Prologue: Ange's Exam

Domino City. The big city that is known for many things, like the most famous duelists in the world. The sun was rising, bathing the city buildings with its morning light. It reached one building in particular. It was a two-story building with white walls and a black roof. It also had a stone walkway leading through the yard up to the porch.

And, inside this building, a boy with dark-blue hair was sleeping in his bedroom. Other than the bed he was sleeping on, there was a desk and a TV. The boy was sleeping peacefully before the digital alarm clock standing right next to his bed let out a beeping sound. The boy stirred before opening his brown eyes. He blinked twice before getting up. The boy let out a yawn while stretching his arms.

"Andrew! Are you awake?" A female voice called out from downstairs.

"Yes, mom!" The boy now named Andrew called back.

That's right. This was Andrew Wilson. A student from the prestigious Duel Academy. Currently an Obelisk Blue student.

"Then I'll make you some breakfast!" His mom said.

"Okay!" Andrew let out another yawn before getting off his bed. He was wearing a pajamas in the form of a light-blue t-shirt and dark-blue shorts. Right after he stood up, he made some stretching before walking over to a closet. But he stopped when his eyes landed on a small photo standing on his desk.

He picked it up and looked at it. It was a photo of himself, dressed in a white t-shirt and blue shorts. There was another person standing next to him. A girl with light-blue hair tied into a long ponytail and sapphire blue eyes, dressed in a light-blue tank top and a white sarong. Both of them were smiling together, with a blue ocean as the background.

Andrew smiled fondly at the photo.

"So it's about to start, huh?" A male voice spoke up.

Andrew turned around and came face-to-face with a spirit of sorts. It was a skeleton figure wearing a crimson red cape and a mask with yellow mask, and wielding a staff made of bones with a purple orb attached to it. This was Phantom Magician. A duel spirit residing in Andrew's deck.

Andrew nodded. "Sure is. The second year at Duel Academy. I've been waiting for this. I wonder how the others have been."

"Sounds like you're eager to see your girlfriend again.~" A young female voice said with a teasing tone. That voice belonged to another spirit that appeared right next to Phantom Magician. This one was a short, green-eyed girl with green hair tied to a short, messy ponytail. She was wearing a brown robe with a white shirt and a short, black skirt underneath, and brown boots. She was holding a silver staff with a green gem at its tip. This was Wynn the Wind Charmer. A duel spirit that was abandoned in a well, deep within the woods of Academy Island, where weak cards have been left. That is, until Andrew and his friends came to that place and got them out of there.

Andrew chuckled a bit. "Well, I can't deny that. But of course, it's not just Jenny. It would be nice to see all the others as well."

"And from what I understand, some of them are going to watch the duels in the entrance exam for the first year students. Right?" Phantom Magician asked.

"Yeah." Andrew opened the closet and took out his Obelisk Blue uniform that was hanging inside. "And one of those potential students happens to be my cousin."

"Oh, you mean the younger one, right?" Wynn replied with a thoughtful look. "The one named... Angie, was it?"

"That's right." Andrew smiled, glancing out to a window. "And I believe she'll do well."


Somewhere else, someone was sleeping a bed. The bedroom had a closet, a desk with a computer and a few posters on the wall, showing the images of famous duelists. Like Yugi Moto, for example. The person sleeping in the bed appeared to be a girl with short, black hair, snoring rather softly.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

And then, someone knocked the door and opened it, allowing a man at his early 40's enter. He had short, black hair and green eyes and was wearing a white shirt and black pants. This was Manuel Mihaylov. Andrew's uncle.

"Angie. Time to wake up." He called out.

The girl now named Angie stirred and moaned before turning around in the bed. "5 more minutes, please..." She said quite drowsily.

"Come on, Angie. You don't want to sleep through your exam, do you?" Manuel asked with an amused look.

At that, Angie opened her blue eyes slowly, blinking a few times before they widened. "Exam?"

"That's right. Your Duel Academy entrance exam. Now get up and get dressed. Your mom is making breakfast right now." Manuel closed the door.

Angie grinned. "Oh right! The entrance exam! It's today! Awesome!" She removed her blanket, revealing her slim figure, clad in a black tank top and underwear. She jumped off the bed and opened the window, breathing in the morning air. "It's about time!" She rushed over to her closet and got dressed. She was now wearing a red t-shirt, a pair of blue shorts and a red cap with white lining. She was about to leave the room when she stopped herself. "Oops! Almost forgot!"

