These are just some really quick notes about this fanfic (Please Read)

I don't own Yugioh Zexal

I know sometimes people like to submit Original Characters but I request that you please don't. The reason behind this is because I am relatively new to writing and I would rather not mess up something that someone else put work into. Deck ideas however, I am willing to accept in the comments section and will credit if I use them.

There will be cards I make up but I will put a section at the end of each chapter for made up cards that debut. Every other card you can look up to see its effects

All types of summons allowed. So fusion, ritual, synchro, XYZ, etc are all fair game

Story takes place at about the same time as Yugioh Zexal when the Numbers appear

"Staples" will be relatively rare. Staples include cards like BTH, Mirror Force, Dimensional Prison, Heavy Storm, Raigeki, Dark Hole, Dark Strike Fighter, Goyo Guardian, etc. The reason behind this is that it's more interesting to write when people have more unique cards to them and that duels don't turn into Mirror Force, Dimension Prison, BTH battles. However, if a character runs an Ice Barrier deck, that person having Brionac is not out of the question.

Cards that are character-bound will be arguably rarer that the staples. This is just for the sake of the story. Thus not everyone will be pulling out Stardust Dragons, Shooting Star Dragons, Black Rose Dragons, Neos, Cyber Darks, Arcana, Dark Magician, Blue Eyes, Rainbow Dragon, Planets, Toons, etc.

Any comments, feedback, etc, please post whether good or bad

Chapter 1: Myth and Legend

"The city of Heartland, considered one of the most beautiful and advanced cities of our time. There are plenty of districts, busy roads, lights, businesses, an example of a busy city. There is however something that all these people have in common, something that has evolved throughout eras and generations. Something that is even found in not only academies around Heartland but also throughout the world...this phenomenon is known as Duel Monsters. Lives have been affected and..."

As a boy flipped the page of the textbook he had been reading, he finished up a drink of orange juice as he put down the book and leaned back gazing out at the sunlight coming through the kitchen window. He wanted to continue reading but before that, a female voice from his mother interrupted him.

"You'd better hurry, Yuushi! Your father's waiting outside and he's in a hurry. It's a big day for both of you. Oh, my boy's reached the age where he goes to high school!"

Yuushi's mother gave him a slightly embarrassing hug but he hugged her back, took up his backpack with all his day' materials, put on his running shoes and headed out the door where a blue car was waiting for him with a man in a lab coat inside ready to drive.

"Hey, you ready?", the man in the lab coat said as Yuushi jumped into the car. "Oh that's right, we have to pick up your friend Ayumi, right?", the man remembered.

"Dad, you know I can just take a monorail to Delta Academy right? I mean...," Yuushi muttered as he realized that this was probably the only day his dad would drive him to school for a while. With that he sat comfortably and enjoyed the ride.

The car started up and they were on their way to Ayumi's house. Out the window, were a few robots picking up garbage and sweeping the streets while wandering around. They had faces on them and a chubby build and while Yuushi appreciated what they do, their "Cleaning! Cleaning!" gets annoying if endured for long enough.

His dad looked in the car's mirror and to see Yuushi staring out the window as he continued talking, "You know I'll be busy this year with my job. I heard that dueling has reached even more people than last year and so I have to do research on new technological advances for the city, duel disk technology and program analysis. So I figured I'd see you and your friend off at least."

With a nod, Yuushi didn't like it but he figured that being a scientist was hard work. He wasn't sure what exactly his dad was talking about but he sounded like a busy individual and it's not like he would be bored himself. There was plenty of reading to do and a world of mystery out there and now a new school year to keep him occupied. Maybe Ayumi would know what his dad was talking about specifically as the car approached a large gated three-story house with a tree in the back. At the front of the entrance gate was a dark brown haired girl wearing a white and purple school uniform and purple skirt. The car stopped in front as the girl opened the door and got into the car beside Yuushi.

With a bit of excitement, the girl sat down and asked Yuushi a quick question, "Hey, you ready? Can't believe we're going to the same school now."

