Yuuna doesn't really care about school.

Some of the kids are loud, some of the kids are quiet. Some of the kids are mean, some of the kids are kind. Some of the kids are friends with everyone, some of the kids are alone. No matter how different they each are, they all have one thing in common.

None of them want to play with Yuuna.

They call her "ghost boy" and avoid her. They whisper about her in the hall when they think she can't hear them. When she disappeared for a while, no one asked why she came back to school with both of her legs in a cast.

The teachers weren't much better.

Some were kind, some were not. Some were tightly wound, some were relaxed. Some would do whatever they could to help everyone, some wanted everyone to help them. They all had one thing in common.

They didn't pay Yuuna much attention and she gave them no reason to.

She did her best with Yubel's help, answered when she was called by her dead name and left the classroom with everyone else.

She doesn't think any of them would remember her if they saw her now.

Yuuna really hates being in Crowler's class.

"Uhh, what was the question again?" Yuuna whimpers from her seat.

Yubel sighs, shaking their head. "Yuuna, you should have been listening to him."

Crowler's eye twitches. "Why don't you come down here, Singora Yuki, so I can repeat myself and explain the question again? Then you can write the answer on the board in front of all your classmates."

"Oh man." Yuuna mutters.

She begins the shameful walk down the stairs to the board. She's not sure what he even told her.

Crowler glares her down as he talks to her. "Now then. We were discussing long multiplications and how to simplify them for Duelling. What's 2100 times by 4, then divided by 2?"

Yuuna grits her teeth. "Uhhh, it's…"

She looks at her friends in a slight panic. Yubel is shaking their head in Yuuna's seat, while Blair is rolling her eyes and Syrus is whimpering, pulling at his hair. No help there, great.

Then she sees something.

Bastion is looking at her intensely while drumming some of his fingers on the table. Four of them actually.

Yuuna's eyes widen and she writes 4 on the board, glancing at Bastion.

Who's now drumming 2 fingers on his desk.

Yuuna writes a 2, then adds two 0s at the end. "4200."

Crowler twitches. "That is correct. Take a seat, Signora Yuki."

Yuuna races up to her seat, whipping the sweat from her brow when she sits down.

"You shouldn't have looked so stuck there, Yuuna, Duel Monsters is all about math." Blair shakes her head worryingly. "How you win so often is beyond me."

"Hey, I'm not good at on the spot stuff, okay?" Yuuna folds her arms.

Syrus chuckles. "Yeah, I'm the same so don't worry about it Yuuna."

Yuuna smiles at him.

"You got help, didn't you?" Yubel accuses, floating overhead.

Yuuna laughs nervously, glancing over at Bastion.

Yuuna smiles and gives him a slight wave, mouthing 'thank you'.

Bastion gives her a slight nod, then goes back to writing his notes.

Vellian growls as he chews on his handkerchief in his office, as he does the most tiring part of his job: grading. He has to read over the absolute garbage his students submit to him and tell them just how garbage it is when he can't even see their miserable little faces when they receive his reports.

Then he comes across the work he hates seeing the most; Yuuna Yuki's.

Her homework looks like it was done five minutes before class started, her handwriting is complete chicken scratch and all the answers are WRONG!

"UGH!" Vellian shouts, grabbing her homework and ripping it up. "That lazy good for nothing Slifer Slacker has annoyed me for the last time!"

It's infuriating! The Paradox Brothers couldn't beat two little girls, Titan couldn't scare one little girl into leaving the island, he can't even trick her into walking into the Male Obelisk Blue Dorm with promises of a date with the most handsome man on campus!

"Is there anyone who can destroy this Slifer for me?!" Vellian screams.

He takes his seat and reads over the next report.

Then finds himself pleasantly surprised. It's not complete garbage, though it's still nothing of his caliber. It describes ingenious strategies for every day Duels and even references a way to defeat Signora Yuki's ace monster: Yubel.

Who could have written such a stunning report?

Vellian looks at the name at the top.

Bastion Misawa.

"Of course!" Vellian gasps, standing up. "The answer to my problem is staring me right in the face and I didn't even know it!"

Bastion is the perfect teacher's pet puppet he can mold into a beating who can get Signora Yuki out of this school.

