Misha: Hey, all you wonderful people out there! This is my first fanfic ever, so forgive me if I'm not very good at this. It was hard coming up with a title for this, but I think it works since it can more or less refer to multiple things in the story. But anyway, here's Chapter 1, so please enjoy. Oh, and by the way, the beginning of this story takes place sometime in between episodes 28 and 29 in the anime (since it was never specified how big that time gap was, I'm saying it was about a month or more between the two). Also, I'm like to think of myself as at least a pretty competent Duelist in real life, so expect this story to have some pretty interesting duels (Well, at least I hope you'll find it interesting if you like that kind of stuff, that is).

Okay, now I think we're good to go!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or any of its characters (however the OCs are mine). All other rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Chapter 1: Enter Crystal Yuki

I tapped my fingers on the armrest as I impatiently looked out at the ocean from the helicopter window, on the lookout for my destination: a little place called Duel Academy. How long was it going to take before we landed? I don't know why, but when I found out I was going to be riding in a helicopter, I assumed it would be a lot faster…

After a few minutes of still not seeing anything, I finally snapped. "Ah! How much farther is it? This is so boring. I want to get there already!" I yelled, shutting my eyes and balling my hands into fists. The pilot was so lucky he couldn't hear me through the noise of the blades…

"Oh, calm down, Crystal," a sweet and bubbly voice came from out of nowhere. "Having a fit isn't going to make it go any faster, you know."

I opened my eyes then, suddenly looking at Dark Magician Girl's spirit floating over me. I stifled the urge to jump out of my seat in surprise. Dark had been with me for a few months now, but I still wasn't quite use to her appearing before me so suddenly. What was worse was that she was always popping up and trying to give advice when I didn't want her to, kind of like a conscience… But it was more complicated than that. See, Dark Magician Girl is my apparently duel spirit—you know; those spirits of Duel Monsters that only certain individuals could actually see (or at least that what Dark told me anyway). Imagine my dismay—I mean, 'surprise' when I found out I was one of those people…

"You're right, Dark," I sighed, sliding down in my seat. "I just really want to get to Duel Academy already so I can see Jaden…"

"Aw… You really miss your brother, don't you? That's so cute!" Now she was just teasing me.

Yeah, about that… I suppose I really should explain. See, my name is Crystal Yuki and Jaden Yuki just so happens to be my older twin brother— fraternal twin, of course, since I'm a girl and he's a boy and all. Jaden's really only ten minutes older than me, but that's still long enough for me to call him my dear big brother... But I digress.

I nodded slightly. "Well, of course I miss him. After all, I haven't seen my dear big brother in months. And that's exactly why I want to get off of this thing, pronto!" With that, I started going into another small tirade about how the stupid helicopter wasn't going fast enough.

"There, there, Crystal. Remember what I just told you?" Dark said, trying her best to calm me down. Suddenly, her green eyes shifted their gaze to out the window, apparently spotting something. "Oh! Crystal, look over there!"

"Huh..?" I quieted down long enough to see what she was pointing at. Looking out the window again and down towards the sea, I finally noticed a vast island up ahead in the distance. As we got closer, I could see that it was encompassed by sandy beaches with rocky, rugged sea cliffs around the edges that had at least two waterfalls flowing from them. The interior seemed to be mostly woodlands, while a (hopefully) dormant volcano made up the mountainside. In the very center of it all was this massive, colorful building that would have probably been mistaken to be a castle at first glance. That just had to be Duel Academy.

I sighed in relief. "Well, it's about time. I thought we'd never get there…"

After several more minutes, the helicopter finally touched down on a helipad near the harbor. Before the blades even stopped spinning all the way, I unbuckled my seat belt and bolted from that accursed aircraft. The pilot had said that someone would come by to pick up my bags, so I didn't even bother grabbing any of my things. I didn't need them right now anyway. All I needed was my deck and Duel Disk and I was good to go.

When I got out, I was surprised to see that there were three people there apparently waiting for me. I sure wasn't expecting a welcoming committee…

One of them—the man in the middle—was a somewhat hefty old guy in a burgundy coat who had a short square beard, a shiny bald head, and a jolly look on his face.

On the right was a tall, boney individual with purple lips and light blond hair pulled back into a long ponytail, dressed in a long blue coat with pink frilly sleeves. Judging from the overall appearance, I was pretty sure this was a man I was looking at, although his hairstyle and odd attire still had me second-guessing myself for a second...

Then was the boy on the left. Just taking one look at him immediately took my breath away. He looked around two or three years older than me, dressed in a long white and blue uniform with long blue pants. His semi-long hair was a dark teal-blue which matched perfectly with his cold blue eyes. Oh, man, his eyes! There was something about them that just made my legs go weak and shake as I stared into them, suddenly making me feel lost in some sort of ocean-blue void within those eyes.

He must have noticed me staring, because I swear I saw him stare right back at me. His expression was… Oh, how can I describe it? He didn't smile at me, yet he didn't frown either. His face was just plain and stoic—the essence of coolness (I think so, anyway). It was like he was looking at me yet also staring right through me all at the same time.

