. "I activate the spell card, Gishki Photomirror!"

Another amulet appeared, this one with fangs surrounding its core.

"I can use this card to bring out another Ritual Monster," he said, "but this one is special. Instead of tributing monsters, Gishki Photomirror lets me pay 500 life points times the level of the monster I want to summon."

"You're just going to give up life points?" Serenity gasped.

"Why not?!" Dylan laughed wildly. "The more pain you're in, the more pressure you're under…that's when your deepest secrets come out! That's when the real you is on the surface!"

Serenity took a step back. Why was no one watching this duel?

"The monster I want to summon this time is level eight," Dylan said, the Photomirror moving to hover over him. "500 times eight is 4000."

"But…that's all your life points!" Serenity cried.

"Not quite," Dylan grinned. "I chain the spell card, Mystik Wok! This lets me tribute one monster and gain life points equal to either its attack points or its defense points, and since I don't need Evigishki Gustkraken anymore, it's time for some calamari!"

A large cauldron appeared around Gustkraken, rising up and swallowing the monster. Despite Gustkraken's cries of pain and protest, it was soon boiled into oblivion. The bubbles from the boiling drifted over Dylan and popped, releasing a small shower of water over him that raised his life points from 4000 to 6400.

And then the Photomirror drifted down and attached itself to Dylan's chest.

The amulet glowed with a bright blue light, and Dylan's life points shot down to 2400 as he screamed in agony. He fell onto one knee as his cards fell out of his hand, the Photomirror's light becoming brighter. Dylan slowly picked up his cards as he got up, snickering all the while.

"You're insane," Serenity gasped.

"You really think so?" Dylan replied with a smile. "Let's see what my new friend has to say about that. Come on out, Evigishki Levianima!"

The serpentine beast glided out of the Photomirror, its body curling around as it brandished a gold-lined sword.

"Now, we'll get to the best part!" Dylan cackled. "Evigishki Levianima, attack her face-down monster!"

Levianima surged forth, its sword taking on a sapphire glow. The top card of Dylan's deck gained a similar glow.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Dylan smirked. "When Evigishki Levianima declares an attack, its effect activates and lets me draw a card. If that card is a Gishki monster, I can look at one random card in your hand."

He drew his card, and with a grin, revealed it to be a second copy of Gishki Vision.

"Well, look at that," Dylan snickered. "It's a Gishki monster, which means I can take a little peek at your hand."

Levianima raised its sword as it approached Serenity's face-down monster, causing one card in her hand to levitate into the air and spin around, revealing itself to be a spell card called "Contact with Gusto."

"Ooh…I'd like to see you use that card," Dylan grinned. "Maybe later. Right now, it's time for some bloodshed!"

Levianima brought its sword down upon the face-down monster, and a small explosion burst from the impact. When the smoke cleared, Serenity's monster was revealed to be none other than Winda, Priestess of Gusto. Her body faded into a wind that whipped into the shape of Gusto Gulldo, who immediately took a defensive posture upon reaching the field.

"Hmph…in that case," Dylan snorted, "I'll have Gishki Chain attack Gusto Gulldo!"

Chain complied, slithering forth and throwing its spike-tipped chain directly into Gulldo's chest. The bird exploded into a wind that again reformed, this time into a small red-eyed bird with a helmet.

"Meet Gusto Falco," Serenity said. "If you send him to the graveyard, he can Special Summon a Gusto monster from my deck in face-down defense position."

"Gah, fine," Dylan snarled, his sadistic mirth gone. "I end my turn."

"All right, then," Serenity said as she drew her card. "I Normal Summon Caam, Serenity of Gusto!"

Another green-haired young woman appeared, this one with paler hair and a white coat.

"Once per turn," Serenity began, "Caam can shuffle two Gusto monsters in my graveyard back into my deck."

Caam raised her staff, and a wind lifted the card forms of Winda and Gulldo back into Serenity's deck.

"When she does this, I can draw a card," Serenity continued as she did so. "Now…I Tune Gusto Falco with Caam, Serenity of Gusto!"

Falco and Caam lifted into the air, transforming into six stars that aligned within the series of rings.

"I Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreeze!"

Once Sphreeze hit the field, she immediately cast a scowl towards Dylan. The Gishki duelist simply snickered.

"Now, Daigusto Sphreeze, attack Evigishki Levianima!" Serenity cried.

Sphreeze rushed to confront Levianima, but the Ritual Monster—with 700 attack points greater than the 2000 of Serenity's Synchro Monster—was ready. The aquatic beast slashed at Sphreeze, but the contact generated a small explosion of wind that pushed Dylan back. Although he stumbled a bit, he did not fall like Casey had. His life points, however, dropped from 2400 to 1700.