But first he needs to get that little wizkid in the Blue Obelisk dorm, where he can properly guide him. To do that though, he'll need to get rid of one of his current students, humm…

Vellian opens his register and browses through the list.

"Thanks again for saving me Bastion." Yuuna smiles, walking beside him. "Crowler is a pain sometimes."

She's walking towards the Ra Yellow Dorm, along with Syrus, Blair, Yubel and Bastion himself. After class, he asked them to join him on a trip to his dorm.

"It's quite alright, though I do worry about you slightly for not being able to answer that quickly." Bastion tilts his head. "Do you by any chance have Dyscalculia?"

Yuuna blinks. "What's that?"

"It's when someone has difficulty understanding numbers, using them and making calculations." Blair explains. "It's like dyslexia but for math instead of English."

Yubel hums. "I wouldn't be surprised."

Yuuna stands still for a bit, trying to think back. She's never particularly struggled with math, but she did struggle with letters a lot when she was younger.

"I don't know, I never got diagnosed for anything." Yuuna shrugs. "I had a lot of trouble with letters when I was younger and I still hate written work."

Bastion nods. "I see."

"But anyway, why are you so good at numbers, Bastion?" Syrus calls. "You figured out the answer to that question really quickly if you were able to help Yuuna. And you always get high scores on all our tests. What's your secret?"

Blair hums. "I'd like to know that too."

Bastion smiles as he opens the front door to the dorm. "Well, it's quite simple really. I learn like I Duel; with Formulas."

Yuuna, Blair, Yubel and Syrus tilt their heads in confusion.

Bastion then pulls out a notebook from his bag and inside it are a bunch of math formulas. "I find that science, statistics, geometry, they play a role in everything we do in life. And by understanding the role they play in life, I'm able to calculate ways to improve my own life."

Blair, Syrus and Yuuna look at the notebook in awe.

"I never would have thought of it that way." Yuuna says, as they turn down the hallway.

Blair hums, holding her chin. "But it does make sense."

"So do you have a formula for everything Bastion?" Syrus tilts his head.

Bastion chuckles as he puts the notebook away. "You could say that."

Yubel floats above them, smiling and shaking their head. "Humans."

Yuuna snorts and whispers. "Duel Monsters."

Syrus and Blair give her a funny look, but she shrugs.

"And here we are." Bastion calls.

He opens a door and the Slifers enter while Yubel disappears. Then look over the room in awe.

There's a bed below the window, with green sheets, a desk and a dresser pressed against the opposite wall which has a flat screen TV on it and a mini-fridge next to the dresser. It's at least twice the size of the Slifer dorm rooms, but that's not the amazing part. The truly amazing part is how each and every wall is covered in formulas!

"Welcome to my lab, workshop and dorm room." Bastion declares. "The far left wall is dedicated to traps, while the far left is for spell cards and the ceiling is… well you get the idea."

"This must have taken 30 all nighters." Blair spins around in awe.

Yuuna nods. "I'll say."

Bastion shakes his head. "Oh no, not at all. I try to avoid those when I can, since they can disrupt my sleep schedule. I tend to work on them whenever I have spare time."

Syrus looks around the room. "Bastion, are you like Albert Einstein's great great grandson or something?"

Bastion laughs.

"So why'd you wanna show us your dorm room, Bastion?" Yuuna calls, looking at him.

"Well you see, I've already memorised all these formulas, but I'm running out of room on the walls and ceiling." Bastion explains. "I'm intending to move everything in my room into the hallway, so I can repaint my room and start afresh. Would you lot be so kind as to help me?"

Blair raises her hand. "Sure thing." She lowers it, balling them both into fists before her. "After everything you did to help us with our expulsion match, it's the least we can do to help you."

"I second that, plus you saved me in class today." Yuuna settles her arm on Blair's head.

Syrus nods. "I wanna help you too."

Bastion smiles. "Thank you."

A few moments later found Bastion's room clear of everything the four of them could move together. Everyone has a paint brush or cloth of some kind, covering up the old green paint and calculations with a clean slate. Blair is running from corner to corner, dunking her big brush in a paint pot when she gets to the corner and then running the other way with her paintbrush along the wall. Yuuna is standing on a ladder and painting the ceiling, up and down, panting as she does so. Bastion is on the ground, scrubbing the floor. Syrus is using his brush on the wall, painting it left to right and back.

