Author's note: Following Yugioh tradition, the main character's name begins with the Kanji for entertainment or play, Yu. Yukka's name is written in Japanese as 遊花, using the Kanji for "to play" and "pretty flower". Her name translates roughly to "playful flower"

Disclaimer:

The version of the Yugioh Trading Card Game as presented in this story is a revision written by me, and there are a number of key differences from the real world game, aimed primarily at mixing the feeling of the game from the 5Ds era and earlier with the mechanics of the modern game, up to Link summoning. The goal was to make a version of the game focused more on interactions and mind-games than the unbreakable boards and turn-one omni-negates of the current meta, without ignoring.

I started writing this story mostly as a way of giving myself context in which to create cards for this custom format, and sharing it with others.

For those of you who may know me from my other story, Yu-Gi-Oh: STARs, I'm sorry to say that it is on indefinite hiatus, as I have lost the TCGMaker files for the decks in the story, including cards whose full effects were never revealed. I may return to the story one day when I have the time to sift through what I wrote and recatalog all of the cards, but until then it's shelved.

The following rules differ from baseline Yugioh:

There are four new Attributes: LIGHTNING, FOREST, ICE, and AETHER

Players can perform one Normal Summon (which may be a Tribute Summon) and one Tribute Summon each turn

The Cyberse Type has been renamed to Data, so as to be more setting-agnostic

The Galaxy Type has been renamed to Cosmic, so as to avoid confusion with the Galaxy Archetype

In addition, most of the cards featured will either be wholly original, as it was in STARs, or they will be retrains and adaptations of existing cards meant to work in this new format's speed and structure.

Some of these rule changes may not make sense at first glance, but they were the result of long conversations with others in a thread on and a couple friends in real life. Hopefully, if you're willing to keep an open mind and give this story a chance, you may come to enjoy this version of the game.

Without further ado: I hope you enjoy.

Chapter One: Orientation Day

The sunlight sparkling off the sea reflected well in Yukka's eyes. The morning sunrise just looked so unbelievably peaceful. The seagulls called out as they circled above, searching for unattended scraps aboard the ship as it cut across the water. More than the sea, however, was the excitement and hope in her eyes for a bright future at her new home away from home. She reached out her delicate hand as if to hold the sun itself, and bring tomorrow closer to her heart.

An announcement blared over the ship's loudspeaker system. "All new and returning students, the ship is expected to arrive at Lodestar Academy at fourteen-hundred hours. Please feel free to mingle amongst yourselves. We expect upperclassmen to provide guidance to our newest friends and extend a warm welcome." The announcement ended without much more fanfare. Yukka turned her attention away from the sea and toward the ship. More and more students had trickled onto the deck from the cabins below, some still yawning and stretching away the previous night's sleep. There were a few who, like herself, had been wandering since before dawn, and there was even a rather broad-shouldered boy still carrying a sandwich from breakfast at the galley earlier that morning.

While most of the students wandering about were wearing regular casual clothing, like Yukka herself, she did notice that several of the older students were wearing long jackets in an assortment of bright colors: Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue. She opened up her messenger bag and produced a booklet that all the new students had been provided. "Let's see here, all students are assigned to a House at Orientation. Each House competes against each other over the course of the year, both in Academics and Extracurriculars. Your House assignment is random. Be sure to make many friends and work together to shine ever brighter!" She folded the booklet back up and returned it to her bag. "Well, that's cheery." She stepped away from the stern and ventured cheerily toward the crowd.

A short, bespectacled boy carried his heavy bags through the now-burgeoning crowd spilling out onto the deck. He looked almost half the size of every other boy in the crowd, and some of the girls. Meekly, he walked. He found himself unable to push his way through the towering bodies of his future classmates, and resigned to waiting patiently in his claustrophobic shackles for the rest of the student body to dissipate. "Ugh, mom was right, I should have come out earlier." His heavy bags mercilessly weighed down his small frame. He would have left them in his cabin, were he not terrified that someone would steal them.

The crowd stopped moving entirely for a moment, giving him a chance to rest and breathe. He reached into his bag for his deck box, and from within pulled out a single card, carefully sleeved. Its image glittered majestically in even the dingy lighting of the stairwell. The image showed a beautiful girl in flowing robes of black and gold. She had long blonde hair floating behind her as though she were in the depths of the ocean. On top, the card's name in brilliant, shining font: Astra Regna. The boy sighed deeply, "Oh, Astra, at least you're here for me."