She walked over to the desk and opened a drawer, where she found a deck holder. She grabbed it and opened it. "I can't duel without my cards." She pulled out a card and stared at it. "Especially... these."


Flashback

A beam of light shot down from a starry night sky.


And Angie picked up a bunch of cards from the ground.

Flashback end


Angie smiled before putting the card back into the deck holder and strapping it on the left side of her shorts. She then grabbed a duel disk that was placed on the desk.

She quickly left the room and used the hand-rails of the stairs to slide down, landing right in front of a doorway leading to the kitchen.

"Angie! How many times have I told you not to do that?" A woman's voice asked from there.

"I can't help it! Today's the day I get to become a Duel Academy student!" Angie replied, smiling broadly as she entered the kitchen.

"Well, you can't take the exam on an empty stomach, can you?" The woman said, carrying a plate with pancakes. She had dark-blonde hair and light blue eyes, dressed in a pink sweater and brown skirt. This was Shellah Mihaylov. Angie's mom and Andrew's aunt. She placed the plate on the table. "Now eat up, so I can then drive you to the exam."

"Okay, mom." Angie sat down and munched happily on the pancakes.

"So, Angie. Are you looking forward to the exam?" Manuel asked as he entered.

"Of course!" Angie replied. "Once I ace the exam, I get to go to the same school big bro once did!"

Shellah laughed a bit. "And the same school that Andrew's currently attending."

"Oh yeah, that's true. I can't wait to see him!" Once she wolfed down the remaining pancakes, she grabbed a glass of orange juice and drank it in a manner of seconds. "Haaa! That hit the spot!" She then jumped off her chair. "Come on, let's go!"

Her parents laughed a bit.

Moments later, Angie and her mom got into a red car and took off.


After a long drive, they arrived at a dome-like building, where a table was standing nearby. Two ladies dressed in white blazers trimmed with yellow were sitting near it. There was also a black-haired man dressed in a black suit and shades standing near them.

"Thanks for the drive, mom." Angie said.

"No problem. Just go out there and do your best." Shellah replied as Angie gave her a quick hug before jumping out of the car.

She ran over to the table. "Yo! I'm here to take the entrance exam!"

"Of course." The man nodded. He then turned to the two women. "Ladies?"

One of the women, who had light-brown hair that was cropped short in a boys' haircut, smiled and nodded. "Alright. Your name, please."

"Angie Mihaylov!"

She turned to her female companion, who had long burgundy hair that cascaded down to her shoulders with her bangs separated in two. She flipped through a pile of papers and checked on the names written on it. Eventually, she stopped and smiled before nodding to her partner. "She's registered."

The man turned to Angie "Okay. Just get inside and wait until you get called to take your practical exam."

"Great!" She grinned as she headed to the building.


Inside the building, there were a bunch of duels going on down on the stadium floor. There were at least 4 separate duel arenas, where the potential students faced duel proctors. And there were a lot of people watching the duels from the stands. Duel Academy students dressed in different uniforms from the three dorms, Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue.

And there was also a certain area of the stands, where faculty members sat together, observing the duels.

Up in the stands, on the very top of the dome, Andrew was watching the duels. "These duels are pretty good." He said with a smile.

"I'll say." A female voice replied. Andrew turned to his right and came face-to-face with the blue-haired fairy duelist, Jenny, who was smiling sweetly to him.

"Jenny!" He wrapped his arms around her for a hug, making her giggle. "How've you been?"

"I've been fine. But now that you're here..." She pulled back a bit only to pressed her lips against his. He accepted the kiss. "It feels better."

"Same here." He smiled.

"Figures that I would witness this."

The couple turned and saw a Ra Yellow student approach them. This was the blonde ritual duelist known as Shiori Koizumi.

"Shiori! It's been a while!" Andrew greeted

"Sure is." Shiori replied before giving them a smirk. "I see the two of you couldn't wait to see each other."

Jenny replied a teasing grin. "Like you have any room to talk with your girlfriend right behind you."

"Oh, uh..." Shiori trailed off with a small blush on his face while glancing behind himself, where an Obelisk Blue girl with long, wavy grass-green hair and blue eyes showed up. This was the plant duelist, Cynthia Pepper.

"She's got you there." She said with a giggle.

"So how did summer treat ya?" Jenny asked.