"Hey guys, who was that painter who did it on the ceiling?" Yuuna calls.

Blair bends over panting. "You mean Michelangelo?"

"That's the guy!" Yuuna laughs. "That's me!"

Syrus and Bastion break out into laughter, Yuuna joining them and Blair rolling her eyes. Yuuna does a spin on the ladder and then there was trouble.

It starts to wobble and quake, Blair rushing to grab it and hold it steady, Yuuna dropping her paint brush-

SPLAT!

-where it lands on Syrus' face, knocking him to the ground.

"Sy, you good?" Yuuna calls.

Syrus gets up, a murderous aura around him. "You do realise. This means war Yuuna."

Blair squeals and singsongs. "Oh no, you're in trouble~"

Syrus picks up the bucket of paint next to him.

Yuuna whimpers and waves her arms. "Please Syrus, it was an accident, I didn't mean anything by it-"

Syrus yells and throws the paint at her-

"That's enough, give me that paint." Bastion instructs.

Yuuna jumps out of the way, shielding Blair on the way down and the paint hits Bastion in the face.

There's silence.

Then the Slifer girls burst into laughter, pointing at Syrus and Bastion and hugging each other.

Bastion and Syrus share a glance, the two of them displeased.

"Funny, is it?" Bastion calls.

Yuuna laughs harder. "You told Syrus to give you the paint-"

Then she gets whacked in the face with Bastion's cloth and Syrus chucks his paintbrush at Blair, hitting her in the face too.

The girls gape at the boys, then scowl.

"Ohh you two are dead." Blair growls.

Yuuna shakes the worst of the paint off her face. "Blair, let's show these boys who's the boss!"

With that, they jump to their feet, paint brushes like swords and war cries leaving their lips.

Bastion and Syrus meet them with similar war cries, their rag and bucket at the ready.

The fight is long and hard, with Blair and Yuuna Duelling back to back, fending off attacks from Syrus and Bastion who decided to divide and conquer. Yuuna and Blair work as a unit, taking attacks for each other, warning one another of incoming dangers and helping each other find weapons. Bastion and Syrus work less as a unit and more as individual fighters, sometimes running into one another in their haste to get a new bucket of paint or take one of the girls' weapons.

In the end, Blair and Yuuna stand on the ladder, laughing in victory, while Syrus lays trapped under it and Bastion is on the ground with a bucket over his head.

"And that's why women rule the world!" Blair laughs, throwing the boys a two finger salute. "Gotcha!"

"Spitfire!" Yuuna laughs, picking Blair up and throwing her in the air. "We did it, we did it!"

Blair laughs on the way down, hugging Yuuna tightly. Syrus laughs under the ladder and Bastion pulls the bucket off his head, chuckling as well.

"Alright, alright, I conceded defeat." Bastion calls. "Now let's finish painting my room."

"And because we won, you have to treat us to lunch!" Yuuna calls.

"Oh, oh, I want a steak!" Blair calls, waving her arms wide. "A really big one!"

Syrus's stomach grumbles. "Oh man, you're going to make me hungry."

Yuuna grins and climbs down from the ladder. "Well the sooner we finish…" She helps Blair get down and then she picks up the ladder, freeing Syrus. "The sooner we can eat."

Syrus crawls out from under the ladder and Yuuna puts it down, pulling Syrus to his feet.

"So let's get to it." Yuuna instructs, picking up her paintbrush again.

Blair giggles. "I vote we sing as we do, to help the time pass!"

Bastion chuckles. "I don't see why not, it is a massive endorphin release after all."

"Meaning?" Yuuna tilts her head in confusion.

Blair shakes her head. "Basically it makes us feel good."

"Ohhhh." Syrus nods sagely. "Who wants to go first then?"

"Me!" Blair jumps. "Join in if you know the words!"

Yuuna smiles and picks up her paintbrush.

"I stayed out too late~" Blair splashes paint on the wall.

"I love this song!" Yuuna laughs. "Got nothing on my brain~"

"That's what people say~" Syrus paints the wall next to Blair, who goes. "Yeah, yeah~"

"That's what people say~" Bastion rubs the floor, Yuuna singing next to him. "Yeah, yeah~"

"I go on too many dates~" Yuuna giggles, sending a fake kiss to Bastion.

