So, it's been a few chapters, so we owe you guys a duel, right? Well, we've got one in this chapter we hope you'll enjoy. But first, a little character development never hurt anybody, right? (Don't answer that.) I'm getting off course. Please, read and enjoy.

Chapter 12

Initial Order Arc: Primordial Fluff

Part I

Duel Academy

Nighttime

The moon was just above the treeline, shining softly over the hills and rivers near the academy. Most of the students were in their dorms, still eating dinner and enjoying their evenings.

A few students, either with some friends or by themselves, wandered around outside regardless. Nick, Barclay, Laura, and Sera were among those few, though not by choice.

The unofficial tournament had been cut short when practically all the guys in Slifer descended on Takashi's room. Somehow, word had gotten out that two lovely Ra students were in the dorm. Nick and Bar had hustled the girls out as best they could, leaving Takashi and Atsuko to manage the crowd.

Once they were away from the dorm, the small group began to make their way back to Ra Yellow.

"Well, that got annoying fast… It's like half those idiots have never seen a cute girl before." Laura sighed with clear agitation. Sera's arms were crossed and she looked more irritated than Laura, blowing a small lock of her hair out of her eye.

"Just one more move and I would've had it in the bag…" Sera muttered, thinking about the possible combo she could've pulled off to win.

"You wish," Nick remarked in a cocky tone, hoping to lighten the mood around them. "There's no way you were getting past the traps I had laid!"

"Please, you were on the ropes!" Sera retorted, a confident smile on her face as Laura chuckled at her friend's similar cockiness.

Barclay laughed, too. "Honestly, I've never seen you so afraid of some stuffed animals." "Hey, Fluffal abilities are dangerous!" Nick protested over the others' laughter. "And the Frightfur fusions look creepy as hell, how were you not scared of them?"

"I thought the same things about your monsters," his roommate replied with a shrug.

"Aww, is poor wittle Nicky afraid of teddy bears?" The pale student mocked in a baby tone, making both Sera and Barclay laugh as Nick only huffed and pouted.

"Still, you played quite an impressive duel, even those new cards you added made things more difficult," the dark-skinned woman remarked. Laura stopped in her tracks, and after a moment the others turned around as well.

"That's right… When did you two change up your styles?" she inquired, making both Nick and Barclay look at one another with reserve. Sera raised a curious eyebrow at them.

"Change is natural…" Barclay replied after a pause, scratching the back of his head before continuing with his explanation. "Stagnating means death after all, and it's only natural for most duelists to experiment with different deck builds and strategies the more experience they get, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's the conclusion we came to, anyway," Nick added.

"It's true that change never stops in nature," said Laura doubtfully, "but does that kind of thinking really apply to Duel Monsters?"

"Of course it does. Think about when Synchro and Xyz Summoning first showed up," Barclay said. "Once those were introduced they spread like wildfire, and everyone had to adapt or else get outclassed and left behind."

"Took me almost a month just to get Xyz Summoning down, but it was worth it," Nick added.

Sera nodded. "I see your point. But if you two know so much, why are you Slifers? From what I've seen and heard, both of you could've easily been in Ra Yellow."

"I… showed up late to the exams…" Nick admitted, blushing. "I was so excited that I stayed up too late the night before and overslept."

Laura tried and failed to hold in her laughter, and soon Sera got going for a few minutes. Once the girls calmed down, they focused on Barclay.

"Fell asleep halfway through the written portion, but other than that I did fine," he said casually.

The pair of girls looked at one another with amusement before continuing on the path back to Ra dorm.

"So, will you two attempt to move up?" the dark-skinned girl asked. She turned around in time to catch Nick and Barclay exchanging looks.

"To be honest, I'm not so sure…" Nick replied hesitantly. "Don't get me wrong, it would be amazing to advance, but…"

"Does the dorm we're in even matter anymore?" Barclay asked, yawning. "Sure, there's the bragging rights or whatever, but in the end it's your results that matter, not the color of your jacket, right?"

Laura laughed. "Maybe, but good luck convincing the faculty of that."

"He actually told them as much when we got here," said Nick. "I think that's why he's not too popular. That and the sarcasm."