"Pretty good. My parents were certainly overjoyed to see me again. We spent about two weeks hiking on a floral mountain."

"Really? That sounds nice."

"It sure was. Hey! Maybe the four of us could do that someday?"

"The four of us?" Shiori repeated.

"Yeah, like a double date."

The ritual duelist blushed again. "Uh..."

"What? Are you embarrassed over that idea?" Andrew asked teasingly.

"Oh, shut up, will ya!" He snapped as the Obelisk girls giggled.

"What's up?" A new voice called out.

They turned and saw a red-haired girl with green eyes who was dressed in an Obelisk Blue uniform. Specifically, the boy version. Not the girl version. This was Andrew's childhood friend, Clover Penn.

"Hi Clover!" Andrew greeted and held up his right fist.

She smiled and gave him a fist bump. "It's been a while."

"Sure was. How've you been?"

"Oh, I've been fine. Nothing too exciting happened. Not ever since we spent that day in Kaiba Land."

"You went to Kaiba Land?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"Yeah, me, Jenny and Clover went there together." Andrew replied. "And let me tell you, that was one heck of a day..."


Meanwhile, in the lower parts of the stands, Angie had just arrived, noticing the many duels taking place. "Oh, this is awesome! Look at those duels!" She said enthusiastically. "Ooh, that one looks good!" She spotted one particular duel.


A proctor dressed in purple had a warrior equipped with Sword of Deep-Seated, and a facedown card. The warrior himself was a muscular man wearing a black, sleeveless outfit. He was a monster known as Warrior Dai Grepher. (ATK: 1700-2200 DEF: 1600-2100 LV: 4)

His opponent was a girl whose height was 5ft 7. She appeared to be half Caucasian and half Hawaiian with black hair that went down right below her shoulders and orange eyes. She was wearing a beige t-shirt without a left shoulder that had the picture of a fiery phoenix printed on the front, a pair of blue jeans and black high-heeled sandals.

On her field was a red, black and golden robot with a hat that had a feather on it. It held a sword in one hand and a machine gun in the other. This monster was called Robotic Knight (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) There were also two face-up trap cards and a facedown card right behind it.


"Oh! I've seen that girl before." Cynthia noted.

"You have?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah. Her name is Pele Ricci. I saw her on TV once when she was interviewed. She was answering questions about her parents, who by the way, are pretty famous."

"Famous how?" Andrew asked.

"Well for starters..." Cynthia held up a finger. "There's her dad. He happens to be a TV star known as Richard Ricci."

Clover snapped her fingers. "Oh! I know of him. He's famous for playing that detective in the new TV series, 'Detective Sting'."

"I've been watching that series. A really good show." Jenny said in fascination.

"It sure is." Cynthia nodded. "And then, there's Pele's mom, Keahi Ricci. She's a famous chef who drives a really famous restaurant in Las Vegas. It's known for her really spicy dishes."

"Spicy food, huh?" Shiori said. "And how spicy are we talking here?"

"Well, it varies on the different kinds of dishes." Cynthia explained. "I've heard that a person tried a dish so spicy that he ended up dazed and burned after two bites."

Andrew sweatdropped. "That's spicy alright."


"And now, with my Warrior Dai Grepher, I'll attack your Robotic Knight!" The proctor declared as his warrior started to move.

"Not so fast!" The girl interrupted. "I activate the spell card, Circle of the Fire Kings!" Her facedown card flipped up. "With this card, I can destroy one fire monster on my field in order to summon another one from my graveyard. So I'll destroy Robotic Knight and replace it with UFO Turtle!" The robot was engulfed in a pillar of flames before shattering into pixels. And, inside those flames, a new monster was formed. The flames died down and revealed a turtle with an UFO for a shell. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now my life points are safe. And that's not all, the effects of Backfire and Kickfire activate!" Her two trap cards glowed. "With my Backfire in play, you take 500 points of damage when at least one of my fire monsters is destroyed." The named trap card shot out a torrent of flames that engulfed the proctor.

Proctor: 4000-3500

"And as for Kickfire, it now gets a counter since my previous fire monster was destroyed by a card effect." The other trap card glowed brighter for a second.

After recovering from the fiery assault, the proctor spoke up. "Not bad, applicant. But I have a trap card." His facedown card flipped up. "It's called Meteorain. And it allows my monster to pierce your monster's defense and cause battle damage. Now go!" The warrior struck the turtle with his sword, making it explode.