Bastion gets up, running to the other side of the room. "But I can't make them stay~"

"That's what people say~" Blair giggles, Syrus leaning on her. "Yeah, yeah~"

"That's what people say~" Yuuna jumps, Bastion calling. "Yeah, yeah~"

"But I keep cruising~" Bastion slides across the floor in a moonwalk.

"Can't stop, won't stop moving~" Yuuna laughs, pretending to pull a rope, bringing Bastion towards her.

"It's like I got this music~" Blair bobs her head, holding her hands over her ears like she's wearing headphones.

"In my mind, saying it's gonna be alright~" Syrus throws his paintbrush in the air, winking.

The four of them clap and then sing together, painting in time with the beat. "Because the players gonna play, play, play, play, play~ And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate~ Baby, I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake, shake~ Shake it off! Shake it off!"

"Hahaha!" Yuuna laughs, stuffing her face. "I've never had such a good time painting you guys!"

She, Blair and Syrus are sitting at a table with a plate of food in front of each of them in the Ra Yellow Dorm cafeteria, all of them and their uniforms clean after a shower and calling Chumley on their PDAs to bring them some spare clothes. Bastion is there too, standing by the lunch line, also clean and dry. The cafeteria is empty except for the four of them and the lunch ladies.

"At first I thought you were just a nerd." Blair swallows. "But you're pretty cool Bastion."

"So is Ra Yellow's food." Syrus smiles.

"Oh you flatter us." Bastion comes over with a tray. "It surely can't be that much better than Slifer's."

On that tray is a whole lobster.

"Oh my God, I've never eaten lobster before." Blair has stars in her eyes.

"Yeah, the closest we get to that is our cat's breath." Yuuna giggles.

Syrus blinks. "Speaking of bottom dwellers, why did Crowler wanna talk to you after class?"

Yuuna blinks. Oh yeah, that did happen. It was the lesson just before their final period with Banner, when Crowler demanded to speak with Chazz Princeton and Bastion Misawa at the end. Syrus, Blair and Yuuna hadn't stuck around to hear what was going on, taking the time for the teachers to switch for a bathroom break and while the rumours have already spread, Yuuna's not sure what she should believe.

Bastion takes a seat. "Well, the truth is, Dr. Crowler wants to test me to see if I could become an Obelisk Blue. Tomorrow he's having Chazz and me Duel and if I win, we'll be switching Dorms."

"Are you serious?" Blair gasps.

Syrus tilts his head. "Is that why you wanted to clean your room?"

"Because you'll be switching dorms?" Yuuna blinks.

She knew Bastion was good, but she didn't realise he was that good!

Bastion looks slightly nervous.

Yuuna smiles for him. "You deserve it, congrats Bastion."

Syrus nods. "Plus you're not an elitist snob, it'll be good to see an Obelisk who isn't a bully."

"You're the best of the best in Ra Yellow, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet." Blair grins.

Bastion turns a little pink, rubbing the back of his neck. "You three flatter me."

"You're good, man!" Yuuna cheers. "You were incredible in our Duel, it was so much fun!"

"You're awesome Bastion!" Syrus nods. "I remember your Duel from the entrance exam, you did amazing!"

"You totally got this." Blair gives him a thumbs up. "You're the best academically in the Ra dorm, possibly in the year group too. You'll trash whatever Chazz puts in front of you."

"And we can say we knew you when." The three of them chime.

Bastion leans back, smiling. "Well thank you."

"No problem, that's what friends do. They build each other up." Yuuna grins and gives Syrus a fist bump. "And support each others' dreams." Yuuna gives Blair a slight hug. "And help you clean your room when you need it."

She offers Bastion her fist, which he gently knocks with his own.

"Now, let's get back to eating, I'm starving." Blair picks up her fork and knife.

"Good call." Yuuna does the same.

With that, the Slifers dig into the food on their plate and soon start ripping the lobster apart, while Bastion smiles at them fondly.

In the Male Obelisk Blue Dorm that night though, things are much less cheerful.

Chazz sits in his dorm room, on the couch in front of the flat screen TV his brothers are on.

"Go it, Chazz?" Slade says his name like it's something gross he found under his bed.