"I thought it was my work ethic."

"Well, you're not wrong," said the girls, causing all four to laugh.

"So, ignorance really is bliss for you, then…it must be nice to have that kind of attitude."

The group stopped laughing and looked in the direction they'd heard the voice. They were pretty close to Ra Yellow by this point, but what really got their attention was the voice's owner.

Rin Kurosawa was waiting for them, her arms crossed and her duel disk hanging off her hip.

"Ugh," Laura muttered quietly. "This is just not my day."

Sera frowned. "That makes two of us."

"What's so ignorant about it?" Barclay asked, moving back a bit. "It's true; the jacket doesn't matter nearly as much as how you play your cards."

"Maybe it's a psychology thing? Like, 'oh, this person's in Slifer, I don't need to use my best strategies against them'?" Nick added, hoping to diffuse some of the tension.

"I'd expect narrow-minded fools like yourselves to say that. No one cares how two duelists feel about each other, they just care who has more skill," Rin countered. She detached her duel disk from her hip and slid it onto her right arm. "And the jacket tells people the duelists' skill, or lack thereof. Right, Sera?"

Sera began to shake in anger. Laura put one hand on her shoulder before she said anything, then focused on their classmate. "Rin, it's one thing to give us grief, we're used to it. But if you think we'll let you talk about our friends that way…"

"Think again," Sera finished, walking forward to meet her challenger head on. "Give me a minute to get ready and then we'll have that rematch you want so much."

With that said, she quickly ran past the petite girl, entering the dorm.

After a few minutes, Sera came back with her own duel disk, as well as fingerless gloves that matched the color of her outfit.

In mere moments, she attached the duel disk on her left hand and placed on her visor for the solid holograms the duel disk produced. Sera's was shaped like a rectangular box with rounded edges, colored in a patchwork pattern. The general impression of her duel disk was that it looked like it would open up to reveal a sewing kit. Her visor looked similar except for being purple.

Rin's duel disk was round, colored black with countless branching white lines like a spiderweb; though to be honest, Nick thought the lines' sharp angles looked more electronic than truly natural. Her visor didn't have a specific tint, which made it look even odder.

Upon activation, both their constructs manifested.

For Sera, it was silver in color and was in the shape of a sewing needle, having five spaces for her cards.

For Rin, it appeared in the double-helix shape of DNA and had a red-orange color, having one space in the middle of the intersections of the helix for her cards.

"Let's duel!" the two snarled, drawing their five cards as the others donned their own visors.

Soon the duel disks began to glow as a small dome manifested itself around them, only visible by those who were wearing the visors.

Sera - 8000

Rin - 8000

"As always, I'll start this duel off," Rin glared, looking down at her hand before deciding what to start with. "I set one card face down on the field, then summon my Evoltile Odonto (2/500/1200) in attack mode!"

The ground split open, and an orange turtle-like creature with vestigial wings jumped out of the hole and landed on the field. Odonto's legs and neck were purple, and bone-white spikes decorated the back of its shell and its head.

"Next I activate Odonto's special ability: Whenever he's Normal Summoned to the field, I can Special Summon one Evolsaur monster from my hand, and I'll choose my Evolsaur Diplo (4/1600/1800) in attack mode!"

A second crack in the floor opened, revealing a massive dinosaur that stood next to its tiny turtle-like ally on the field. This monster had purple skin, with a long neck and massive whip-like tail. It had dark green scales running down the length of its back, with bone white spikes along its spine.

"But wait, there's more, now I activate the spell Evo-Force! Thanks to this, I can tribute any Evoltile monster on my field and Special Summon one Evolsaur monster from my deck."

Odonto roared and glowed brightly for a moment before vanishing. As the physical card sent itself to Rin's Graveyard, her deck emerged from its slot. She flipped through it and found the one she was looking for.

"Now, say hello to my new pet, Evolsaur Cerato (4/1900/1600) in attack mode!" Rin declared as she took her monster card and replaced it with the one she'd just gotten.