Pele: 3500-2500

"That just triggered the effect of Backfire again. But first, I activate UFO Turtle's special ability, which allows me to summon a new fire monster with up 1500 attack points. And I choose another UFO Turtle." A new turtle replaced the previous one. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now for the effect of Backfire." The named trap card shot out another torrent of flames.

Proctor: 3500-3000

"I end my turn." The proctor concluded.

"My turn then." Pele drew her next card and looked at it. "Since I have a fire monster on the field, I'm allowed to summon Bonfire Colossus!" A new pillar of flames erupted from the floor. But this time, those flames suddenly changed form. Standing on the field was now a huge, humanoid figure made of pure flames. It was even wielding a halberd made of said flames. (ATK: 2600 DEF: 2200 LV: 8) "However, as soon as this monster is special summoned, I must destroy 2 fire monsters I control. And in this case, that includes my Bonfire Colossus." The fiery giant turned into a fire tornado that swallowed UFO Turtle.

"That leaves you wide open." The proctor stated.

"That may be, but I won't be empty-handed. Thanks to Backfire, you take another 500 points of damage." The flames spread out on the field, causing the proctor to cover himself with his arms.

Proctor: 3000-2500

Once the flames died down, Pele spoke up again. "And of course, with both of my fire monsters destroyed because of an effect, Kickfire gets another counter for each of them." The named trap card glowed briefly. "And that ends my turn."

"You don't have anything else to play?" The proctor asked while drawing a card.

"I don't need to." Pele replied as the Kickfire card suddenly glowed again. "Because now I can activate the second effect of Kickfire. During either player's standby phase, I can send it to the graveyard, and then deal 1000 points of damage for each of its counters. And unfortunately for you, that's three." At that moment, the trap card vanished before a big explosion engulfed the proctor. Moments later, he coughed a little as the smoke cleared.

Proctor: 2500-0000

"An impressive move, applicant. Welcome to Duel Academy."

"Thank you." Pele replied with a warm smile and bowed.


"Ow! That burned a lot." Andrew commented.

"She seems to be able to cause more direct damage in one turn than Tracey." Jenny added.

That made Andrew shudder. "Oh please. Don't ever say that name again."

"Hear hear." Clover agreed while Shiori and Cynthia sweatdropped.


"Wow! What a move!" Angie said, amazed by the outcome of Pele's duel. "Now I really wanna come to this school!"


Meanwhile, the staff members looked pleased by the process. "Seems we're getting plenty of new students this year." One of them said.

"Indeed." Another one agreed before looking over a few papers. "Hmm. Okay. the next applicant is someone named Angie Mihaylov."

"And who will be her dueling proctor?"

"Excuse me?" A new voice spoke up. The staff members turned to a person clad in red. "If you don't mind, I would like to be a dueling proctor."


Pele took a seat in a stand and let out a breath.

"Hi there!" She turned and saw Angie grinning to her. "That was an epic duel back there!"

Pele smiled. "Thanks. Though, to be honest, that one was relatively easy."

"Yeah, I can tell. I mean, it was like, BOOM!" Angie exclaimed while spreading her arms, earning a soft laughter from her. "Oh, I'm Angie, by the way. Angie Mihaylov."

"Pele Ricci. So, have you dueled yet?"

"No, I'm just waiting for my turn. And then I'll show you what I'm made of!"

"Angie Mihaylov, please report to exam field 4!"

"Aha! Showtime! Wish me luck!" At that, Angie ran down.


"Oh! Angie's up!" Andrew said with a smile.

"Great!" Clover added, smiling herself.

"Angie who?" Jenny asked curiously.

"Wait! Angie Mihaylov..." Shiori repeated, looking thoughtful for a moment. He then widened his eyes. "Mihaylov!"

"That's right. You've already heard of someone with that name. My cousin, Peter."

"Oh right! I remember now!" The ritual duelist.

"He's known as 'The Master of Dragon Rulers', right?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah. And as for Angie... she's Peter's younger sister."

"Oh, so she's your other cousin then." Jenny assumed.

"That's right." Clover replied before looking down to the arenas. "There she is!"