Chazz nods. "I got it."

"I can't hear you, Jun." Jagger growls.

Chazz straightens up, forcing his voice deeper. "I said yes, I understand, stop calling me that!"

"You better understand." Jagger narrows his eyes. "We have a plan, remember and we're following through with our ends of it."

Slade leans forward. "And you better be following your end too. We already understand and control the world of politics and business. It's up to you to take over the world of Duel Monsters."

"If the three of us control them all, we can control the world." Jaggar hisses. "So be the best. The future of the Princeton name and your future as our brother depend on you."

With that, the screen cuts out.

Chazz snarls and grabs his hands, digging his nails into them.

He swears, if he ever finds out who told them his spot in Obelisk Blue was in danger, he's going to kill them. He bet it was Raizou or Taiyou, those snivelling losers only hang out with him because they want to be in his brothers' good graces. They laughed at him too when he ran out the room.

He gets up and heads over to the window, hoping the moonlight will make him feel better.

Instead he sees that Slifer Slime and her two dorky little friends walking out.

Chazz snarls and bangs his hand on the window.

It's not fair! Those losers have no right to be here! They're lower than dirt, they're lower than the worms in the dirt! How dare she be a good Duelist! How dare she take away his one chance to be the King of Games! She doesn't need to be the Queen of Games, he does! He needs that title more than she ever will!

"Lucky punk." Chazz hisses.

He's going to make her pay for threatening to take his crown.

Then he notices something.

Bastion Misawa is walking with her and her dweeb friends to the Slifer Red Dorm. Which means Bastion's dorm room will be empty.

Chazz's eyes widen.

The first lesson Slade and Jagger ever taught him was that if someone has something he wants, he needs to take it from them.

Chazz narrows his eyes and leaves his dorm.

If he can't beat Bastion, he'll just have to make sure that nerd can't beat him.

Blair knows it's never going to be a good day if you wake up to someone banging on your best friend's dorm room after a sleepover.

"Yuuna! Yuuna! Wake up, it's an emergency!"

Blair groans as she rolls over on the mattress, seeing the rest of the boys and Yuuna already in various stages of being awake, Yuuna the only one fully dressed. Probably because she spent the night training with her monsters down by the sea again.

Yuuna better be sleeping enough or Blair's going to kick her ass.

"What on Earth could all that racket be?" Bastion sits up.

Syrus yawns. "That sounds like Dorothy from the card shack."

Blair straightens immediately. She's a good woman and the last thing she wants is for Dorothy to be in trouble.

"I got it!" Yuuna calls, opening the door. "What seems to be the problem Miss Dorothy?"

"I was at the docks unloading some goods near the shore when I saw them!" She waves her arms in a panic. "Cards! Tossed everywhere in the ocean! Soaked and never to be salvaged!"

"What the?!" Chumley screams as he falls out of bed.

The whole dorm shakes from the impact, Syrus squealing as he jumps in his bed, Bastion, Yuuna and Blair struggling to keep their balance.

"Are you alright, old chap?" Bastion kneels by Chumley's side, offering him a hand.

Chumley groans. "Yeah, sorta."

He accepts Bastion's offer of help and climbs to his feet.

"We'll check out those cards in a moment, we need to get dressed first." Yuuna calls, then she looks over her shoulder. "Come on Blair!"

"Right." Blair scrambles off the mattress, running after her sister.

"Oh those poor cards!"

Blair pauses, looking around.

"I know, dear. I'm sure they'll be okay."

Those voices again. Why does she keep hearing them?

"Blair, you coming?"

Blair shakes herself off and follows behind Yuuna. "I'm coming!"

She didn't hear House Dragonmaid this time, or at least, she didn't hear the voice she thinks is House Dragonmaid. Does that mean her other monsters are trying to contact her? Why is she hearing any of them at all now? Why did things change after that Shadow Game?

Blair closes her dorm room door and starts getting dressed.

She can worry about the voices she's hearing later. First priority is those cards.

It doesn't take Blair long to get dressed and soon she, Yuuna, Syrus, Bastion, Chumley and Dorothy are down by the docks, where they see them.

Spells, Traps and Monsters alike, all floating on the water and soaked through.

Spells, Traps and Monsters alike that while Blair doesn't recognise, Yuuna and Syrus do.