The new dinosaur monster was primarily orange in color, with dark grey-green scales on its back and legs like armor. Cerato's tail had a distinct double-helix. There were spikes on its back and legs, and there were three protrusions on its head that looked like they could be horns. Like the other two monsters that Rin had summoned, this one had vestigial wings as well, though these looked more like they were in the process of becoming proper wings rather than degrading.

"Oh, and one other thing; whenever Cerato is Special Summoned by the effect of an Evoltile monster, which counts as such due to Evo-Force's effect, he gains an additional 200 Attack points."

The lizard monster roared, growing a few extra spikes on its legs. Its head protrusions also grew slightly longer and sharper.

Evolsaur Cerato (1900 - 2100)

"Damn, two level 4 monsters in one turn? I don't like where this is heading…" Nick remarked with a worried tone.

"And the next card to enter the field won't be good either…" Barclay muttered, absentmindedly rubbing at his chin.

"What do you mean?" Laura remarked, looking at the brown-haired Slifer.

"I'm willing to bet that she's about to do an Xyz Summon," Barclay replied.

"If you're expecting me to be scared, don't hold your breath," Sera said to her opponent.

"Of these two? Of course not… What you should be scared of is what's about to come! I use my level 4 Diplo and Cerato to build the Overlay Network and XYZ Summon Evolzar Laggia (R4/2400/2000) in attack mode!"

Rin's monsters transformed into balls of light and spiraled around each other, entering a swirling black portal above the field. The portal promptly exploded with bright, piercing light; when the group could see again, a six-winged dragon surrounded by a ring of fire landed in front of Rin with a THUD.

The beast had three sets of wings; four separate, heavy, clawed limbs; a long tail that was glowing green with red stripes spiraling around it. The dragon had red markings on its body along with some designs that almost looked carved into the creature's body. Above the glowing red eyes were a pair of curved horns. Rather than two simple lights orbiting the monster, rings of flame surrounded it.

"With that, I'll end my turn. Let's see what the all-knowing Sera can do against this beast!" Rin remarked in a cocky tone, grinning with a sadistic look on her face.

Sera only glared at Rin as she drew her first card and then looked at her hand.

I can't do too much at the moment, so my top priority is making sure Laggia can't hurt me, Sera thought to herself before beginning her turn.

"I start by setting two cards face down," she declared as two cards appeared on her field. "Then I'll summon this little guy, Fluffal Mouse (1/100/100) in attack mode."

A small, mint green monster holding a chocolate donut appeared on the field with a squeak. With its short tail and the "blush stickers" on its cheeks, Fluffal Mouse looked more like a hamster than anything. It had tiny wings on its back and a pink bandana around its neck.

Rin didn't even try to hide her derisive laughter. "You really think that pathetic rodent can do anything? What a waste of a turn!"

"It's not over yet, is it?" Sera replied calmly. "I now activate my mouse's special ability, which allows me to Special Summon multiple copies of itself from my deck, so here's another one, in defense mode this time."

Another Fluffal Mouse appeared next to its counterpart, squeaking as the two began to dance around one another before returning to their original spots. The new mouse turned blue and hid behind the donut it held in its paws.

"Then I activate the ability of Fluffal Sheep (2/400/800) from my hand." Sera revealed the card to her opponent, which began glowing. "Since I control a Fluffal monster besides Sheep, I can Special Summon it from my hand in defense mode."

The two monsters on the field moved away, allowing another portal of light to emerge under them as a winged sheep with orange wool and green eyes appeared. The sheep's wings had large pink feathers, and the ends were bright red.

"Next, I activate my Sheep's second ability. By returning one other Fluffal monster to my hand, I can Special Summon an Edge Imp from my hand. So, I'll take back my attack mode Mouse and give you Edge Imp Saw (3/500/1000) in defense mode."

Another portal emerged from the field, this time however, the being that exited from it showed to be something completely different. A circular saw with a series of chop saws crisscrossing it appeared on the field, having an "X" shaped section along with what appeared to be a pair of glowing red eyes. Like its allies, it turned into a dark shade of blue, indicating that it was also in defense mode as well.

"And with that, I'll end my turn." Sera declared, looking at the row of monsters in front of her.

"Well, she's got her Life Points protected for now," Nick added as he saw the small defense she laid out in front of him. "Though it won't stay there for long if Rin draws something good or decides to attack."