The boy looked at the girl who seemed to be waiting for an answer. "Yeah, you told me already, Ayumi. But you're right, I am a bit excited to see what Delta Academy has to offer."

"There you go. See, you're excited too," Ayumi said as she started to look up at Yuushi's father now. "Hey, Mr. Sakudo. How have you been?"

The man answered back, "Oh, just fine. Thanks for asking."

The car drove off as Ayumi was looking up something on her D-Pad as suddenly she started to say something to Yuushi. "Hey, it says here that Delta Academy has great opportunities for not only academies but also for duelists."

Hearing the word 'duelist', Yuushi pulled out his deck and had a quick look through his deck just to make sure everything was in there. While sorting through, he sensed near his shoulder that someone was looking over and sure enough Ayumi was peeking over to see the cards that Yuushi had on him. He felt a bit awkward as he stopped flipping through his cards but Ayumi kept looking.

"Umm...got any questions?", he asked hoping that this would get her to say something.

"Oh, nothing. I was just curious. I know we're probably going to have to duel a lot in class and stuff so I was just wondering what your deck was like and what's your favorite card?", the girl said with interest.

"Well, I know I saw it somewhere...", the boy said while going through his cards again until he reached a card with a white background. The card image showed a blue armored magician with a large horned blue helmet made of the same material as the armor. In his hands was a dark green staff with a green orb at the tip while in the background was a magical green circle. "Here, it's this card, the Synchro Monster known as Arcanite Magician", said Yuushi with a bit of pride in his voice.

While the two were looking, Yuushi's father interrupted them. "That's a powerful card and all but...you remember what you promised me right?"

Yuushi closed his eyes in a bit of disappointment and he responded back, "I know, I know. I won't use this card."

Ayumi was a bit surprised that Yuushi wasn't going to use his favorite card. However, she didn't feel it was right for her to question why so she just retreated back to her spot in silence as the man driving started to say something else. "Ayumi, would you like to hear a story?"

The girl was further confused but now intrigued as Yuushi suddenly interrupted. "Let me tell it, I mean she is my friend so well, yeah."

His father nodded as Yuushi continued on, "Ayumi, do you know about some strange occurrences that happen to Duel Monsters every once in a while?"

Surprisingly, she answered back relatively fast, "Yeah, I've heard a thing or two about a few rumors. But nothing about this Arcanite Magician card."

With a chuckle the scientist continued, "Well, if you did I might have to ask some questions on it. Our database has no record of Arcanite Magician and any sources I've talked to haven't heard a thing about it."

"So how did you get it?", Ayumi replied while looking at the Synchro Monster.

"I'm not exactly sure what happened but it was probably about two years ago. My mom took us on a family camping trip because she said we spend too much time sitting around staring at books or at computers and that we needed to get up and move around. We went out of town, about a hour and a half drive to the outskirts of Heartland in order to see a solar eclipse. My parents started to cook some food so I just wandered around. I reached a river and just looked around. It was a bit cold and windy as I started into the river when suddenly, the river got brighter as I looked up and saw what appeared to be a glowing meteor in the sky.", Yuushi remembered at he stared at the card

"Well, I was probably at home during that solar eclipse," the girl mentioned but Yuushi was a bit lost in thought at that moment.

Continuing on, he said, "The light from the meteor was, well, beautiful. Everything around me started to radiate from that light when I suddenly noticed that the brightness was getting more intense and covering everything around me. Suddenly, with a huge crash, a light shot out of the meteor and landed behind me causing an explosion leaving behind smoke and a huge hole in the ground. I figured something fell from the sky and in the crater and as I turned around, I noticed a chunk of rock made of some sort of mineral."

With a sharp left turn, Yuushi's father interrupted, "That was when your mom and I noticed the explosion and went to check on you and as we arrived, we noticed that the rock had been split in two and Yuushi was holding a glowing card. The light faded and that Arcanite Magician was the card left behind. We all had never seen that card and so I went to analyze it at many labs and no matter what I did, all the results came back the same...it was a perfectly normal card that nobody had heard of. Even the sample of the mineral I gathered came up inconclusive."