At that moment, I got really lightheaded as I listened to the sound of my heart pounding in my chest, and for a second I thought I might even pass out right then and there. What was going on with me? I wondered. It was a strange and new sensation that made me feel utterly exhilarated. And yet, at the same time it also terrified the hell out of me. Was I feeling like this because of this stranger?

This guy is… something else… was all I could think of as I continued to gaze at this mysterious boy, not exactly knowing if I should be captivated by, or frightened, of him.

I found myself lost deep in thought until the sound of that old man's voice brought me back to reality.

"Hello there. You must be our new transfer student. My name is Chancellor Sheppard," he said. "This is Dr. Crowler," he pointed at the person to the right, "and this is Zane Truesdale—a third-year from Obelisk Blue." This time he pointed to the blue-eyed boy.

My heart pounded fiercely in my chest once again. So his name was Zane, was it? I was definitely going to have to remember that name, I thought to myself. But now really wasn't the time to be hung up on this guy. I had more important things to do right now, like actually getting into this school first…

To be polite, I bowed to them all in greetings. "Hello. It's very… nice to meet you all. My name is Crystal Yuki and I'd really appreciate it if you'd all commit it to memory."

"Great, just what we need: another Yuki…" I heard Crowler mutter under his breath, sounding rather annoyed for some reason.

I glared at him instantly. Why would he say something like that? Did he know Jaden or something? And if he did, why did he sound so mad? My big brother was the best. Jaden was the whole reason I even bothered coming here, really...

"Now, Crystal, as you know, although you've already passed a written exam, to determine your rank in the Academy, you'll have to partake in an Evaluation Duel," said the Chancellor.

"Yes, about that… I don't know if it's possible or not, but if you don't mind, could you please see to it that I duel someone really strong? Like the best Duelist you have here, if possible?" I asked, trying my best to smile like I meant it.

He seemed surprised by my request. "Well, that's a rather unusual request. Why are you interested in such a thing, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Why…?" I echoed, biting my lower lip as I struggled to think of a good excuse. I couldn't very well tell them the real reason I wanted to duel the school's strongest Duelist was because I figured they would be able to take a few hits without keeling over in pain. No, somehow I think that might raise even more questions... Lying a little bit was probably my best option here. "Um, well, the way I see it, if I have to duel, I want to go up against someone worthwhile to prove that I really do belong here, and who better to face but the best? Besides, I think it would be a… 'nice' experience. So what do you say?"

"Someone seems a bit overconfident…" Crowler mumbled to himself again.

I glared mildly at him for a second time, taking issue with that comment, but I did my best to ignore him as I waited for Sheppard's answer.

He smiled down at me. "Well, you certainly have high expectations, don't you? I admire that. Of course it's fine with me." He looked over at Zane suddenly. "What about you, Zane? Do you mind dueling Crystal?"

My eyes widened as I glanced back over at that Truesdale guy. No way… He was the top Duelist here? Well, I guess that would explain why he was out here out of all the other students…

Zane stared at me intently for a minute, probably trying to size me up or something. It was either that, or it was because he just thought I was nuts. Regardless, I found myself standing up a little straighter than usual, my hands to my sides and balled up into fists as I awaited his response.

Then, miraculously, he simply shrugged and answered, "Sure, why not? You're on, kid."

"R-Really?" I gawked in a bit of disbelief. "Oh, I mean, 'thank you so much!'" Without hesitation, I bowed my head to show my appreciation.

"Okay, then it's settled. Crystal you will be dueling Zane for your entrance exam," the chancellor said.

"Great. Thanks again…" I sighed, relieved that things were going smoothly for me so far.

So even with the duel arrangements in order, there was still the simple matter of actually getting to the Dueling Arena. Sheppard and Crowler had gone on ahead which just left Zane and me. The third-year was leading the way while I walked a few feet behind him, doing my best to keep up.

Not wanting to get too far behind, I walked a little faster as I tried to match Zane's pace. Since his legs were a lot longer than mine, it wasn't easy though, but somehow I managed to catch up. And when I did, though I know it could be considered rude, I started to stare at him again. My eyes just refused to focus on anything else for some reason.

He was looking straight ahead as he walked, still with that stoic look on his face. He must have felt my eyes on him or something, because then he suddenly turned his head to look right at me.

Panicking, I quickly whipped my head to look in the other direction, trying to pretend I had been that way the entire time. My heart started racing again. Why did it keep doing that every time he looked at me? I placed a hand over my heart in an attempt to calm it down. Am I nervous? But why…? I wondered, now starting to get frustrated that I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me today.

"Are you feeling alright?" a deep voice interrupted my thoughts.

"What…?" I looked up again to see that Zane was still looking at me. He was the one who asked the question, I realized after a while. "Am I alright? Of… of course I am! I have absolutely no reason not to be…" I assured him, although it kind of felt like I was trying to convince myself the same thing.

"If you say so," he said shrugging his shoulders slightly. After that, there were a few moments of silence until Zane finally added, "So, Crystal… Your last name's Yuki, right? You wouldn't happen to be related to Jaden Yuki, would you?"