In defiance of those around him, or perhaps ignorance of their presence, Isaac trudged along his way, savoring a sandwich he had assembled in the galley. Waffles for the bread, eggs topped with bacon and a thick slice of ham, two spears of asparagus and dripping strings of melted cheese, the concoction in his hand rested half-eaten, enjoying the full attention of its wielder. "Perfectly balanced breakfast in the palm of my hand… Isaac you brilliant bastard, you've done it again!"

Yukka's confidence withered in the presence of so many unfamiliar faces, she wondered how she would compare to them once the school year began. Her nerves began to fray under the imagined pressure. She broke away from where the majority of the crowd had gathered and wandered around the side toward the aft deck. Almost immediately she was awestruck. There were very few new students here, almost everyone had a jacket. But more than that, there were six large dueling courts painted onto the wood, and several small tables with parasols where several students were proudly sharing their binders, decks, duel disks, everything anyone who attended Lodestar Academy really cared about.

Although the crowd was thin here, there was still the ever-present danger of inattendant passers-by. As Yukka wandered, she bore witness as a small boy with heavy bags crashed directly into the musclebound boy she had seen earlier, and his sandwich–if such a word could describe the strangeness of its composition–was launched tearfully away.

The boy with glasses fell back onto his backpack. There was a rather expensive sounding crack from within. The tall boy whose snack had sailed away on the wind quickly bent down to pick him up. He lifted the shorter boy by his shirt with one massive hand and set him down on his feet.

"I'm sorry!" he shouted, "Please don't stuff me in a locker!"

"Locker? There ain't any lockers on a boat." Isaac seemed upset, probably regarding the sandwich, but more concerned about his classmate than his lost breakfast. "You ain't hurt, are ya?"

"No," he stammered. "I'm not, I just, uh… sorry."

A new voice interjected, the shrill voice of a girl. "You're going to be!"

The two boys turned around to see another girl approaching them, flanked by a small cadre of equally preppy friends. She was dressed almost like a businesswoman, wearing a very nice blazer and skirt. Yukka imagined it was custom-tailored. Unfortunately, her blouse was stained with syrup and cheese.

"I-I'm sorry!" the boy exclaimed again, unable or unwilling to do anything but apologize.

"You little cretin! Do you have any idea how much a shirt like this costs?" The girl seemed uninterested in mere apologies. "If there's not a dry-cleaner on the island I'm never going to get this stain out! You're just lucky my beloved cards are unharmed!"

"Please, I'm sorry, it was an accident!"

"Then pay up," she demanded, hand outstretched. "This is an eighty-dollar shirt!"

"Hey, you can't seriously expect him to pay you that much on the spot!" Isaac defended. "Besides, he said he was sorry."

"Oh, I apologize," she feigned. "I suppose I'll just take my humiliation and my ruined shirt and be along my merry way, then. So sorry to have gotten in the way of your slop!"

Yukka stepped in. "Look, it was an accident. Can't you be a little more reasonable?"

The other girl's face twisted with a disgusted expression. "And who said you could get involved? Go back below decks, urchin, you're ruining my view."

"I'd rather puke, and ruin your jacket too!"

"Fighting words. How about we settle this like Duelists. You are a duelist, aren't you? Everyone else here is."

Yukka smiled. "I have been known to dabble. Daddy's money buy you all the rare cards you want?"

"Ugh, I'll have you know Daddy's money bought my deck, my disk, this shirt," she pointed her glare at the boys before returning to Yukka, "And all the time in the world to get very, very good." She held out her hand and one of her posse placed on it a positively gaudy custom duel disk, bright pink and pocked with rhinestones and golden glitter. "What are you waiting for? Let's duel. You win, and I leave Bert and Ernie here alone until we get to the Island."

Yukka opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the stammering of the shorter boy, who had already strapped his duel disk to his wrist and loaded in his deck. "No, I'll duel you."

"Didn't think you had a spine. How quaint." Her duel disk activated, its lights whirring to life to the tune of electric trills.

"Mom says I gotta be more assertive, so let's get it on!" He pressed a button on his duel disk, but the lights remained dim and it made no noise. He pressed the button again to no avail, and again and again, until finally the lights flickered on for a brief moment, the tray extended, and fell completely off. "Oh no!"