"Heh…that's a neat Synchro Monster," Dylan chuckled.

"You won't be having so much fun for long," Serenity growled. "I'll put a card face-down and end my turn."

"Then…I draw!" Dylan declared, drawing a spell card. The sight of it made him grin widely, showing every one of his uneven teeth. "I activate the spell Salvage!"

A large crane appeared in the arena, reaching down into Dylan's graveyard.

"This card lets me take two Water-attribute monsters from my graveyard with 1500 or fewer attack points and add them back to my hand," he explained. "So, I'll just grab my old friends Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow!"

The two cards, held by the crane, were dropped into Dylan's hand. Serenity grimaced at the sight of this.

"Aww, you remember what they do!" Dylan laughed. "But that's not going to happen just yet. First, I'll activate the effect of the Gishki Aquamirror from my graveyard! By shuffling it back into my deck, I can add a Gishki Ritual Monster from my graveyard back to my hand!"

The Aquamirror radiated a faint light as it levitated out of the graveyard, the card containing Evigishki Gustkraken in tow. While the latter flew into Dylan's hand, the Aquamirror slipped back into his deck.

"And now I'll be discarding Gishki Vision and Gishki Shadow," Dylan announced. "Shadow lets me add Gishki Aquamirror back to hand, but Gishki Vision is giving me a very special little friend…a level ten Ritual Monster."

"Level ten?" Serenity repeated. A monster of such a high level was sure to be extremely powerful.

"And guess what? This is where I can use another of Gishki Vision's effects!" Dylan giggled. "If I'm going to summon a Ritual Monster that's Water-attribute, I can use Gishki Vision as the entire tribute!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Serenity balked.

"Ha! Your reaction is priceless!" Dylan gleefully exclaimed. "But I think we've had enough talk for now…let's activate Gishki Aquamirror again, and tribute Gishki Vision!"

The Aquamirror reappeared on the field, and Vision alone glided into it. This time, a four-armed humanoid behemoth began to emerge from the amulet, with a head and shoulders covered in spikes and golden armor over its dark skin.

"Demon of the darkest oceans, advance upon this world and devour everything in your path!" Dylan cried madly. "I Ritual Summon…Gishki Zielgigas!"

The colossal beast rose out of the Aquamirror, slamming itself onto the ground with a mighty roar that showed off its giant fangs. Serenity's eyes widened when she saw its ATK.

"3200?!" she cried. "Okay, seriously, does everyone but me have a monster whose attack points go over 3000?!"

"Ha-ha! Your face!" Dylan blurted, doubling over in laughter. "Oh, I get such a kick out of seeing people's reactions to my monsters...especially when I'm about to crush them! I activate Gishki Zielgigas' effect!"

Zielgigas' crimson eyes gained a blue glow, and like Levianima before it, this power was also given to the top card of Dylan's deck.

"Once per turn, by paying 1000 life points, I can draw a card," Dylan said. "If that card is a Gishki monster, I can shuffle one card on the field into its owner's deck."

"But…that'll leave you with only 700 life points," Serenity pointed out.

"Who cares?!" Dylan cackled. "I don't care if I'm about to drop dead right here! The pain is part of the fun!"

Even when energy rose out of Dylan's body and into Zielgigas' mouth, his laughter still echoed through the arena. It was at this point that Casey and the professors rushed in.

"Serenity!" Casey called. "What's going on?!"

"Where in the he—" Serenity began.

"Oh, look!" Dylan screeched, drawing the attention of everyone present. "I drew a Gishki monster!"

He held up the card as its blue aura faded away, revealing it to be a green-skinned monster with a lion-like mane and an Aquamirror-like amulet around its neck.

"That means that I can shuffle one card back into your deck!" he laughed. "Now, let's see…I'll pick your monster, Daigusto Sphreeze!"

Zielgigas pointed one hand forward, and a tornado of water formed around its entire arm. The tornado rushed forth, snatching Sphreeze and forcing her back into Serenity's Extra Deck.

"Heh…heh-heh…this is going to be good." Dylan chuckled.

"Stop the duel this instant, Dylan!" Clark yelled. No response. "I asked you to stop it!"

"Now, Gishki Zielgigas!" Dylan cried. "Attack Serenity directly! Swarming Tidal Surge!"

This time, a watery tornado formed around all four of Zielgigas' arms. The beast thrust its hands forward, causing the four small tornados to merge into one large aquatic cyclone. With nothing to protect her, the cyclone bore down on Serenity, tossing her about and throwing her onto the floor. Her life points made a dramatic decline, going straight from 4000 to 800.

"SERENITY!" Casey cried. He tried to jump over the railing again, but Dylan caught sight of him. The water duelist's joy vanished in an instant.