Ayumi stared at the two with silence as Yuushi chuckled a bit and finished his part of the story, "That was the condensed version but I don't blame you if you don't believe us but..."

"No, I do. Well, it's a bit strange, but you do have that card in front of you right? A card that nobody's heard of. If that's not proof that something happened at least...then I don't know what is. Still, why can't you use that card? I mean, that would surprise a lot of people if there was a card being used that nobody heard of," Ayumi finished while noticing that they were almost at Delta now.

The car reached their destination as they reached the gate of large three-story dark brown school with the sign 'Delta Academy' in red by the gate. A few students were already running in and inside the gates were a few other blue buildings branching off the main one with a large field in the center and an open space in the back.

Yuushi's father looked and the two and answered Ayumi's question. "Well, before he starts playing that card in public, I'd really like to know where it came from and if it's dangerous. I know the scans say it's a normal card but if it were normal, why did it crash down from a meteor and glow like that. I'm sorry Yuushi, it's a good card and all but please don't play it."

With a shuffle, Yuushi hid the card in his extra deck as the two students got out of the car as he nodded to his father. The last thing Yuushi saw was a slight smile from his dad before he took off.

The two of them entered the gate looking for their classroom. Room 1-D was written on a scrap piece of paper that Yuushi pulled out of his pocket. They went up a few stairs outside and reached the front door and opened it. They saw various lockers and rooms scattered all over with a few students chattering down the hall and even some students like him looking for their classroom. Since Ayumi asked a bit about his deck, Yuushi felt it was a bit fair that she should give a bit of information about her dueling style. Being friends in different schools is one thing but now that they're even in the same class, being classmates is another thing entirely.

"So you know about Arcanite Magician but what sort of deck are you planning to use?", asked Yuushi with his own hint of curiosity.

"My deck...," wondered Ayumi as the two stopped for a bit. She rolled her eyes a bit and answered back, "Well, I'll use whatever cards I have on me."

"What?", said the boy while really wondering what her deck was. "Come on, I told you about my deck, so what about yours? Please?"

"I'm serious. I have a deck and then when I feel like it, I just use a different deck so I guess my deck is whatever I have on me, like I said earlier"

Yuushi still didn't want to believe that but Ayumi sounded like she really wasn't kidding around. "That's strange, if you don't use a deck for that long, how will you get better at dueling? Watching is one thing but dueling a bunch of people and learning off that is another. There are a lot of duelists and each have their own strategies and playstyles"

"Yeah, I know but...I just feel like it, alright!", Ayumi answered back with a slight tone of annoyance.

They reached Classroom 1-D and noticed that every desk was grey with two blue chairs meant to seat two people. At the front of the classroom was a grey board for writing but also a digital screen for the teacher to put up their notes and project to the students' D-Pads for the whole class to see. A few minutes later, Yuushi and Ayumi sat down at the back row in near the center as every other student sat down in their own desks as well. The teacher entered the room as well but he didn't sit down but rather wrote something on the board and started to talk as the class quieted down. Looking at the man, he seemed a bit chubby wearing a bright yellow sweater and blue pants

"Alright, class. As you can see on the board, my name is Mr. Yamazaki. I will be your homeroom teacher for this year. Normally, as a sort of tradition at Delta Academy, the first day of the school year is spent between everyone in the class getting to know each other through a duel," said Mr. Yamazaki while waiting for the chatter and excitement to fade.

"That's what I'm talking about! Who or what wants to duel me!", a dark blue-black haired boy stood up and pumped his fist in the air while looking around for an opponent.

"I like that excitement and I would let you find an opponent but there's a few changes this year. First of all, unique to this year, there will be an opening ceremony. Secondly, since there's a new card shop on the school grounds, every class will be going one a time to the card shop to prepare for the tradition I was talking about. People get excited like you over there all the time so we figured we should prepare you for not only the tradition but at least get a headstart for the school year. Luckily for you all that yours truly, Mr. Yamazaki, got the best draw and our class will be headed to the card shop right after the opening ceremony. Now we just have to wait for the bell...," the teacher stopped mid-sentence and looked around and scouted out his students.