"Mystical Space Typhoon, Defusion, DNA Surgery…" Blair lists the ones she can see.

"That's Ring of Destruction!" Yuuna calls, jumping to the platform below to look at them closer.

"And Vorse Raider." Syrus whimpers.

Chumley groans. "Oh man, why would someone waste such perfectly good cards?"

"Because these are all cards in Bastion's Deck!" Yuuna snaps, standing up.

Blair gasps, all of them turning towards their friend.

"It's my own fault." Bastion shakes his head. "This Deck was in the desk I moved to the hallway yesterday when we were painting."

Blair whimpers. "This is awful."

Chumley makes two fists. "Yeah, no joke."

"Who would do something like this?" Syrus calls, turning towards Bastion.

"I'll tell you who." Yuuna turns around, looking up at them. "Someone who doesn't want Bastion to advance to Obelisk Blue."

Chumley groans. "Even if we pull out all your cards now, they won't be dry in enough time. This is your Deck and it's totally ruined!"

Blair growls. "This is disgusting."

How dare they. How dare they, whoever did this!

Yuuna climbs back onto the platform. "What are you going to do Bastion? Your promotion exam is in less than an hour!"

Everyone turns to look at the Duelist in question.

Who has a serious look on his face. "Leave it to me. Once I get one of the cards, I'll be good to go."

With that, he jumps down to fish out a card, while the rest of the Slifer Reds and Dorothy look at each other in bewilderment.

Bastion wasn't expecting for his Deck to be thrown into the ocean today, but since arriving on Duel Academy Island, stranger things have happened. Which is why he's more than prepared to walk into the Obelisk Arena in less than an hour, while the Slifer First Years trail behind him.

Standing on top of the arena already are Chazz and Dr. Crowler.

"Bastion, you made it!" Dr. Crowler smiles, before his face twists in disappointment. "I see you've brought some friends."

Chazz smirks. "Hope you Duel better than the company you keep."

Bastion narrows his eyes at him. Wanker.

"Wait a second." Yuuna murmurs.

Ah, it appears she does have some observation skills.

"You're the one who threw Bastion's Deck into the ocean, aren't you?!" Blair points at Chazz accusingly, glaring harshly.

Dr. Crowler gapes and rears back, hands up in shock. "Pardon?!"

"I don't know what she's talking about, Dr. Crowler." Chazz shrugs, looking to the side. "I didn't do a thing."

Oh goodie, he's in denial. Bastion anticipated this, which is why he brought one of his cards with him.

"Liar!" Syrus snaps.

Chazz snarls. "Watch it, half pint or do you want a taste of defeat too?!"

Syrus whimpers and hides behind Blair.

"You can lie all you want, Blue Blood, but no one else has the motive to do it!" Yuuna snarls. "Or is so low they'd throw out their own family! Because that's what your Deck is!"

Bastion blinks as he watches her.

She seems truly passionate about that last point: your Deck is your family. While he's not entirely sure why she holds this belief, he can't dispute it. Science is the study of reality and all currently known science is considered true until proven otherwise.

"You're a thief, a liar and a jerk, Chazz!" Blair hisses. "I swear if we ever Duel, you're going to be sorry!"

"No one calls me a liar or a thief!" Chazz hisses, raising his Duel Disk.

Bastion should step in before this wanker riles up his friends even more. "Fine then, you're not. Let's just have our Duel, shall we?"

Syrus, Blair and Yuuna turn to him in shock. He has to admit, he's sort of excited to see their reaction.

"But how?" Yuuna tilts her head. "Your Deck's in the ocean."

Blair gasps. "Unless..."

Smart girl, he needs to have a study session with her at some point, teach her how he performs his calculations. Perhaps he can help Blair improve her own already impressive mind with his formulas.

"A good Duelist always has a spare Deck, or a few of them." He starts to unbutton his jacket. "After all, you saw all my different formulas. They were for all my-" He opens his shirt wide, just a bit of drama, displaying his Decks strapped to his chest. "Different Duelling Decks! And each one of them is as powerful as the next, from my Dark Deck to my Fire Deck!"

Syrus gapes at him. "Holy fudge, how do you keep track of all of them?"

Blair stares at him in awe. "No wonder you had so many spare cards for Yuuna and I's Decks during the Tag Team Trial."