"Interfere, and I'll do worse," he growled. "To her."

Casey stopped. With a grunt, he slammed his fist into the railing in a fit of resigned anger.

"That's better. Now…where were we?" Dylan smirked.

Serenity held herself up by both of her hands, her body soaked and her mouth coughing out water.

"I…activate the trap…Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!" she choked, causing her face-down card to flip. "If I take damage from a direct…attack…I can reveal a level one monster in my hand…and Special Summon it!"

"What?" Dylan blinked.

"Then," Serenity continued as she got back onto her feet, "I can Special Summon a second copy of that monster from my deck! So…here it is…Gusto Egul!"

She proudly held up her level one monster, then, slammed the card down onto her Duel Disk. The first Egul was soon joined by another, both crossing their wings.

"More of them?" Dylan growled. "Fine! Gishki Chain, attack one of those Gusto Eguls!"

The green serpent immediately destroyed one of the Eguls, but when Egul's effect took place, a familiar monster appeared on Serenity's field.

"Finally," Serenity smiled.

Pilica, Descendant of Gusto had arrived.

"That thing?" Dylan growled. Then, he smirked. "Heh…I think I'll end my turn here. I want to watch you squirm a little bit more."

"You'll regret not finishing me," Serenity growled as she drew her card. "I Normal Summon…Gusto Gulldo!"

When Gulldo appeared on the field, Dylan's grin stretched from ear to ear.

"Ha, I see what you're doing!" he cackled. "You know what? Do it! Summon Daigusto Sphreeze again, use its effect to end me! Come on, it'll be fun! Come on!"

Serenity paused for a moment, looking down at her field. Her monsters looked back at her expectantly. And then she looked back towards Dylan.

"No."

"What?" Dylan blinked.

"You're sick, Dylan. You need help," Serenity said. "You seemed like a nice guy before now…which is why I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

She looked down at her monsters again.

"I Tune Gusto Egul with Pilica, Descendant of Gusto," she said.

This time, the familiar rings only contained four stars.

A level four Synchro monster? Casey thought. What's she planning?

"Messenger of the skies, bring help from above to the weak and suffering!" Serenity chanted. "I Synchro Summon Daigusto Falcos!"

A larger version of Gusto Falco appeared, with a small rider on top. Upon appearing, Falcos flapped its wings and stirred up a whirlwind around both itself and Gusto Gulldo.

"When Synchro Summoned, Daigusto Falcos gives 600 attack points to all Gusto monsters currently on my field," Serenity explained, as Falcos' 1400 attack points became 2000 and Gulldo's 600 became 1200. "Next…I activate the spell card Synchro Gift! I can target one Synchro Monster on my field and make its attack points drop to zero. Then, its original attack points are added to one non-Synchro monster on my field."

A light shined above Falcos, draining it of its power and leaving its ATK at zero before moving on to deposit that power over Gusto Gulldo. 1400 attack points were then added to Gulldo's 1200, bringing it up to 2600.

"Just enough," Serenity remarked. "Gusto Gulldo…attack Gishki Chain!"

Gulldo soared into the air, surrounded by an aura of green light in the shape of Daigusto Falcos. With a great shriek, it dive-bombed Gishki Chain, creating a small explosion that—while it depleted Dylan's life points—only ruffled his clothing slightly. He growled as his life points fell to zero.

"No, no, no!" he snarled as all cards on the field vanished. "You could have made that hurt! Why did you wimp out?!"

"I told you," Serenity said calmly. "I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore, so I ended the duel with as little pain as possible."

"That's not how it's supposed to be!" Dylan cried. "I—"

He was cut off by a quick hand on his neck, and with sufficient pressure applied to a sensitive spot, Dylan slid into unconsciousness. Professor Essie drew her hand back and looked to Serenity.

"Are you all right?" she asked. "I'm so sorry we didn't get here earlier."

"I'm fine," Serenity said dully. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I screwed up, bringing this guy here."

"You couldn't have known that he was like this," Clark shook his head. "You handled the situation as well as you could have."

"I suppose I should call the authorities," Essie sighed. "Stan, could you take care of him?"

As Clark complied, picking up Dylan's body, Serenity's eyes fell guiltily to the floor. She knew that word would get out about what happened, and once it did, LID would use it to discredit S.P.E.L.L as a school. Without another word, she trudged past the others and left.

"Serenity? Hey, wait!" Casey cried, but Essie put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave her alone," she said. "I think she just needs some time alone."

"But she's always alone!" Casey protested. "Wouldn't she need someone to—"

"Just leave her be for now," Clark advised. "She was just through quite an ordeal. Let her recover."

"All right," Casey sighed, pushing up his glasses. I just wish she would open up more, let someone help her when something like this happens…