"Rough, but I suppose that just means you lose by default. That's fine, better than forcing my monsters to touch yours."

Yukka stepped in front of the unfortunate boy. "No he doesn't, I'm still here." She drew her deck box from her pocket.

"And where's your duel disk?"

There was a moment of awkward silence. Yukka scratched her head out of embarrassment. "Well, you see, I kinda don't own one."

"You don't own one?"

"Could we maybe just play on the table?"

"God, that just kills the mood. How did you even make it through the practical exam?"

"I had a loaner, okay? The School's gonna provide us standard-issue disks anyway, but all those hologram projectors are so expensive."

In the corner of her vision there came a massive hand holding a large matte-black duel disk. "Kick her ass," Isaac said.

Yukka quickly adjusted the strap to better fit her wrist and loaded in her deck. She pressed the switch and the machine whirred to life. "Alright, tell me your name so I know what to write next to 'loser'."

"It's Rebecca Dutch, and what about you?"

"Yukka Hirano, remember it."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to forget it as soon as I'm done putting you in your place!"

"Duel!"

"Duel!"

Turn 1

Yukka Hirano: 4000 LP, 5 Cards

Rebecca Dutch: 4000 LP, 5 Cards

"I'll lead us off with Mystery Pupa." As she placed the card on the tray, a bright flash of white light erupted onto the battlefield. A massive silky cocoon of pastel colors materialized facing Yukka (FOREST Insect/Effect Level 2 0/200). "Next I'll place a card facedown and end my turn."

"Alright, I draw!"

Turn 2

Yukka Hirano: 4000 LP, 6 Cards

Rebecca Dutch: 4000 LP, 3 Cards

"Let's go with Parasol Enchanter in attack position!" The flash of white light appeared again, and this time coalesced into the shape of a bright yellow parasol. A gloved hand reached out and gently took hold of it. Quickly, the light solidified into an arm with white fur and a yellow dress matching the parasol. When the light vanished completely, there stood a rabbit-like noble (WIND Beast-Warrior/Effect Level 3 800/1200). "Battle Phase! Parasol Enchanter will attack Mystery Pupa!" The noble rabbit swung her parasol, sending out a wave of glitter-stained wind toward the cocoon.

"Trap activate!" Rebecca interrupted. "Decoy Dance!" The facedown card revealed itself, bearing an image of a confused man in a tuxedo reaching toward two identically-dressed women, one human, and one goblin. "Decoy Dance lets me discard a card from my hand that's the same Type as a monster on the field, and then that monster's Attack, Defense, and Level become equal to the card I throw away." She selected a card from her hand and slid it into the graveyard of her duel disk.

Once the card entered the graveyard, Yukka's monster found its attack intercepted by the ghostly image of a massive bee-like monarch. The phantom darted across the field where it collided with her. The explosion of smoke and flame that erupted left no survivors. "Why didn't my life points change?"

Rebecca flipped her hair arrogantly. "If you must know, neither player can take combat damage during the turn the target monster battles, so the twenty-two hundred attack points my Pupa has now will just have to wait until next turn."

"In that case, I move to Main Phase two and activate the continuous spell Blackcrystal Decanter." Yukka placed a green-bordered card onto the tray of her duel disk, and on the field appeared a small round table proudly featuring a decanter filled with water and a trio of identical goblets, all made of a charcoal-colored crystal glass. "Next I activate Second Contact, allowing me to Special Summon any monster from my Graveyard that was both Summoned and Destroyed this turn, but its effects are negated." As soon as she finished speaking, a circle of light appeared on the battlefield, and the parasol-wielding rabbit stepped through, smiling.

"So what? You can't attack anymore this turn, and my Pupa will destroy it next turn anyway."

"I tribute Parasol Enchanter to Tribute Summon Watcher in Solitude in Attack Position!" Once more, white light flashed as Parasol Enchanter vanished into particles that reformed into the shape of a wolfman wearing the uniform of a royal bodyguard. He had a sword sheathed at his side and an intimidating glare (EARTH Beast-Warrior/Effect Level 5 1800/2000). "When I successfully Tribute Summon Watcher in Solitude, I can add any Level 6 or Higher monster from my Deck to my Hand. I choose Javamancer." Her duel disk quickly produced a single card from near the bottom of her deck which she added to her hand. "And finally, when I Tribute Summon a monster, Blackcrystal Decanter gains a Spell Counter." The decanter on the table turned over and poured its clear water into one of the goblets.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn"

Rebecca silently drew her next card.