Yuuna is staring at him with legitimate stars in her eyes and it's so cute he has to refrain from laughing. "Oh my God, I need to Duel each and every one of them."

Bastion chuckles and lets go of his jacket, having performed enough dramatics for one day. "Another time, Yuuna."

He wants their rematch to be something she won't forget easily. He intends to win that.

"Well you can go ahead and have your six stinking Decks-" Chazz hisses and holds up his own. "Because all I need is this one! Now let's start this."

Bastion nods. "I thought that you would never ask Chazz."

He is more than prepared to defeat this wanker using any one of his Decks, but he thinks he'll go with his Water Deck today. He'll defeat Chazz easily and expose the truth.

After all, Bastion has already done all the math!

Sure enough, after their Duel, Chazz is sulking in the holographic water off the arena and Bastion stands on it, the victor in their match.

"A well played Duel, Chazz, but not well enough." Bastion declares.

Chazz turns to him, glaring. "Pure luck! You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win!"

"Oh shut up, Blue Blood!" Yuuna snaps at him, poking her tongue out at him.

Blair and Syrus break into giggles and Bastion smiles a little as well.

"Stay the fuck out of this, Slacker Slime!" Chazz hisses. "He got lucky, that's all!"

"Perhaps, but luck favours the prepared." Bastion takes out his Water Deck and places it safely back in it's compartment on his chest. "And I was prepared to defeat you with a half dozen other cards and combos as well. Sorry, but you would have lost the Duel one way or another."

The water recedes enough for Chazz not to be sitting in it anymore.

"You can deny it all you want, just like you denied throwing my Deck into the ocean." Bastion hopes he'll just admit it.

Chazz snarls like a corned animal. "Oh yeah, prove it!"

Bastion sighs. He'd hoped he wouldn't have to do this. Chazz is a wanker, but he doesn't like beating a man when he's down. But he's got no choice now.

"Very well." Bastion pulls out his Vorse Raider. "This is a card I fished out from the water with a formula I wrote on it."

Chazz stiffens up. "So? That only proves it's your stinking cards out on the water, it doesn't prove anything about my involvement in it, or lack thereof!"

"You're right, it only proves these are my cards." Bastion glances at the entrance of the arena. "But someone else can prove you threw them."

Her boots click as she walks into the arena. "I'm disappointed in you Chazz."

The Slifers, Dr. Crowler and Chazz gasp.

"Alexis…" Yuuna murmurs.

Alexis narrows her eyes at Chazz. "I saw you throw a Deck into the ocean last night, after running from the direction of the Ra Yellow Dorm. I'd hoped you were just throwing your own cards away, but it appears you're a theif."

"How long have you been standing there?" Blair calls.

Bastion would like to know that as well and why she didn't say anything earlier.

"I've been here since you guys arrived, I saw everything." Alexis narrows her eyes further. "I wouldn't normally snitch, but an opponent's Deck is not something you mess with."

Chazz looks like a deer in the headlights, snarling at her. "You fucking bitch."

"Hey, you can't call her that!" Yuuna rushes to her defence.

"Chazz." Bastion snaps. "You stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You're a wanker, a bully and you deserve to be demoted."

Chazz gapes at him and lowers his head in shame.

"Bastion Misawa, congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue." Dr. Crowler walks over to him.

And while Bastion appreciates the thought. "No. I must decline that invitation."

Dr. Crowler stumbles back in shock. "What?! But what for?!"

"When I first arrived at Duel Academy, I made a promise to myself that I would only accept a position in Obelisk Blue if I knew for certain I was the top freshman." Bastion turns around. "I may be the most academically advanced, but I believe the top Duelist of our school year is Yuuna Yuki."

Yuuna blinks at him, pointing at herself in surprise. "Really?"

Blair grins and folds her arms behind her head. "Yeah, I'd believe that fully."

"I second that motion." Syrus giggles.

"Do you wanna settle this right here then?" Yuuna grins, punching her fist into her palm. "Watching you kick Chazz's ass made me really wanna get my game on and I'm itching for our rematch!"

Hmm, Bastion would enjoy that.

"Sorry, but not now." Bastion declines.

Yuuna tilts her head. "Why not?"