"True, what she really needs is Polymerization in order to deal with that dinosaur." Laura bit her thumbnail and looked worriedly at her roommate.

All Barclay could do was look on and silently hope that her next turn wouldn't be her last.

"Alright, now watch how a real duelist plays!" Rin declared as she drew her first card.

"To keep you guessing, I'm gonna set this monster in defense mode," the Ra girl remarked as the card appeared on the field, hidden from her opponent. "Now, Laggia, destroy that stupid sheep with Burning Cross!"

The beast roared up and flew upwards, expanding its wings as fire soon coated them, and in a matter of seconds, Laggia flapped and released a burning X that hit the monster. The sheep cried out in pain before breaking apart into pieces of fabric and fluff, making Sera brace herself as the impact pushed her back slightly.

"With that, I'll end my turn. You're up princess."

"Thanks…" Sera replied as she drew with a swift stroke. "Perfect."

"Whatever you drew won't help you, or did you forget my Laggia is the strongest monster out right now?" Her opponent remarked, trying to make the dark-skinned girl get flustered.

"We'll see about that; I now summon Fluffal Owl (2/1000/1000) in attack mode!" Sera declared as she placed the new monster in another open spot.

A brown owl wearing glasses hooted as it flew down to join its fellows. For a second Nick thought it had extra eyes on its wings; then he realized it was just the pink stripes. The white feathers on its face looked so much like eyebrows that he had to stifle a laugh.

"Owl's ability allows me to add a Polymerization card from my deck to my hand," she continued.

The monster's eyes glowed as it turned around, then shot beams of light into her deck. A single card emerged from the deck as Sera got it and revealed it to it. She added it to her hand with a grin on her face.

"And now, I'll activate it to fuse—"

"Not so fast!" Rin shouted, dramatically pointing at Laggia. "You triggered my pet's special effect! By using two of its Overlay units, I can negate the activation of your spell card!"

As Polymerization appeared on the field, the dragon roared out as the two orbs of light entered its body, causing it to open its mouth and release a blue flame towards the card. It soon began enshroud the spell, burning it and causing it to break apart as Sera then sent the physical card to her graveyard.

"Damn it… I end my turn," Sera muttered.

Her three friends all had a look of worry on their faces, wondering what exactly was her next move now that she didn't have her trump card in hand.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Rin declared before she drew and decided to start breaking down her opponent's wall of defense, piece by piece.

"Time for some more fun, I'll flip summon my facedown monster, Evolsaur Pelta (4/1100/2000) in attack mode!"

The now-glowing card turned over, manifesting a bluish-green lizard with massive red spikes on its shoulders and decent-sized bat wings. Smaller pink scales ran down its spine like the plates on a Stegosaurus. Its red tail had a double-helix pattern like Laggia's.

"Next I discard one card to activate my facedown, Fossil Excavation! As long as I do that every turn, I can Special Summon one Dinosaur monster that was sent to my graveyard. Welcome back, Evolsaur Diplo!"

The card in front of her began glowing white, and soon the purple dinosaur burst out of the ground next to it.

"And now that I have a pair of level four monsters again…! That's right, its time for a second Xyz Summon!"

Sera's eyes widen with fear as she saw Diplo and Pelta transform into balls of light and enter the same black portal once again.

"With these two level four monsters, I build the Overlay Network once again and Xyz Summon, King of The Feral Imps (R4/2300/2000) in attack mode!"

The portal burst, releasing another large figure as it soon revealed itself to be a large, grey-green colored monster. It had gold colored muscle sections on its body and large black spikes on several parts of its body. Around the wrists, ankles and head of the monster was white fluff. It wore a gold crown over its large, bat-like ears, and a gold necklace with a large red gem in the center.

"This can't be good," Nick remarked with worry. "There's no way Sera's not losing some Life Points this turn."

"Rin's certainly skilled at quickly getting Rank Four monsters on the field…" Barclay admitted.

"Annoyingly so." Laura sighed, hating to admit it more than anyone. "But that won't be Sera's only chance to play Polymerization. Remember, the Fluffals are all about getting Fusion Monsters out."