I looked over at him again, blinking in surprise. "What? You know my big bother?" I blurted out, probably raising my voice a little louder than I should have.

"I take that as a 'yes' then?" Zane said, noting my outburst.

I blushed slightly in embarrassment and just nodded in response this time.

"To answer your question, I guess you can say I know Jaden," he went on. "He and I had a duel not too long ago."

"Is that so…?" My face suddenly lit up at the mention of my brother. I couldn't help it though; everything Jaden-related always got me excited. "That's cool, but I guess that means you must have won considering how you're the best Duelist here and all…" I said, becoming slightly dejected at the idea of my big brother losing to anyone. "Oh, but please tell me, do you know how Jaden is or at least what dorm he's in? My brother never remembers to write or call home, so I haven't heard from him in a while now…"

"He seemed to be doing well the last time I saw him," Zane said answering my first question. "As for his dorm… He's in Slifer Red—the same as my younger brother."

"Oh, so you have a brother, too?" I inquired; surprised to find something that we actually had in common.

Zane scowled slightly then which put a little unease back in my heart. "Yes, but sometimes I'm still a bit reluctant to admit it," he said.

"And why's that?" I asked, not understanding why he seemed so upset. Sure, my brother sometimes did things that embarrassed or annoyed me, but I could never really stay mad at him for very long.

He turned his gaze away from me then, looking straight ahead as he answered, "Although he's getting better, he still doesn't have much confidence in his dueling abilities. When he goes up against someone, he usually does himself in rather than his opponent."

"Oh… I see…" I replied, not really sure how else to respond to that. I could see that this conversation was only probably going to get even more awkward if it kept going, so I decided not to say anything else for the time being.

So after what seemed like a very long trip, we finally managed to make it to the Dueling Arena where I was to complete my entrance exam. The stadium was packed with sea of students, apparently all looking to see a show. How the hell did they find out about this duel so damn fast anyway?

I frowned slightly as I gazed at the crowd surrounding us in all directions. I didn't do so well in crowds and was therefore kind of hoping for something a little more private... But now really wasn't the time to complain.

Zane and I took our places on the field, just about ready to start.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath Alright, Crystal, just remember: Don't lose control… Don't lose control… I thought to myself, repeating that little mantra over and over again in my head.

Dark Magician Girl appeared besides me once again. "You're still worried about someone getting hurt, aren't you?" she asked, having a pretty good idea what was on my mind.

'A little…' I admitted, now holding both of my hands tightly together to stop them from shaking.

"Well, don't worry, Crystal," Dark said, trying to cheer me up. "Remember, that seal on your arm is there to make sure nothing like that will happen, so you have nothing to be afraid of."

I opened my eyes and stared down at the red pentagram-shaped mark on my right shoulder. Dark had been the one who put that seal on me to help me with my little "problem."

What problem, you may be wondering? Well, I guess I should explain that, too…

It's hard to put into words exactly, but you see, I kind of have these certain "special abilities." Though even calling them that wasn't the right word for it. Since nothing good ever came out of them, they were more like a curse.

Ever since I can remember, probably even since the day I was born for all I know, I've had these strange, dark powers that could let me do just about anything I wanted. Well… anything I wanted as long as it involved destroying something that is. See, although I've had these powers for a long time now, I regrettably still have almost no control over them which usually ends up causing bad things to happen around me. I won't go into anything too specific other than that it usually involved black fire mysteriously igniting out of nowhere...

What's worse is that it also affected the way I dueled. In the past, whenever I attacked with a monster or activated a card that caused damage, that accursed power of mine would somehow bring my cards to life and caused my opponent, and just about anything else around, to sustain real damage. Needless to say I've hurt quite a few people over the years, which I'm not proud to admit. It got so bad that after a while I became a sort of pariah to everyone that knew me. No one wanted to duel or even be around me because they thought I was going to do something horrible to them. They all thought of me as some kind of witch… a monster…

One of the only people who didn't see me that way was Jaden. He knew I wasn't like that and always accepted me no matter what. That was probably one of the reasons I wanted to see him again so badly…

But anyway, like I said, what I have is a curse which is why I asked Dark Magician Girl to help me in the first place. That seal she put on my arm was meant to keep my powers in check and while it unfortunately couldn't get rid of them completely, it at least weakened them enough so I wouldn't hurt anyone when I dueled. I practiced with it a lot at home so I knew it worked for the most part, but I admit, I never tested it out in a real duel before. That was the real reason why I wanted to face the strongest Duelist here. I figured that if they were really as powerful as they claimed then surely they would be able to use some of that strength of theirs to protect themselves from me if things ended up getting out of hand.

But still…What if something really did go wrong? What if someone got hurt anyway? Maybe it was a mistake to come here after all…

Dark must have seen the still-worried look on my face because then she added, "Everything's going to be alright, Crystal. I promise. Dueling is supposed to be fun, so please just try to enjoy yourself."