A few moments afterwards, over the speakers, another loud bell was heard as Mr. Yamazaki and the rest of the teachers led their students over to a huge auditorium room. The room was full of people as another slightly elderly man was on the stage on a podium while again, everyone quieted down.

The principal cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone, "Greetings. I am Principal Tsubasa, the head of Delta Academy. Welcome new and returning students to a new year at here! I know many of you are excited today for the tradition and the opening of our new card shop!"

Once he said the words 'dueling' and 'card shop', the crowd got lively as they chattered about all sort of things related to dueling. Rather than try to quiet them down, a student on stage as well just looked at Principal Tsubasa as they both gave a nod to each other signalling that the ceremony should just continue on.

"I can barely hear myself. What about you, Yuushi?," Ayumi said with a loud voice trying to get his attention. Yuushi didn't even turn his head as Ayumi poked him on the shoulder a few times

"What?", Yuushi said while moving his head closer. All he saw was her mouth moving but the sound was chatter of everyone else in the room.

Like an echo, the girl responded a bit louder, "What?"

Yuushi looked confused and gave a puzzled look on his face before the principal continued his speech as the students were silent again. "I would just like to address a rumor that has been going on, mostly for the upper year students. As you may have heard, it is true, Reiji Sikiri, one of our top students, has been chosen by the overseas program in order to be a student at various cities around the world! And he's here right now to give a farewell speech to his fellow students."

The principal clapped as a few students started clapping but others started to talk about Reiji. From what Yuushi gathered from the people around him, Reiji is the best duelist at Delta and his father is a company big shot related to Duel Monsters. This trip was actually a guise for Reiji to travel the world to help his father with whatever company he was related to. However, officially, he was considered to be on a trip but the students at Delta thought otherwise.

"Rumors sure spread fast. But still, travelling the world like that on a Duel Monsters trip...that would be something I'd like to do one day," thought Yuushi while an older dark blue haired boy stood at the podium now with the principal taking a nearby seat.

"Fellow students. I know you don't want to hear some speech about how great I am and all that garbage. So for the sake of simplicity and speed, I'll make sure you remember this speech. Do not think that I'm just taking a trip for fun. Like you at school, I will be learning how to improve myself except I will be going to see the world while you will be in a school environment. And I promise you now, I'll take any challenge when I return and that I will be stronger than I ever was. Just don't make it too easy when I come back. I only wish I could be in this dueling tradition but I have to prepare. Though...I want to see the people who will crawl to the top where I'll be waiting!", Reiji challenged everyone but he not only left the podium but also the room while pointing to the sky with all eyes on him.

Not even waiting for his applause before leaving, even Principal Tsubasa was a bit shocked at the hurry he was in and the speech he gave.

"He sure is confident in himself," Ayumi thought to herself which slightly clenching her fist.

The principal continued on but the crowd was riled up by Reiji's challenge, "This year seems to be full of spirit. Alright then, like Reiji said, I'll make this fast and simple, your classes will have the traditional duel day. Today, the students in each class will duel each other in order to improve social unity and hopefully form new friends and bonds in this process. Also, you'll each have a chance to stop by the new card shop on school grounds to prepare for today's duel. And with that...thank you all for your time and attention".

With that Principal Tsubasa bowed to everyone and walked off to the sound of a thunderous applause as people were getting up in a somewhat orderly fashion back to their classes or in Class 1-D's case, to the new card shop.

Yuushi and Ayumi entered the shop along with everyone else in the class. The first noticeable thing was the lit-up sign 'Delta Shop' as there were a few chairs and tables incase anyone wanted to duel after class or just meet up. There was a display of the more powerful cards that people could purchase which was restocked daily and a bunch of booster packs, structure decks, boxes, etc of Duel Monsters cards. At the counter was a female looking at cards on a monitor with a male restocking cards and another woman with shining green earrings at the door welcoming everyone. By the counter, there were a few cards that Yuushi looked at for an instant before looking around a bit more. He saw the Effect Monsters Guardian Angel Joan and The Creator, the Trap Card Solemn Warning, the Ritual Spell Doriado's Blessing, the Synchro Monster Ally of Justice Catastor and the XYZ Monster Shine Elf. The cards themselves weren't too impressive for his deck and there was not any card in the shop that was too rare. Still, it was a good place to start for sure though since people could trade, gather and have fun which was something he could not deny about the place.