"Keep thinking that, princess," the petite girl remarked at Laura with a mocking tone as she overheard what she said. "This turn isn't done yet, now I activate Imp's special ability: By using one Overlay unit, I can now add any Reptile monster from my deck to my hand."

One of the orbs moved from its orbit into the jewel located in the center of the monster's chest, causing it to release a bellow that released a wave of green energy that surrounded Rin's duel disk. Soon enough, the deck slot released and allowed her to look through the deck until she selected her monster, Evoltile Elginero (2/0/0), and added it to her hand.

"Now to really get this going, Laggia, destroy that worthless flying rat with Burning Cross!"

The dragon roared as it rose up once again, repeating its same attack and sending a burning cross towards the owl, causing it to cry out in pain before it broke apart, again in a cloud of fabric and stuffing. Sera tried to brace for impact, but due to her monster being in attack mode, the attack was stronger than before and the force caused her to get knocked down to the ground flat on her back.

Sera - (8000 - 6600)

Rin - (8000)

"Now King, show this commoner what you have, attack with Thunder Surge!"

Her newest beast raised its arms up and began collecting lightning into its hands, merging them into one orb and launching it at the mouse, causing it to shatter in mere moments. Sera managed to get back up, only to have herself be knocked back on the floor from the impact of the blast.

"I think that's enough punishment for now, I'll set this card face down and end my turn." Rin announced as she set another facedown card on the field.

Sera struggled, panting a bit from having the wind knocked out of her, but didn't stay down as she got up and drew her next card. "This will help..." she muttered to herself. "I'll start by activating Suture Rebirth, allowing me to target a Fluffal monster in my graveyard and special summon it to the field. Too bad it also negates the monster's effect."

A table covered in fabric appeared on the field with a glowing needle.

"Say hello, once again, to Fluffal Mouse, in defense mode," Sera said.

The glowing needle entered a black portal and returned with pieces of Fluffal Mouse, sewing them together as it jumped off the table landed on the field with a squeak. "I'll set an additional monster facedown and end my turn."

The trio watching couldn't help but look at their friend with sadden looks on their faces, knowing how badly it was looking and praying that she'd get back in the momentum soon.

Rin simply smiled as she drew her next card. "You finally starting to get it now?" Rin questioned, making Sera glare at her. "This is my true power, I told you before, I wouldn't lose to you again. However, we don't have to continue this, all you have to do to end this is submit to me and admit once and for all that I am the better duelist"

Sera kept her glare at her opponent, making the petite girl grin sadistically as she decided to break her spirit further.

"Now to begin, I summon Evoltile Elginero in attack mode!"

From the sky, Elginero landed on the field and stood straight up to face its enemy. It was mostly yellow, speckled with pale pink spots. It had a white, sectioned underbelly, and its feet had red webbing. Its tail looked like a tadpole's tail. There was a pair of vestigial wings on its back, red wing-like gills on either side of its head, and grey bulbs on its back that looked like mini turrets. The creature's glowing pink-red eyes appeared in sockets that looked like they had been broken out of a shell on the lizard's face.

"Next I'll activate my facedown, Evo-Instant. Thanks to this, by sacrificing one reptile monster on my field, I can Special Summon an Evolsaur monster from my deck."

Elginero began glowing before transforming into a ball of light, flying upward and towards its master's deck, causing it to once again move out of its slot, allowing Rin to grab it and look through her Deck once more. After a few minutes, she selected her card and put the others back into the slot, causing it to shuffle automatically.

"Now let me introduce you to my newest beast, Evolsaur Vulcano (4/1200/1000) in attack mode!"

Of all the monsters that Rin had summoned so far, this one probably had the simplest design to it. A large blue dinosaur materialized on the field. It had a long neck, spines along its back, the ever present vestigial wings, jagged ears and a tail with the double-helix design.

"Also, thanks to the effect of my Elginero, whenever it is tributed, I can draw one card," Rin remarked as a small spark of light emerged from Vulcano and entered her deck.

It allowed her to draw before causing the deck to shuffle automatically.