Fun… That was one word I could never really associate with dueling. I mean, it's kind of hard to enjoy any duel when my opponents always collapsed in agony after just a few of my attacks… After a while I gave up on the concept of ever enjoying duels and just focused on ending them as quickly as possible as a way to lessen my opponents' pain and my frustration. It was just like ripping of a bandage really…

But with luck, maybe things really would be different now. I had to be like Dark and try to think positive.

I shook my head vigorously for a few seconds to clear my mind of all those negative thoughts. 'Yeah, you're right, Dark!' I told her, feeling a little bit better now. 'I'll make sure to do my best then.'

"That's great to hear!" Dark smiled before disappearing, her spirit returning to my deck.

With that, I glanced back up at the boy who was to be my opponent. "Alright then, Zane, are you ready?" I asked, activating the Duel Disk that was on my right arm in a heartbeat.

"Whenever you are," he replied, activating his as well.

We drew our hands and both cried out, "DUEL!"

(Crystal: 4000 LP/Zane: 4000 LP)

~Jaden's Point of View~

"Hurry up, Jaden! We're going to miss the whole thing at this rate!" my friend Syrus yelled, pulling me by the arm in a failing attempt to reach the Dueling Arena faster. It might have been easier if I didn't keep dragging my feet. I couldn't help it though. I mean, I just got out of bed almost five minutes ago so I was still pretty tired. Sometimes twelve hours of sleep just wasn't enough…

"Whoa, what's your hurry anyway, Sy?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear? Some new transfer student is gonna duel my big bro right now for their entrance exam!" Syrus answered, not stopping for a second.

The mention of dueling woke me up in a heartbeat. "You mean Zane? But why would they be dueling him?" It sounded like it would be a sweet duel, but it was still a little weird considering how most new Duelists were supposed to face Duel Instructors, not other students.

"Well, I heard they actually asked to duel the strongest student of campus! Can you believe that?" Sy exclaimed as we finally reached the doors to the arena.

"Really? That sounds awesome! They must really be something then!" I grinned, suddenly fired-up about the idea of having a new powerful Duelist around to challenge. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go check it out then!"

With that, I opened the doors to the arena and we walked in. Once inside, we were engulfed with the noise of the giant crowd. I looked around, a bit surprised. Even though it was a Saturday, I still wasn't expecting to see this big of a turnout. I guess everyone was pretty excited to see the Kaiser duel this new mystery student as well…

"Hey, Jaden, Syrus! Over here!" I heard someone suddenly yell. I looked around the crowded stadium for a few seconds until I finally saw Alexis waving to us from a few rows away. Bastion and Chumley were with her as well.

I waved back as Syrus and I maneuvered our way down the aisle. "Hey, guys!" I greeted them as we sat down. "So what did we miss?"

"Nothing really," Bastion answered. "The duel just started, actually."

"Well, that's a relief," I sighed, glad I hadn't missed any of the action. "So who's Zane dueling anyway?"

"I'm not sure exactly," Alexis started, "but I thought I heard her name was Crystal, or something like that..."

Crystal? There's no way… I trailed off as looked down towards the field, thinking there was no way that could be the same Crystal I was thinking of. But when I finally gazed upon the Kaiser's opponent, my eyes went wide in shock. Standing opposite of Zane was a relatively petite fair-skinned girl with unusually long, dark brown hair that reached down to the calves of her legs, and deep violet eyes that I'd recognize anywhere.

I couldn't believe it at first, but it really was her. It was my sister. But what's Crys doing here? I wondered, still not able to figure out why my sister was at Duel Academy of all places. I mean, Crystal didn't even really like dueling! And I should know; after all, she's told me enough times...

"Are you alright, Jaden?" Alexis asked, obviously noticing the stunned look on my face.

"Yeah…" I managed to nod as I continued to stare down at the duel that was about to unfold.

~Crystal's Point of View~

"So who makes the first move?" I inquired, gazing over at my opponent.

"It's ladies first," Zane answered, giving me the honor of starting things off.

I just shrugged. "If that's what you want... I guess I'll go then." With that, I drew my sixth card and added it to my hand. "Okay, I'll start things off by playing the Spell Card, Poison of the Old Man," I declared as I activated the card. "This is how it works: I can either choose to increase my Life Points by 1200, or I can inflict 800 points of damage to my opponent. And to be safe, I think I'll go with the first option." So just like that, my Life Points increased to 5200.

To be honest, the real reason I chose that effect was because I still wasn't ready to attack just yet. I still had to psych myself up a little, I guess… I wasn't done just yet, though. "Next, I'll summon Masked Dragon in Defense Mode."

A red and white dragon wearing a grinning mask soon appeared crouched down on my side of the field (ATK 1400/ DEF 1100).

"Finally, I'll place one card face down and end my turn," I said, setting a card in my Spell/Trap Card Zone.

"So that's it? Fine; then it's my turn," said Zane coolly as he started his turn by drawing a card. "Alright...I call forth Cyber Dragon in Attack Mode."

Just like that, a giant, metallic serpent with glistening fangs and glowing yellow eyes sprang from the ground and coiled around Zane with a thunderous growl (ATK 2100/ DEF 1600).