"I'd like a booster pack please!", a loud voice could be heard. It was from that dark blue-black haired boy who was extremely eager to start a duel at class. The boy opened the pack quick enough and sorted through the cards. With a bit of a grin, he put a card into a separate holder and the others went into his pocket. "Not bad, not bad," he said but walked into Yuushi who was talking with Ayumi.

Yuushi turned around and saw the individual who was slightly taller than himself while Ayumi wandered off in the shop afterwards.

"Sorry about that," said the noisy classmate.

"You sure are loud," responded Yuushi while Ayumi looked at both of them at a distance.

"Hey, I did get something a bit better than usual. I'll add it to my deck later so of course I'm a bit excited," he answered back.

The classmate extended his hand as Yuushi didn't know what to do now. "Oh, that's right, I never introduced myself," the boy said. He pointed to himself and continued his introduction, "The name's Hikaru Aoki."

"Yuushi Sakudo," was Yuushi's response as he shook Hikaru's hand.

With a grin, Hikaru looked on, "So what about it? You want to duel me today when we get back then? I promise it'll be a blast."

A challenged was directed at Yuushi. "Well, I don't know this guy but he seems nice enough. Besides, yeah, I want to start things off right for my first day here and what better way than a duel with a classmate."

With a look, Yuushi nodded, "You want to duel? Alright, I accept."

"Person of few words? No problem, no problem, I can already tell that you have a good head on your shoulders. Just don't lose it after you get blown away by my deck". With that Hikaru went off on his own around the shop as well

Ayumi was still looking around the card shop on her own and seeing all the lights and computers, she couldn't help just using one to browse a card, or two, or maybe twenty. The touch pad screen was nicer than her D-Pad's screen. "Hmm, maybe I need to tune up D-Gazer and then my D-Pad when I get back to my house. I did it last week, but still...", she thought while everyone else was talking.

Though Yuushi did not end up getting any cards and neither did too many of his classmates, the fiery spirit of that boy spread to him as he knew that when returned to the class, he would need to duel.

Mr. Yamazaki meanwhile was looking at the time on his own D-Pad as he realized that their class's time at the duel shop was going to end soon. "Alright, I know everyone's excited and all but if you'll just follow me back, you can all unleash that excitement in a duel!"

The class followed their teacher back to Classroom 1-D as a few people sat down except Mr. Yamazaki again who just took a sigh and a last look around before he sat down in his chair.

"Then the time has come...students, I personally welcome you to the start of a new beginning. So, with that, let's duel!"

Just as if a traffic light turned green, the students went from sitting to scrambling as Ayumi went to Yuushi first.

"Hey, you want to...," she said when suddenly Hikaru appeared and tapped Yuushi on the shoulder from behind until he turned around though Ayumi was a bit annoyed. "Hey! We were talking you know."

Hikaru pulled out his deck, slammed it into his D-Pad and flipped open a D-Gazer that acted like an eyepiece. "Sorry about that but I overheard your conversation. You wanted to duel Yuushi but he already promised me a match at the card shop so first come, first serve and dang it, I was first!"

Her arms were crossed in a bit of annoyance but she said to Yuushi, "Is that true? Well I guess if you did, you should duel him..."

Setting up his own D-Pad and deck and turning adjusting his glasses for Augmented Reality (AR) Vision, Yuushi replied, "Yeah, I did. Look, we can duel when we want right? Besides, I want to see what people from all over have to offer."

Yuushi walked a distance away from Hikaru with Ayumi as a spectator between the two with her own D-Gazer on her eye like Hikaru as she noticed that the two boys were one of the first people to start a duel in the class.

"Duel!", both combatants yelled while drawing five cards a piece.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Hikaru- 4000 LP

Looking at his hand, Yuushi was relatively happy with what he drew when a voice broke his train of thought. "Hey, you want to go first?", Hikaru shouted out.