"Next I'll set one card face down on the field. Alright then, time for me to wipe away your pitiful defense! Vulcano, attack her Mouse with Meteor Stream!"

The large beast roared, opening its mouth to release a flame-like jet stream that hit the mouse, causing it to squeak in pain before breaking apart, making the dark-skinned girl cross her arms and brace for the hard wind that blew her back slightly. "You might want to hold that pose! Laggia, attack her Edge Imp Saw with Burning Cross!"

The dragon roared as it rose up once again, repeating its same attack and sending a burning cross towards the metal creature, causing it to cry out in pain before it broke apart, leaving behind only pieces of metal before they disappeared.

"Last but not least, Feral Imp, attack her last pitiful defense with Scale Slash!"

The beast grunted and shrieked out as it jumped up high and directed itself towards the face down, slashing it with its razor sharp claws, cutting the card projection in half to reveal another Fluffal Mouse.

After that assault, Sera's field was nearly empty except for her two face downs that she still hadn't activated. "That ends my turn... So, shall we end this duel?" Rin questioned, putting her hand on her hip and waiting to see if her opponent would finally surrender to her superiority.

She drew her card and looked at it with saddened eyes, placing it in defense mode and declared her turn over.

"I'll take that as a yes. I activate my facedown card, Offering to the Snake Deity! Thanks to this card, by sacrificing one of my reptile monsters that is on the field, I can destroy up to two cards on your field. Now I sacrifice King of the Feral Imp and destroy those two face down cards you have!"

The card stood up and manifested an enormous snake, which promptly ate Feral Imp whole and burrowed underground. Seconds later a white orb of energy shot up to the sky, causing two lightning bolts to strike Sera's cards. They exploded instantly; Sera's arms briefly went numb from the shockwave.

This isn't good... Sera thought as she stared at her side of the field, realizing the little options she had left. This is hopeless... How can I win?

"Now I start my turn, I draw!" Rin declared as she drew her next card. "Now I activate this card, Evo-Price! Thanks to this card, each time I special summon an Evoltile monster to the field, I can destroy one card on either side of the field. Not really necessary at this point, but better to be prepared... Now, it's time for you to see what it truly feels like to lose! Vulcano, attack her facedown card!"

The blue dinosaur roared and breathed fire at the card, revealing a blue orb-shaped monster with woven wings for just a moment.

"Next, Laggia, give her some real pain and attack her life points directly!"

The dragon roared out once again, flying high into the sky and then dived right towards her and slashing down, hitting Sera and knocking her down to the ground.

Sera - (6600 - 4200)

Rin - (8000)

"In the end, Sera, you never had a chance against me. I end my turn, let's see if you're actually as smart as you say you are." In the poor lighting in front of the Dorm, no one noticed a black fog swirling up from behind Rin to surround both girls.

Her words cut the dark-skinned girl deep as she stood back up and held her arm in pain, making her start to look on with despair, realizing that no matter what she would draw next, nothing could get her out of the pit. Suddenly, something began to make her hand move up, slowly going towards her deck in an attempt to forfeit the duel.

"Don't get muddled!" Barclay's voice declared, snapping her out of her trance as she turned to see her Barclay looking at her with a confident look. "As long as you have even one card in that slot of your's, you still have what it takes to win."

"Wh-what?" Sera muttered as she shook her head to clear away the fog of doubt, surprised by her brown-haired friend's statement.

"Don't believe what she said, no matter how hopeless the situation looks, even one more draw can make a difference, but only if you believe in yourself and trust your deck. Show her what it means to really duel and make her see that there is never such a thing as a sure thing in Dueling!"

"Right...You're right! Thank you Barclay," the dark-skinned girl smiled as she felt her confidence being restored, unaware of a small aura that was surrounding her. With her new strength, Sera moved her hand towards her deck and placed her two fingers on the deck, getting ready to draw. "Mathali…"

Translations:

muddled - "confused"

Mathali - "perfect"

Thanks for reading. This duel's a little longer than normal, so we had to split it into two chapters. Enjoy the cliffhanger, and see you next time. We'd also like to give thanks to our beta, Eneko95, for her continued beta work and helping us move forward. We're almost ready to finally continue posting so be on the lookout.