"Impressive," I noted as I looked on, though my gaze was really focused more on Zane rather than his monster. "Not a bad start, but don't you normally need a sacrifice to summon a monster that strong?"

"Well, if you must know," Zane explained, "that's Cyber Dragon's effect. If I have no monsters on my side of the field, but my opponent does on theirs, I can Special Summon Cyber Dragon onto the field from my hand."

"Hum, well isn't that a nice little trick…?" I mused nonchalantly. "But something tells me you're not done yet, are you?"

"You're right about that," he informed me. "Since I still have my Normal Summon, next I'll bring out my Cyber Phoenix in Attack Mode."

In a shower of golden sparks, this sliver and orange metal bird-like creature floated onto Zane's field (ATK 1200/ DEF 1600).

"And just to let you know," my opponent went on, "as long as Cyber Phoenix remains in Attack Mode, it can negate the effects of Spells and Traps that specifically target one Machine-Type monster on my field."

I puffed a stand of hair out of my face and glowered a little after hearing that comment. What an annoying effect that was! The card I placed face down earlier was a Trap called Enchanted Javelin, but thanks to that stupid, flaming metal chicken I wouldn't be able to activate it since my card evolved targeting one of Zane's monsters.

"Well, now that that's all gone over, I'll use Cyber Phoenix to attack your Masked Dragon!" Zane declared with a wave of the arm.

The robotic bird gladly followed orders as it began to flap its wings, creating a gust of fiery wind that sailed across the field and quickly incinerated my dragon.

I wasn't too worried though. "Good job, but you just triggered my Masked Dragon's effect. When he's destroyed by battle and sent to my Graveyard, I can Special Summon another Dragon-type monster with 1500 Attack Points or less from my deck to take his place, and I choose another Masked Dragon."

So another Masked Dragon appeared on my field, crouched down in Defense Position.

"Too bad he won't be around for long!" exclaimed Zane. "Now go, Cyber Dragon! Destroy her dragon with Strident Blast!"

Immediately, his Cyber Dragon opened its mouths and shot a ray of blue lightning at Masked Dragon, obliterating him in seconds.

"Yeah, but don't forget: since you destroyed Masked Dragon in battle, I can use his effect to Special Summon yet another dragon from my deck that meet the conditions, and this time I'm calling out my Red-Eyes Black Chick."

A little black dragon with ruby-red eyes appeared on my side of the field then, breaking out of his molten-rock egg as he floated in front of me in Attack Mode (ATK 800/ DEF 500).

"I end my turn," Zane stated briefly as he brought his move to a close.

"So I guess it means it's my turn again," I said already drawing my next card. "First, I activate the Spell, Graceful Charity. Thanks to this card, I'm allowed to draw three new cards as long as I discard two afterwards."

I picked up three cards from the top of my deck. When I looked at them, I saw that I had drawn Magician's Valkyria, Smashing Ground, and Dark Magician Girl. Not bad, I thought to myself. When all was said and done, I ended up getting rid of Magician's Valkyria and the Dark Magician that was already in my hand.

"And now, since my Red-Eyes Black Chick is now on the field, I can activate his effect, letting me sacrifice him in order to Special Summon Red-Eyes Black Dragon from my hand!"

My little dragon was swallowed in a fiery light and was soon replaced with its much bigger self, the full-grown Red-Eyes Black Dragon (ATK 2400/ DEF 2000).

"And there's more," I continued, not done by a long shot. "Now that Red-Eyes is on the field, I can use this Spell Card: Inferno Fire Blast. So now I just select a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field, which I happen to have as you can see, and then you lose Life Points equal to my dragon's original Attack Points!"

Here we go… I thought anxiously, biting my lower lip as I braced myself for whatever was about to happen.

Red-Eyes gave a thundering screech as it let out a great, claret-colored ball of fire from his mouth, hurling it right at Zane. He merely watched with his arms crossed as the inferno quickly closed in on him. Bang! Truesdale was engulfed in a plume of flame, costing him 2400 Life Points. I held my breath for several seconds, silently praying that my powers hadn't somehow activated after all and ended up hurting the guy.

When the flames died down and the smoke finally cleared, I was stunned to see that not only was Zane fine after that last attack, but he seemed totally unfazed by it. I mean, during the course of my Red-Eyes' onslaught he hadn't moved a single muscle. He didn't even flinch! Now that was something I had never seen before.

Wow...He really is something else... I thought as my heart fluttered wildly once again in a mix of both awe and relief. But what was even better was that the seal I had really worked! Truesdale didn't seem to be in any pain from that last attack at all which meant I didn't have to hold back as much anymore.

"Anyway," I went on, trying my best to hide my sudden excitement. "Since my Red-Eyes isn't allowed to attack due to Inferno Fire Blast's other effect, I'll just sacrifice him to bring out my Dark Magician Girl!"

With a twirl of her staff and a playful wink, Dark Magician Girl soon took Red-Eyes' place on the field as he was sent to chill out in my Graveyard (ATK 2000/ DEF 1700).