Turn 3

Yukka Hirano: 4000 LP, 2 Cards

Rebecca Dutch: 4000 LP, 3 Cards

"Since Mystery Pupa was on the field during my Standby Phase, I get to draw a card, and if it's an FOREST monster of Level 6 or lower, I can Special Summon it with its effects negated until the End Phase." She drew her card with a flourish and inspected it with a grin. "Well, well, well, what have we here? It looks like this lucky lady gets to Special Summon Botanical Priest in Attack Position!" The monster that manifested was a green-haired dwarf with a very long beard, wrapped in ornate robes of green and gold and carrying a staff topped with a pinecone (FOREST Spellcaster/Effect Level 4 1300/1300). "Botanical Priest is considered two tributes instead of one when Tribute-Summoning a FOREST monster."

Rebecca raised her hand and clenched her fist. Her newest monster vanished into two identical parcels of emerald light which levitated higher and higher, spinning together. They merged into one, and in a flash of light, a new monster appeared. "Say hello to the mighty Matcha Dragon!" It was utterly massive, a bipedal dragon with deep emerald scales and feathers in the shape of tea leaves. Its eyes were an angry red and its open maw exhaled clouds of sickly poison. It unfurled its wings and let out an earth-shattering roar. (FOREST Dragon/Effect Level 8 2800/2300). At the same time, the Blackcrystal Decanter poured water into another goblet.

Yukka waved at the massive beast politely and with a cheerful smile. "Hello, Matcha Dragon," she greeted it.

"Not like that," her opponent barked. She turned toward her dragon, which was cheerily waving back, "And you knock that off!" She straightened her clothes and cleared her throat. "My Matcha Dragon attacks!" The dragon roared as a stream of poisonous smoke erupted from its maw. Yukka's monster began to cough and grip its own throat before disintegrating into light. Rebecca gleefully watched the display on her duel disk showing Yukka's life points dropping to 3000. "Next, Mystery Pupa attacks you directly!" The cocoon jiggled angrily in place and shot out a stream of silk at Yukka. She crossed her arms as if to brace for the attack. A shockwave shook the air around her as the hologram passed through her body and her life point total dropped to just 800.

"You really don't play, do you?" Yukka asked.

"Peasants like you may have time to screw around, but for we elite duelists there's only time for victory. It's your turn, better make it count."

"Oh I will," Yukka gritted her teeth as she drew her next card.

Turn 4

Yukka Hirano: 800 LP, 4 Cards

Rebecca Dutch: 4000 LP, 2 Cards

"Thanks to your Tribute summon last turn, Blackcrystal Decanter gained a second Spell Counter." Yukka pointed her free hand at the hologram to illustrate her play. "I can Tribute this card, and any Spell Counters it has on it at the time count as a Tribute for the Tribute summon of any monster!"

Rebecca was visibly taken aback, only able to utter "what?"

"I tribute Blackcrystal Decanter for the Tribute Summon of Javamancer!" The water in the cups began to glow a deep blue hue. The decanter and its goblets began to shake upon the table, cracks forming. "You're good, don't get me wrong." The glass shattered, and the water erupted into a pillar of blue light. A hand reached through from within, wearing a white glove and a long, flowing blue sleeve. "But it's about high time I show you a real monster!" The magician stepped out from the pillar of light, her smile almost hidden under the umbra of her wide, white hat's floppy brim. She twirled in her left hand a long staff decorated in hues of white and coffee-brown and pointed it at Rebecca, as if calling her next attack (WATER Spellcaster/Effect Level 7 2300/1400).

"Big deal, pour me a mug since you don't care about winning," Rebecca taunted. "After all, that thing doesn't have enough Attack Points to defeat my Dragon."

"True, but that's what this is for. I Normal Summon Sorrow in Attack Position!" Light flashed again and materialized in the form of a wispy and barely visible young girl with tears streaming down her cheeks (WIND Illusion/Effect Level 2 600/0). "When I Normal Summon Sorrow, all monsters you control have their Attack and Defense halved until the End Phase!"