Angie appeared from the floor on a platform in one of the dueling arenas. "Cool" She muttered as she glanced around, noticing the many students watching from the stands. "Ah" She stopped when she noticed Andrew and Clover waving to her. She gave them a thumbs up, when she suddenly noticed a new person appear on the opposite end of the field. It was a man with brown hair in a slicked back undercut hairstyle and grey eyes. He was wearing a jacket that looked identical to an Obelisk Blue Blazer. Only this one wasn't blue. It was red like a Slifer Red jacket. He also had a standard Duel Academy duel disk strapped on his left arm.

"Hello there." He greeted with a friendly smile. "You're Angie Mihaylov, correct?"

"You got it!" She greeted back with grin.

"Well, then. I'm Professor Paul Miller. Headmaster of Slifer Red."


"Headmaster?" Shiori repeated. "Slifer Red?"

"The Slifer dorm has a new headmaster?" Cynthia asked.

"It sure sounds like it." Clover replied.

"I guess that would be expected, considering what happened to Banner." Andrew said as Jenny nodded.


"Nice to meet you...!" Angie said before she blinked. "Wait a sec! Paul Miller... Ah! I've heard of you! You're a Pro duelist! Some people gave you the nickname, 'The Magnetic Force'!"

Professor Miller chuckled. "I see my reputation precedes me."

"I also heard that you retired from the Pro League a few months ago. Why?"

"Well, that's because the previous headmaster of Slifer Red passed away some time right before the end of last year, and they needed a replacement. The owner of Duel Academy came to me and insisted on hiring me." He smiled fondly. "And of course, I happen to be a Duel Academy graduate and have good memories from there, so I couldn't say no."

"Whoa, really? That's cool!" Angie got excited. "Who'd ever thought I'd get to duel a former Pro duelist? This is awesome!"

Miller chuckled at her enthusiasm. "I like your attitude. But you should know that I act as a proctor here, meaning I'll be using a test deck instead of my personal one."

"Hey, I'm fine with any deck you use, as long as you give me a good fight!"

"In that case..." He activated his duel disk and drew his opening hand. "Shall we begin?"

"You bet!" Angie replied and did the same.

"DUEL!"

Angie: 4000

Miller: 4000

"Alright! Here goes!" Angie drew. "First I summon Gem-Elephant in defense mode!" As the name suggested, the monster appearing on her field was an elephant. It had red gems decorating its body. It even had a pair of tusks made of the same red gems. (ATK: 400 DEF: 1900 LV: 3) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown!" She inserted a card into her duel disk.

"A decent start." Miller said and drew his sixth card. "First I summon Axe Raider in attack mode!" A muscular warrior bedecked in golden armor with red highlights appeared. His armor consisted of a chest plate, pauldrons, and a spiked round helmet. He was wielding a double-sided axe. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1150 LV: 4) "And since he's an earth attribute monster, I can equip him with the spell card, Invigoration!" A spell card appeared behind the warrior. "Thanks to this, he gains 400 extra attack points, at the cost of a mere 200 defense points." (ATK: 1700-2100 DEF: 1150-950) "Now attack her Gem-Elephant!" The warrior roared as he charged forward.

"Not so fast, Teach! You just triggered Gem-Elephant's special ability!" Angie grabbed a card from her hand. "Whenever it's in battle, I can send 1 normal monster from my hand to the graveyard and then increase its defense points by 1000! Check it out!" She slid the card into her graveyard slot as the elephant let out a trumpeting call when it felt its power increase. (DEF: 1900-2900) It then swung its trunk and slammed the warrior hard, sending him back to Miller's side of the field.

Miller: 4000-3200 (DEF: 2900-1900)

He was a little surprised at first, but then smiled. "Not a bad counterattack. I end my turn with a facedown card." He concluded and inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My turn!" Angie drew. "And I activate the trap card, Birthright!" Her facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, I'm allowed to summon a normal monster back from my graveyard. Like the one I sent there a minute ago. I summon... Gem-Knight Crystal!"


"Gem-Knight?!" Andrew repeated as he and the others watched in shock as a knight in silver armor rose up on the field. There were crystals decorating the armor. (ATK: 2450 DEF: 1950 LV: 7)

"Wait a minute. One of the Shadow Riders used cards like that." Cynthia said.

"Yeah, the Black Knight." Shiori replied, sounding a little sour.

"How could we forget?" Jenny said bitterly.


Flashback

"Andrew was forced into a Shadow Game and faced those monsters."