"But that's not all, because thanks to the Dark Magician I just discarded a few moments ago, my Dark Magician Girl's effect allows her to gain an extra 300 Attack points as long as he's kicking it in the Grave."

Dark Magician Girl was soon covered in a bright pink light, increasing her Attack to 2300.

"Now go, Dark Magician Girl, destroy his Cyber Phoenix with your Dark Burning Attack!"

"You got it, Crystal!" With a wave of her staff, Dark let loose a pink orb of fiery light which did its job by hitting Cyber Phoenix square-on, destroying it in seconds and taking 1100 of Zane's Life Points along with it.

(Crystal: 5200 LP/ Zane: 500 LP)

"Heh… Not bad," Zane admitted which made my face burn slightly for some reason. "But thanks to by Cyber Phoenix's other effect, when it's destroyed, I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck."

"That's just fine," I commented with a curt shrug as Zane proceeded with drawing a card from his deck. "But now that your Phoenix is out of the way, that means your Machine monsters are once again vulnerable to my Spells and Traps. And speaking of which, I think I'll activate this: the Spell known as Smashing Ground. With this card, the monster on your field with the highest Defense Points is instantly destroyed, and since Cyber Dragon is the only monster you have out right now, it looks like it's going to be the one that has to go."

As my card activated, the ground began to shake fiercely under Zane's monster, suddenly causing a giant fissure to open up. Cyber Dragon then promptly fell into the deep crevice, sending it to the Graveyard just like that.

"And considering how that was my last card and I'm out of things to do, I guess I'll end my turn," I finished.

"You know, you're pretty impressive yourself, Crystal," said Zane, which once again caused my face to break into a mild fever. "But make no mistake—I am the best."

Then by all means, please show me… I thought as I waited for Zane to start his turn.

"First I'll activate Monster Reborn and use its effect to bring back my Cyber Dragon." At his words, Cyber Dragon reappeared on Zane's field.

Damn... Didn't I just get rid of that?

"And now, from my hand, I activate the Spell Card, Power Bond," Zane said raising the card above his head as he played it.

"Power Bond?" I echoed, my eyes going wide. I'm pretty sure I've heard of that card somewhere before, and if I remembered right, its effect meant bad news for me.

"That's right. And now I'll use Power Bond's effect to fuse the Cyber Dragon I have on the field with the two in my hand!" Zane cried out. "Behold!"

The three silver serpents suddenly all twisted into this huge portal above Zane's head. There was a blinding white light, making me have to shield my eyes. When it was finally safe to look, I opened my eyes once more. A wordless cry of surprise escaped my lips when I saw Zane's new monster. It was this giant, metallic white serpent-dragon with three heads, shiny wings, and a4000 Attack Point strength.

"Crystal, meet my friend, the Cyber End Dragon!" Zane called.

Although the crowd went wild at the sight of Zane's monster, all I could do was stare up at the glowing beast in silence.

"But that's not all," Zane went on. "Thanks to Power Bond, my Cyber End's attack power is doubled to 8000!"

The steel dragon let out a thunderous roar from each of its three throats at its Attack skyrocketed to exactly that.

"Wow! He's really strong now," I commented with a gasp as I finally snapped out of my trance.

"You're about to see how powerful he is first hand. Now attack, Cyber End Dragon! Annihilate her Dark Magician Girl and the rest of her Life Points! Super Strident Blast!" Zane waved his arm as the Cyber End Dragon formed balls of white lighting in each of its three jaws and releasing them straight at Dark Magician Girl.

"Hey, don't count me out just yet! I unfortunately may not be able to save Dark, but at least I can spare some of my Life Points," I said, revealing my face-down card. "I activate my Trap, Enchanted Javelin! With this, I gain Life Points equal to your attacking Cyber End Dragon's current Attack Points!"

So right before his monster's attack went through, my Life Points shot up to 13200. They didn't stay that way for very long, however, because then Cyber End Dragon destroyed Dark Magician Girl, costing me 5700 Life Points, dropping them down to 7500 in an instant.

Dark Magician Girl appeared beside me once again, this time in spirit form. She held the side of her head like she had a massive headache. She probably got it from getting blasted so hard. "Ouch! That wasn't very pleasant," she said with a wince. "But my, their power is incredible!"

'Yes, it certainly is…' I agreed as I continued to stare intently at my opponent. "Well, you certainly are something else, Zane, aren't you?"I smirked. "But it was a bit of a risk playing Power Bond, wasn't it? I mean, since you can't end the duel this turn, won't you take damage from its other effect now?"

He didn't seem to share my concern though. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," Zane informed me. He must have seen the look of confusion on my face because then he added, "I now activate the Quick-Play Spell, De-Fusion, allowing me to return Cyber End Dragon to my Extra Deck in order to re-summon my three Cyber Dragons!"

So just like that, Zane's Cyber End Dragon disappeared in the same light it came in and was soon replaced by his three Cyber Dragons, all with an Attack of 2100.

Huh… How clever, I mused. Not only did Zane get three new monsters he could still attack with this turn, but now since Cyber End Dragon left the field, Power Bond lost its target which meant that its damage effect wouldn't activate.