Rebecca looked on in fear as her monsters shuddered. The Cocoon became droopy and off-color, and her dragon knelt on the ground and shed a lonely tear. "Hey! Wait, pay attention here, she's about to attack!"

"Battle Phase! Javamancer will attack Matcha Dragon!" The sorceress' smile intensified. She left into the air and waved her staff, conjuring a steaming pot of coffee. She launched the pot with her magic up into the air where it exploded, sending a tide of steaming mist down toward her target.

"No!" Rebecca shouted in response. "I activate my Trap, Begotten Wrath. When you attack a monster I control, I can double the Attack and Defense of all monsters I control until the End Phase."

"I activate my Trap Card Fail to Fire! Your Trap returns to your Hand, and one monster you control goes with it! Say goodbye to your Dragon!" The hologram of Rebecca's card fizzled with electricity and vanished into a portal of light. Her dragon was quickly sucked in by a vortex of wind as she picked the cards back up. "And since the target is gone, replay occurs. Javamancer will attack Mystery Pupa!" The stream of coffee and steam misted down onto the cocoon. It let out a screeching wail as it shattered into motes of light. Rebecca winced as her life points fell to 2800.

"Next, Sorrow will attack directly!" The wispy girl began to hum an eerie tune that sucked away 600 more life points.

"Now, I activate Javamancer's Quick Effect! During this Battle Phase, one monster I control can attack twice, but can't attack at all during its owner's next Battle Phase. I choose Javamancer!" The magician snapped her fingers and conjured a small ceramic cup decorated with hearts and stars. She enjoyed a moment of solace with her fragrant treat before returning to battle. She threw away the cup and leveled her staff at her target, winking as she blasted Rebecca with a torrent of light and steam.

As the blast finished and Rebecca's life points hit zero, she fell to her knees wearing an expression of shock and anger. "I… lost?"

DUEL END

Yukka Hirano: 800 LP, 3 Cards

Rebecca Dutch: 0 LP, 2 Cards

The duel disks powered down and the holograms vanished from sight. Yukka undid the strap on the duel disk and removed her deck before returning it to Isaac. She turned to face her fallen opponent. "Hey, that was a great duel."

Rebecca paid her no mind, muttering to herself "How could I lose to you…?" She shook her head. "No, this has to be some kind of mistake, there's no way I could lose to someone like you…"

"Umm," the short boy began. "Thanks for helping me, Yukka."

"No worries, that's what friends are for!"

"Friends, huh?" He crouched down on the ground, fiddling with his duel disk. He had a small pouch of tools, and was trying to reattach the tray. "I've never had friends before. Do you wanna be my friend?"

Yukka nodded her head in response. "Of course, what's your name anyway?"

"Klaus," he answered. "Klaus Wagner. I'm from Germany, originally. My father moved to England when I was little."

The taller boy patted Yukka on the back, but to her it almost felt more like a punch. "I'm Isaac Hanes, I'll be your friend too!"

"Well," Yukka said, "that's great! Hey, what kind of decks do you two use?"

"I'll show you in the heat of battle!"

"I'm more interested in yours," said Klaus. "It almost looked like a basic structure deck."

"It is," Yukka explained. "My older brother is a third-year at Lodestar, and he gave me Javamancer and a couple other cards. I never played the game until recently, so when I found out being good at it was a prerequisite for getting into the school, I kinda panicked and just threw them into a starter deck I found at a supermarket."

"You… with that garbage deck," Rebecca's shrill voice interjected. "How dare you mock me like that! I will end you!" Her cadre of friends surrounded her, picking up her dropped cards and pulling her away. Reluctantly she relented and turned to leave, adding almost as an afterthought "You haven't heard the last of me, you bargain-bin loser!"

"Big talk," Isaac scoffed to himself, "Considering you lost to the bargain bin." He turned back to Yukka. "Welp. I'm heading off, got some re-stargazing of my own to do."

"Did you mean 'restrategizing'?" Klaus asked.

"That's what I said, smart guy. Laters!"

Yukka and Klaus stayed for a moment as Isaac disappeared into the crowd.

"He seems sweet," she said.

"He's scary…" Klaus whimpered. "But I guess he must be a good guy." He finished reattaching the tray of his disk, and after verifying that it was working properly returned it to his bag. "Mom says I have to make friends, so that's what I'm gonna do."

"You have two now, how's it feel."

He smiled as he turned away to leave. "It feels nice, I like it."