"Alright, fine!", Yuushi said while drawing another card and thinking about his plan. "I could use this spell card and this monster but this card is better off facedown since it probably won't win me the duel." He decided to put his monster facedown as it had decent defense points. "I'll start this off pretty simple. Since it's the first turn of a duel and so I can't attack...just one face-down monster in defence mode and I'll end my turn". With that a card laid horizontally was materialized on the field in front of Yuushi.

"You know why I let you go first...I like to attack first!", said Hikaru enthusiastically as he drew a card and looked through his hand. "First I''ll warm up with Molten Transmission Field. When I activate this spell, I send two Laval Monsters from my deck to the graveyard. Laval Cannoneer and Laval Coatl."

After sending the two cards to the grave, Yuushi looked on. "If he played a Spell Card like that, he's probably going to do something this turn"

"Now, since I have a Fire Attribute Monster like Laval Coatl in my graveyard, I'm going to remove it from play to special summon Spirit of Flames (ATK: 1700, Level 4) in attack mode."

With that a molten humanoid erupted out of the ground with a roar. "I don't know what that card is facedown but I need I'll need more firepower! Now I sacrifice my Spirit of Flames in order to tribute summon Laval Lancelord (ATK: 2100, Level 6). As Spirit of Flames disappeared in a light, the smoke left behind triggered an explosion with a large stone humanoid holding a flaming spear stared down at the facedown Yuushi had on his field.

"To get a higher monster level out using tribute summoning means he had to sacrifice a monster on his field. It's a bit costly but the card that's left is usually a strong monster," Ayumi realized while watching the humanoid monster.

"Attack that facedown card!", Hikaru commanded as the Lancelord threw his spear with a powerful thrust as Yuushi's library monster (DEF: 2000) was impaled and destroyed.

"One card facedown and it's your turn then"

Yuushi drew his card and looked at it before thinking a moment and moving on. "I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (ATK: 1600, Level 4)". From a summoning circle, a red armored mage-knight with a shield and sword appeared as suddenly he glowed red, indicating an increase in power (Breaker ATK: 1900 1 Spell Counter (SC)). "Since I normal summoned him successfully, he gains a Spell Counter which increases his attack by 300 but that won't be around for much longer since I'm wary of that facedown card. I'll use Breaker's ability to remove his own Spell Counter but then I can destroy a Spell or Trap card on the field, so let's get rid of your only facedown."

Breaker's sword radiated a red light (Breaker 1600 ATK) as it shot out a red beam destroying the face down card revealed to be a trap.

"Next I play the Continuous Spell, Solidarity. Since I have a Spellcaster, namely Royal Magical Library, in the graveyard, any Spellcaster gains 800 ATK as long as Spellcasters are the only type of monster in my graveyard."

The card gave out a green glow as it infused Breaker with its power (Breaker 1600+800=2400 ATK). "Now its time to take out that spear thrower. Breaker, move in for the attack!", as the mage-knight charged up a magical blast and shot it out from its sword destroying Laval Lancelord.

Yuushi- 4000 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

"Alright then. That was good but Laval Lancelord still has something up his sleeve. His spirit ignites his comrades so much that when Laval Lancelord is on the field and destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can target a removed from play fire monster and add it to my hand. Well, looks like Laval Coatl from earlier joins my team again". Laval Coatl from Hikaru's Remove From Play Area flies out and he adds it to his hand.

"Then I'll play one card facedown and end it there", Yuushi said.

"Draw!", said the other boy enthusiastically. "I summon Laval Gunner (ATK: 1200, Level 4). I activate this card's ability. When this card is normal summoned, and I have a Laval monster in my graveyard that's not Laval Gunner, I can send the top five cards of my deck to the graveyard. And let's see..."

Hikaru drew five cards and sent them all to the graveyard. Statue of the Wicked, Offerings to the Doomed, Laval Coatl, Laval Lancelord and Spirit of Flames were sent to the graveyard.