Gem-Knight Crystal charged forward and landed a punch that destroyed the black-armored giant monster known as Elemental HERO Gaia. And Andrew suffered an electric shock.

Flashback end


"That was not fun to watch." Clover added. "But I had no idea Angie would have a card like that."

"Me neither." Andrew replied, getting curious about this.


"That's an impressive monster you got there." Professor Miller said, eyeing on the knight, fascinated.

"Why thank you." She glanced at the knight who gave her a slight nod. "And he's not the only one! Cuz now I summon Gem-Knight Tourmaline in attack mode!" A lightning bolt struck from above. And on the spot it hit, a yellow armored knight rose up. The parts on the armor's shoulders and knees were brown. And there were yellowish gems on its shoulders and chest plate. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "Now, Gem-Knight Crystal, attack his Axe Raider!" The silver armored knight charged forward.

"I activate the trap card, Negate Attack!" Miller's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that stopped Gem-Knight Crystal's attack. "This trap card lets me stop your attack and end your battle phase." The knight returned to Angie's field.

"Oh shoot!" Angie snapped her fingers. "Thought I had you there. I end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared near her feet.

"Then it's my turn." Miller drew. "And I activate the spell card, Lightning Vortex!" The named spell card appeared. "By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy all face-up monsters on your field."

"All of them?!" Angie's eyes widened.

"Exactly." As the Professor discarded one of his cards, his spell card fired many bolts of lightning that fried all three of her monsters before they exploded.

"Man, what a shock." Angie cracked.

"And that's not all." The Professor continued as his graveyard slot glowed. "The card I discarded was Card of Compensation. And whenever I send that spell card from my hand to the graveyard, I get to draw two extra cards." He drew. "Then I summon Tenkabito Shien in attack mode!" A reddish clad samurai riding on a warhorse appeared. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And this monster's attribute is fire. Which means I can equip him with the spell card, Salamandra." A broad sword appeared in front of the samurai, allowing him to grab it with his right. At that moment, a stream of flames taking the shape of a serpentine dragon emerged and wrapped itself around the blade. "Thanks to this, the equipped monster gains 700 more attack points." (ATK: 1500-2200) "Now attack her life points directly!" The samurai pointed his forward, allowing the fiery serpentine dragon charge forward.

"Hold on, Teach!" Angie interrupted. "I've got a trap card to stop your attack!"

Miller raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because Tenkabito Shien is immune to all trap cards."

Angie grinned. "Well, this trap will do!" Her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Rock Bombardment! This lets me send 1 rock type monster from my deck to the graveyard in order to deal 500 points of damage to you!" She fanned her deck out, took a card from her deck and slid it into her graveyard slot. And then, the trap card shot out a boulder that flew over to Miller's field and shattered into pieces that rained down on him.

Miller: 3200-2700

The professor recovered quickly. "Not bad, but that's not enough to stop my attack."

"Maybe. But this is where my monster comes in!" Angie's graveyard slot glowed. "You see, what I just sent to the grave is a monster whose ability lets me do 1 of 2 things. And I go with option number 1: Special summon it to the field!"

Miller's eyes widened as he witnessed a mass of grey mud erupting from the floor. And then it started to morph. Moments later, the mud had taken the form of something humanoid with a mouth and eyes that glowed yellow. (ATK: 100 DEF: 2100 LV: 4)

"Professor, meet my Revival Golem!" Angie introduced. "Didn't see that coming, did ya?"

Miller smiled. "Not a bad move."


"Not bad at all." Pele said with a smile of her own, as she watched this. "A combo that allowed her to cause damage AND summon a monster. A good move." She dropped her smile a bit. "Too bad her new monster is a little too weak."


The fiery serpentine dragon struck the golem head-on, causing its body to harden pretty quickly before it shattered into pieces.

"Now, Axe Raider! Attack her directly!" The other warrior swung his axe and struck Angie, who quickly held up her duel disk to shield herself. But the force behind the attack made her slid back.

Angie: 4000-1900

"And that's the end of my turn." Miller concluded.