"Now go, my monsters! Attack her directly!" Zane called out, pointing right at me.

At his command, the three Dragons simultaneously opened their jaws wide and each shot out a great bolt of blue lightning with thunderous roar. Bang! Bam! Ka-boom! All three of them ended up hitting me one after the other, dealing me 6300 more points worth of damage and sending me flying back in the process.

When it was all over, I found myself down on the ground with only a mere 1200 Life Points. For a long while I just laid there flat on my back, staring off into space as my mind tried to process what was suddenly happening to me.

I was breathing a little faster now, my heart felt like it was racing a mile a minute, and I was suddenly finding it very difficult to stifle the urge to burst into laughter. What was this feeling, I wondered? I know I felt it enough of times before, but never in a situation like this…

And that's when it finally hit me: this feeling was that of enjoyment; excitement; pleasure. In other words… fun. Wait… I was actually having fun dueling!? I still had a hard time believing it at first. Like I said, this had never happened to me during a duel before, so it was really throwing me for a loop.

After my initial shock finally subsided, I sprang back up on my feet at once. "Wow! Just wow! That was absolutely amazing!" I exclaimed; my eyes ignited with sudden excitement. Now I couldn't quite control what I was saying, but I was feeling so good at that point, I really didn't care. "You just managed to dish out 12000 points of damage in a single turn! I don't think anyone has ever hit me that hard before! You're… you're so cool!"

Maybe I was just imagining it, but I could have sworn I saw the upper corners of Zane's lips turn upward slightly, like he was smiling a little bit. But like I said, maybe it was only in my head because it disappeared just as fast as it had come and he was back to that stoic expression of his. "Why thank you, but I'm afraid I'm not quite done yet," he went on.

As for me, I just tilted my head to the side and leaned forward a little; waiting eagerly to see what he would do next. He couldn't attack any more this turn now, so what else could he do?

"Now I activate the Spell, Polymerization," said Zane as he inserted the last card in his hand in his Duel Disk. "And I think I'll use it to fuse my three Cyber Dragons to re-summon my Cyber End Dragon!"

In another shower of light, Zane's Cyber End Dragon returned to the field, though this time having only its original Attack Points (ATK 4000/ DEF 2800).

Damn… Zane must really be fond of that monster, I figured. And with good reason, too: it was wicked powerful!

"It's your turn now, Crystal," he finished, finally handing the reins over to me.

"Thanks," I answered, though I didn't actually do anything for a moment. All I could do was gaze up at that Cyber End Dragon hanging over me, wondering how I was going to deal with it exactly. I didn't have any cards in my hand that could destroy it right now. In fact, my hand didn't have any cards in it at all, so unless I miraculously drew something good right then, it was all over…

I tossed my head from side to side a little bit then, clearing my head. Oh, forget worrying about that! After all, what did it matter? I mean, I was actually having fun with this duel! I guess this Zane guy wasn't so bad after all… And on top of that, he was a pretty damn amazing Duelist, too!

All I could do now was throw caution to the wind and hope for the best. "Right, so it's my turn!" I said drawing a card from the top of my deck, slicing the air with all my might. When I saw what it was, I couldn't help but smile. "Alright! I may still have a chance here!" I said, instantly playing the card without a second thought. "From my hand I activate the Card of Sanctity Spell Card, so now we both get to draw until we're each holding six cards in our hands."

So with that, both Zane and I proceeded in drawing the appropriate amount of cards, which in this case ended up being six for the both of us. I know it was a little risky giving my opponent a brand new hand and all, but I really didn't have much of a choice if I wanted to stay in this duel. All I had to hope for now was that I had drawn something useful…

I looked down at my new hand, and while I didn't see it right away, when my gaze finally fell on the third card from the right, my eyes widened at the sight of Chaos Emperor Dragon. I was stunned at first, unable to believe my good luck, but a few seconds later a small smile flashed across my face as I realized this duel was mine.

But as quickly as it had come, my smirk suddenly vanished as a very unpleasant thought crossed my mind: If I won now, that means this duel, and all this fun I was having, would come to an end. I was hoping I could drag this duel out a little longer for once so I could spend a bit more time with Zane, but somehow I knew that if I didn't finish things this turn, he would probably find a way to beat me in the next, so our time was short anyway.

I sighed to myself and gazed back over at Zane who was patiently waiting for me to make a move. "Sorry to keep you waiting for so long," I apologized, bowing slightly. "I was just thinking what a shame it is that our duel's going to end this turn…"

"Is that so?" Zane crossed his arms, seeming as cool and calm as ever.

"That's right, and it's all thanks to this card!" I called out, raising my trump card high above my head. "I remove the Magician's Valkyria and Red-Eyes Black Chick in my Graveyard from play in order to Special Summon the monster that will ultimately be your demise!"

At that moment a giant black vortex opened behind me, with lightning shooting out from the edges in every direction. From the stands, I could hear the crowd begin to get rather antsy from the little lightshow I just initiated. Heh… Well if something like that got them excited, then they were really going to flip-out when they saw what was coming next...