"Now let's turn up the heat on this duel. Since Laval Gunner's effect sent two Laval monsters to the graveyard, his attack increases by 200 for each one (Laval Gunner 1200+200+200=1600 ATK) Now that I have three different Laval monsters in the graveyard, Cannoneer, Coatl and Lancelord, I can special summon both these cards from my hand, the card I got from Laval Lancelord earlier, a second Laval Coatl which is a tuner (ATK: 1300, Level 2 Tuner) and Laval Burner (ATK: 2100, Level 5)"

A small flaming winged creature and a much larger rock creature with flaming hair and glowing red fists appeared. The word 'Tuner' in Yuushi's head meant one thing that he exclaimed to his opponent, "You're planning to Synchro Summon then?"

"You betcha. I tune my Laval Coatl with my Laval Burner". Laval Coatl turned into two green rings in the air as Laval Burner jumped through them turning into five white lights before a green light enveloped them. "In the molten volcano, a roar which cannot be silenced! Flames which swell in the heart of fire! Synchro Summon! Laval Stannon!". The light faded but in its place, an even larger black golem with some armor, gauntlets and a hand cannon surfaced from the ground with a fiery roar. (ATK: 2700, Level 7)

The roar attracted a few classmates in the room who watched as a Synchro Monster surfaced. The blue-black haired boy however sent a card from his hand to the graveyard as he explained his actions. "When Laval Stannon is Synchro Summoned, I have to send a card from my hand to the graveyard but that's fine by me."

"Now things are getting exciting", one classmate said

A nearby girl agreed, "Yeah but that glasses guy is in trouble now."

Yuushi was taken a bit aback by this monster as Hikaru smiled and pointed his finger to the sky. "Like Reiji said, I'm going to crawl to the top and be number one! Laval Stannon, attack Breaker with Molten Cannon!" The cannon on the monster shot out a stream of lava at Breaker the Magical Warrior as it tried to defend with its shield but the lava melted it along with him sending the monster to the graveyard. The virtual lava continued and hit Yuushi causing him to see everything in a shade of red

Yuushi- 3700 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

Since his hands were covering his eyes, he wasn't ready for Laval Gunner. "Laval Gunner, attack directly!" The other monster raised its gun and fired off a few fireballs at Yuushi causing an explosion of smoke as he shielded himself.

Yuushi- 2100 LP

Hikaru- 3700 LP

"I end my turn with that super charged attack! Now since my turn ended, Laval Gunner returns to its original attack (Laval Gunner 1200 ATK)."

Seeing no monsters on Yuushi's field, Ayumi wondered if he would try to summon Arcanite Magician despite his father's words. That card would certainly be able to help right now but Laval Stannon had another effect that she knew about. She hoped that Yuushi knew about it too, "Laval Stannon is not only tough to beat with 2700 ATK but if it's targeted by a card effect, it can negate then destroy that card by removing a Laval monster from the grave. Hikaru has at least a few since he sent a bunch of Laval monsters to the grave earlier.".

"You're pretty good, Hikaru...," Yuushi said while staring at the large Synchro Monster in front of him. "But I've still got a few tricks in this deck."

Hikaru looked back as he nodded, "Of course. But I sure hope this trick of yours isn't just hot air!"

"I hope so too", Yuushi muttered to himself while looking at his deck and hand. He knew that he did have a few cards to at least hold out a bit. Still, without any monsters on the field, he knew he needed something to protect himself at least as the roar of Laval Stannon reminded him that he was still facing two monsters to his none on the field.

From his deck, Yuushi drew a card and looked at it, it was a field spell. "With this, I'll show him a trick or two and keep my promise to my dad. Here I go!"

Preview Chapter 2

Hikaru: "How do you like that? The passion, the speed. This is a duel!

Ayumi: "But there's more to it than that. Just don't disappoint me Yuushi, I haven't seen you duel in a while."

Yuushi: "Yeah I know. But you're both right, there's more to duels than what's on the field."

Ayumi: "So what made you interested in Duel Monsters in the first place?"

Yuushi: "I think you already have a guess. Next time, Chapter 2: The Master Magician."

Hikaru: "I'd rather you show it to me than guess."