"Alright, comeback time!" Angie drew her next card and looked at it. "Starting with Pot of Greed! Now I can draw two cards!" She drew her extra cards. "And one of them is the spell card, Dark Factory of Mass Production! This lets me bring two normal monsters in my graveyard back to my hand. Like Gem-Knight Crystal and Tourmaline!" The two named monster cards came out of her graveyard slot. "Then I'll kick things up with Polymerization!" A fusion vortex appeared behind her. "And with it, by fusing my Gem-Knight Crystal with a thunder type monster, like Tourmaline..." The two knights entered the vortex and swirled together. "I can summon Gem-Knight Prismaura!" And from a flash of light, a new knight emerged. This one was wearing silvery armor with golden linings and a red cape. He was wielding a shield and a lance. There were a bunch of crystals sticking out of his shoulders. And the lance itself was also made of crystal. (ATK: 2450 DEF: 1400 LV: 7)

"That's a pretty strong monster you created." The Professor noted.

"Thanks. And he's got one heck of a special ability. Once per turn, I can send 1 Gem-Knight card from my hand to the graveyard and then destroy one face-up card on the field."


"For real?" Cynthia asked in surprise.

"Those Gem-Knights are even stronger than I thought they were." Andrew muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"You tell me." Clover replied.


"So I'll discard this..." Angie sent one of her cards to the graveyard. "And destroy your Tenkabito Shien!" The Gem-Knight pointed his lance towards the samurai, and fired a bolt of purple lightning that zapped him until he exploded.

"Impressive." Miller complimented.

"There's more!" Angie continued. "The Gem-Knight card I sent to the grave was Gem-Knight Obsidian." The spirit of another knight appeared. This one was in black armor with a large string of black pearls draped over his shoulder. "Whenever he's sent from my hand to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon a level 4 or lower normal monster from my graveyard. So welcome back, Gem-Knight Tourmaline!" From a flash of light, the yellow armored knight appeared again. (ATK: 1600 DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "Now, Prismaura! Attack his Axe Raider with Crystal Lance!" The silver armored knight charged forward and pierced the axe-wielding warrior with his lance, making him explode.

Miller: 2700-2350

"And now, Tourmaline! Your turn!" The yellow knight conjured a ball of mystic energy and hurled it at Miller, blasting him hard.

Miller: 2350-0750

"Oh yeah!" Angie pumped her right fist in the air. "Now that's what dueling's all about!"

"It's too early to celebrate." Miller said, making Angie confused.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Here's some advice. A duelist should keep their guard up. Because your opponent might make an unexpected move." He then drew. "First I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards, looked at them and revealed one of them. "And one of them is the spell card, Hammer Shot. This allows me to destroy one monster in attack mode that has the highest attack strength. In this case, that's Prismaura." At that, a giant hammer appeared from nowhere and flattened the lance wielding knight with one smash.

"Ah! My Prismaura!" Angie muttered.

"Next I activate Silent Doom. This lets me summon 1 normal monster from my graveyard in defense mode. So I'll bring back Axe Raider!" The axe-wielding warrior appeared again. (ATK: 1700 DEF: 1150 LV: 4) "And next I'll sacrifice him in order to summon Phoenix Beast Garuda!" The warrior was swallowed by flames. And then, a new monster rose up from those flames. It was a giant bird with an armored, yellowish body. It had reddish brown feathers on its wings and matching tail feathers. (ATK: 2500 DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And since it's a wind attribute monster, I'll equip it with the spell card, Gust Fan!" A big paper fan with the image of a Chinese dragon appeared under it, releasing some green energy that entered its body. "This card increases the equipped monster's attack points by 400 while draining 200 of its defense points." (ATK: 2500-2900 DEF: 1200-1000)

"Uh oh." Angie eyed on the powered up monster.

"Now, Garuda! Destroy her Gem-Knight Tourmaline!" The phoenix took flight. "And Garuda has a special ability. When it attacks an opponent's monster, it gains 300 attack points during the damage step." (ATK: 2900-3200) The phoenix dive-bombed on the knight and shattered him into pixels.

Angie: 1900-0300

"Man." Angie murmured as the giant bird returned to the professor's field. (ATK: 3200-2900)

"See what I mean?" He asked. "Even when you have an upper hand, you can't let your guard down. Otherwise, you'll end up in a tough spot."


"No kidding." Jenny commented. "With that Garuda facing Angie, this won't be easy."

"Especially since her field is completely empty." Shiori added.

"Maybe, but it's not over yet." Andrew said, his eyes completely focused on the duel.

"So you think Angie still can win?" Cynthia asked.

"Positive. I still don't know how she got those Gem-Knight cards, but what I do know is that she was already a good duelist before she even got them."