A few seconds later, a great emerald-green and gold dragon stormed out of the portal, his long blood-red mane flowing behind him as he spread out his wings and emanated a deafening, angry roar (ATK 3000/ DEF 2500).

"Bow before the might of Chaos Emperor Dragon- Envoy of the End!" I exclaimed.

And, just like I thought, those noisy spectators lost it at the sight of my monster; irrupting in cries of shock and amazement.

Although Zane was better at controlling his emotions than the rest of the student body, for a brief moment I saw a look in his eyes that suggested that not even he expected my Chaos Emperor Dragon to make an appearance in this duel. Even so, he merely stood there, gazing on in silence.

Meanwhile, I just stated up at my monster, unable to help feeling a little bit proud. After all, it wasn't every day that I summoned the great Chaos Emperor Dragon. Then again, that might have something to do with the fact that I only had about two Light-Attribute monsters in my deck which made it kind of difficult for me to summon him in the first place… But again, I digress.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" I asked my opponent as I pointed up at the regal dragon hanging over me. "Now, I know my dear Chaos may not be as strong as your Cyber End Dragon, but then again, I didn't really summon him to attack with…" I shook my head slightly. "No, as you can probably guess, I'm much more interested in his Special Effect, and by paying 1000 Life Points, it automatically activates!"

As my Life Points decreased to a sparse 200, Chaos Emperor Dragon started to cast about an aura of the darkest shade of red as a sphere of energy began to form in his gaping jaws.

"So now, thanks to his effect, every card in our hands and our side of the field go straight to the Graveyard and then you take 300 points of damage for each one sent," I explained. "Let's see, so with each of us having one card on the field, and with six cards in your hand and five in mine, that's a grand total of thirteen which means you lose… Oh, wow! 3900 points!" I gasped after taking a second to do the math in my head; surprised after coming up with such a high number.

3900 point of damage did certainly seem like quite an overkill considering Zane only had 500 Life Points left to lose, but there wasn't anything I could do about that now. All I could do was offer him up a little advice. "Um, you might want to brace yourself…"

No sooner had I finished uttering that last syllable, my dragon finally released all that energy he was storing, shooting it out of his mouth like a cannon. The blast created a wave of flames so great that it completely consumed all the cards in our hands, Zane's Cyber End Dragon, and finally Chaos Emperor Dragon himself. With nothing else left to burn, the torrent of flames then headed straight for Zane; raining down over him and swallowing him up in an instant.

All the while I just stood there completely dumbfounded, wondering if I had gone a little overboard in choosing to use Chaos Emperor Dragon's effect to end the duel like that. I was also starting to worry about Zane again, convinced that I really had blasted him into oblivion this time.

Oh, crap! Please be alright! Please, please just be alright, I silently prayed as I franticly waited for all the flames to die down. And when they finally did vanish, so did my worry as I was once again able to see Zane from across the field. He was still in one piece, thank goodness, but the same couldn't be said about his Life Points: they were at zero.

It was then I noticed that the whole arena had fallen completely silent. Just when I was beginning to think that I had somehow managed to knock the whole audience out cold, the next thing I knew I heard a deafening roar erupt from the students!

My eyes went wide in surprise as I continued to listen to the unfamiliar sound of cheering and applauding. After all, I had gotten so used to all of my duels ending in cries of shock or terror I never thought a whole crowd would actually praise my dueling. But still, at that moment I closed my eyes and smiled; taking in the sound as if it were music. Yeah, I can definitely get used to this…

Feeling rather bold at that moment, I turned my attention back to Zane, deciding to do something I've secretly always wanted to try... "And as my drear Jaden would say…" I started, now emulating my brother by giving a two fingered salute and winking like he always did after winning a duel. "That's game!"

Misha: Well, that's it for Chapter 1! So sorry if I broke any of "The Rules" by making my OC be related to a canon character and letting her beat another one in the same chapter. But then again, my story, my rules! If you do not like it, that's fine. Just please stop reading then. I mean, it's not like anyone's forcing you to at gun point or anything, right? (But if it turns out that someone really is doing such a thing, then please just tell me and I will gladly call for help if I can!)

Oh, and it case I wasn't all that clear, the deck Crystal uses is made up of mostly Dragons, but as you saw… Er, I mean 'read,' she also has a few Spellcasters in it as well (there's also a few Fiends, but those will come in later on). At first I wanted to give her Burn Deck since that's the one I run most of the time am therefore most familiar with (besides Lightwings/ Blacksworns), but then I remembered how kinda sadistic and slightly OP it would be in duels with only 4000 Life Points, so in the end I figured a semi-Aggro Dragon/Spellcaster Deck was probably better for writing out interesting duels. (Does anything I just wrote actually make any sense to you?)

Okay! I think I've gotten everything off my chest… Sorry if I gave anyone a headache with all my ranting. Anyway, Chapter 2 will be up as soon as I find time away from school stuff. (Man, why did I decide to take summer classes?) Still, look forward to it!

Rate and review if you so wish, but remember… No flaming please!