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I Duel you, Yuuna." Bastion smiles at her. "Many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to balance. You're a good Duelist Yuuna and I want to come at you with nothing but my level best."

Yuuna laughs and winks at him. "Smart move, that's just like you Bastion."

"You won't have to wait for long though. Now that my walls are clear, I have room to think and soon they will be filled once again, with new strategies and plans for our next Duel." Bastion swears on it.

Yuuna grins. "I may not have the math to prove it, but Duelling's my life and I won't be losing to you any time soon, Bastion! Until then, pal!"

Bastion nods to her. "Until then."

Even as his competitive spirit burns, he can feel daggers being glared into his back and he knows it's not by Chazz.

"Do you wanna go hang out at the mall with us or something?" Yuuna grins excited. "Or head down to the card shack?"

"In a bit, I need to return to my dorm to freshen up and sort out my room." Bastion nods. "Will 1pm be an adequate time to meet?"

"Absolutely!" Yuuna grins. "We'll see you in front of the card shack then, Bastion!"

With that, the Slifer Reds walk out, Yuuna excitedly rambling about the Duel, as if reporting a play-by-play of it. Dr. Crowler and Chazz also walk out, leaving Bastion and Alexis alone in the arena.

Alexis walks out of the shadows, onto the arena. "Why did you drag me into that?"

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression that you were going to say something eventually and that I was simply providing a good opening for you to step in." Bastion turns towards her, eyes narrowed. "My question is why didn't you say anything at the beginning? Is it the same reason why you didn't attempt to defend Yuuna and Blair after they helped you at the Abandoned Dorm?"

"I was meaning to ask you about that." Alexis narrows her eyes at him. "How did you know about it? What did Yuki tell you?"

"She told me nothing. You did though." Bastion takes a step towards her, remembering that night. "I had taken a walk that night and noticed you heading for the forest the Abandoned Dorm is located in."

Alexis scowls at him.

"Then the very next day Yuuna and Blair were in trouble for trespassing in it." Bastion stops in front of her at a respectable distance. "Blair is a sensible girl who wouldn't have walked in there for no good reason and while Yuuna lacks common sense, she wouldn't have put her friends in danger. I was suspicious that something happened."

Alexis folds her arms. "I guess your smarts aren't the rumour I hoped they'd be. That still doesn't explain how you knew for certain I was in the Abandoned Dorm."

"Well the answer to that is easy. You just confirmed it for me." Bastion narrows his eyes. "Which still doesn't explain why you didn't defend them. Or why you waited before telling us what Chazz did to my Deck."

Alexis is silent.

"I was under the impression that you and Yuuna were friends, but it appears that assumption is incorrect. Now the evidence instead points to you disliking Yuuna and those who associate with her, enough to risk her expulsion and the destruction of my Deck." Bastion folds his arms. "Am I wrong?"

Alexis lifts her head to look him in the eye and the temperature drops. "You don't want to make an enemy of me, Bastion. You should quit while you're ahead and pretend this conversation didn't happen."

"Perhaps." Bastion nods and unfolds his arms. "But I think I'll choose Yuuna as a friend and you as an enemy over abandoning someone I admire and respect."

He doesn't know Yuuna well, but he has always been somewhat lacking in friends. Yuuna is perhaps the best one he's had in a while and he'd rather keep her than lose her to some grudge bearing Obelisk.

Alexis stares at him for a long time, the temperature dropping so much, he starts getting goosebumps under his skin.

"I hope you don't regret your choice in the future then, when the war breaks out." Alexis says. "Because you've chosen the losing side."

Then she walks away, leaving Bastion perplexed beyond belief.

War?

He was under the impression Alexis simply had some sort of grudge or disagreement with Yuuna, potentially for defeating Dr. Crowler in the entrance exams, as many of the Obelisk Blues do. But this seems deeper than any simple grudge or hurt feelings over having a mentor you look up to defeated and publicly humiliated.

This doesn't seem like a rivalry either. From what little he's seen, Yuuna appears to care about Alexis and not want to aggravate her. It's nothing like how she treats himself or Chazz, but she did mention it was nice for a rival not to hate her in their first Duel.

Bastion narrows his eyes and theories race through his head.

What is going on between Alexis Rhodes and Yuuna Yuki?