"It's true." Clover added. "She always visited us often to duel either me or Andrew, she improved just a little every time."

"So I wouldn't count her out just yet." Andrew said.


"Come on, Angie." Pele muttered worriedly.


Angie stared at the new Slifer headmaster for a moment before giving her a smirk. "Yeah, I see what you mean. But you know, even if I'm at disadvantage, I don't give up so easily. As a certain someone I know would say, 'I won't stand down until the last life points expire'!"


Andrew's eyes widened a bit before he smiled. "You tell him."


"So look out!" Angie drew her next card, looked at it and then revealed the other card in her hand. "I activate Pot of Avarice! This spell card lets me take 5 monsters cards from my graveyard..." Gem-Knight Crystal, Tourmaline and Obsidian, Revival Golem and Gem-Elephant came out of her graveyard slot. "After that, I shuffle them into my deck and draw two new cards." She shuffled them into her deck and then inserted it into her duel disk before drawing her extra cards. After one glance, she grinned. "Nice! I play the spell card, Mystical Space Typhoon! Now I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, like your Gust Fan!" The giant fan was blown away by a whirlwind. (ATK: 2900-2500 DEF: 1000-1200)

"Nice move." Miller said.

"I'm not done! Next I summon Gem-Knight Alexandrite in attack mode!" A knight in white armor embedded with gems rose up on the field. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This guy won't stick around for long, because now I activate his special ability! By sacrificing him, I can bust out a normal Gem-Knight monster directly from my deck. So let's all welcome back Gem-Knight Crystal!" In a flash of light, the white armored knight was replaced by the first Gem-Knight that appeared during this duel. (ATK: 2450 DEF: 1950 LV: 7) "And now you're gonna get it! Gem-Knight Crystal, attack!" The knight charged forward.


Many students watching this gasped, including Andrew and his friends, and Pele.


Miller was especially surprised. "But why? My monster is still stronger than yours."

Angie grinned. "But not for long. Know why?" She held up the remaining card in her hand. "Because I've got this!" From a flash of light, a small figure appeared right next to the Gem-Knight. It resembled a spin top with a blue sorcerer hat and a pair of arms. There was a blue gem on its front. "This little guy is called Gem-Merchant, and he's got a nifty little trick. When my earth normal monster attacks or is attacked, I can send this guy from my hand to the graveyard and then increase that monster's strength by a whooping 1000 points!"

Miller gasped.


And so did Pele.


Not to mention Andrew and the others.

"No way!" Clover exclaimed.


"Go, Crystal Strike!" The spin top like creature became a ball of blue light that was absorbed into the knight's body. (ATK: 2450-3450 DEF: 1950-2950) It then leapt up in the air and landed a punch on the phoenix's belly, making it explode.

Miller: 0750-0000

As the holograms faded, Professor Miller dusted off his blazer and smiled to Angie who walked up to him.

"And there you have it!" She said giving him a thumbs up. "So, what do you think?"

"I think that you certainly earned your place here." He said with approval. "Welcome to Duel Academy!"

"Thanks!" She then waved to the many students that cheered for her victory.


Pele smiled at this. "Nicely played, Angie. Looks like we both get to head to Duel Academy."


Andrew and the others applauded. "Gotta hand it to her, she really made an epic comeback." Shiori commented.

"Yeah, I actually thought that she would have some trouble there." Cynthia replied.

"Me too." Clover added. "What a duel."

"I still can't help but wonder how Angie got those Gem-Knight cards." Andrew said

At that moment, his two duel spirits appeared behind him. "Well, those cards are not normal, that's for sure." Phantom Magician said.

"How can you tell?"

"Take a look behind Angie." Wynn replied.

Andrew was confused but did as she said. He Looked behind Angie carefully. And when he did... "Huh?" He noticed the spirit of Gem-Knight Crystal standing there. "No way!"

"Is that...?" Jenny murmured.

"Yes." A female voice replied as another spirit appeared. It was Jenny's white-haired, angelic duel spirit, Tethys, Goddess of Light. "A Duel Monster spirit. The fact that Angie would have one in her deck means that there's more to her Gem-Knight cards than meets the eye."

Now that made Andrew really curious. Just what was with that duel spirit standing behind Angie. Where did those cards come from?


There you have it folks! The first chapter of the second season of this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Oh, and when it comes to the OC, Pele Ricci, all rights go to her creator, Br0kenThOrn. Until next time.