Mina looked around as her surroundings were enveloped by darkness. Knowing she would not be able to escape from this one. It looked like she would need to duel Haruko. All of this was starting to get very tedious for the duelist. ”If I have to whoop your ass to get out of here, then bring it on.”

Haruko starts the duel off, but all she does is set her entire hand onto the field. Four face-downs and a set monster. It was slightly intimidating, to say the least. She ends her turn and Mina draws.

”I set two cards face-down on the field, and end my turn.” Mina set down Vampire Familiar and Vampire Domination. She had a feeling that Haruko had something up her sleeve. She hoped that this duel would be in her favor like the last one.

Haruko draws and simply passes.

Mina draws. ”I activate Vampire Domain, then sacrifice Vampire Familiar to summon Vampire Grimson. I then activate Vampire Familar’s effect, sending Vampire Lord from my hand to the graveyard to special summon him to the field. That’s not all; I can also add Vampire Duke to my hand thanks to the effect of Vampire Familiar. That’s not even the best part - with the effect of Vampire Domain, I can pay 500 LP and sacrifice Vampire Familiar to summon Vampire Duke. Not only can I do that, but I can also use his effect to special summon Vampire Lord from the grave.” She performed all these actions with immense grace.

[8000 LP > 7500 LP]

Vampire Grimson - 2000/1400
Vampire Duke - 2000/0
Vampire Lord - 2000/1500

“You better be afraid, because I'm going on the attack.” She smiled now, going into her battle phase.

Haruko simply waved her hand silently, activating Graveyard of Wandering Souls.

“Vampire Grimson, attack her face-down.” The scythe-wielding Vampire swiftly blinked across the field, and with a single swipe, destroyed her face-down Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring. In its place, a fiery blue wisp appeared.

Mina looked annoyed that a token had appeared, but Haruko was only delaying the inevitable. “Vampire Duke, get rid of that puny fireball.” The duke floated over and grabbed the fireball token, crushing it in its hands. With the death of Haruko’s token, she ends her battle phase and summons Ash Blossom to her side of the field via Vampire’s Grimson’s effect. She had a rather smug look on her face as she said, “I now end my turn.”

Haruko draws for her turn, but once more, all she does is add the card to her hand and end her turn. Kind of ironic for her to be dead drawing after acting all high and mighty a moment ago.

“Got nothing to draw? Aww, how disappointing.” She drew for her turn before continuing the onslaught. “I XYZ summon Crimson Knight Vampire Bram, using Vampire Duke and Vampire Lord as material. I also tribute Ash Blossom, so I can get Vampire Dragon onto the field. Now, go; attack her directly!”

Crimson Knight Vampire Bram - 2500/0
Vampire Dragon - 2400/0

“I activate Call of the Haunted.”

Mina bit her lip as her attack was interrupted, but she was glad she had placed Vampire Dominance beforehand. “Don’t even try to pull a fast one on me bitch.” She negates Call of the Haunted, with Vampire Dragon attacking directly, and points her finger out towards Haruko. “Okay, now attack!” Her remaining monsters went on to attack Haruko, and, quite nicely, she was able to gain massive amounts of life points thanks to Vampire Domain. “Now I end my turn, I hope you got something interesting in your deck.”

Mina’s life points: [7500 LP > 14400 LP]
Haruko’s life points: [8000 LP > 1100 LP]

Haruko draws a card, and it seems to finally be what she needs because instead of ending her turn as she did twice already, she looks directly into Mina’s eyes, staring at her coldly with her own glassy orbs.

“I summon Onmoraki and activate my other face-down Call of the Haunted to bring back Ash Blossom and Joyous Spring. With two zombie monsters on my field, I can now bring out Kasha. Come-”

She puts a card down on her weird spectral duel disk and a large cart with flaming wheels appears. Some kind of deformed flaming monster on the bottom of the cart cackles hideously as the doors to the cart open. Like a black hole, all other monsters on the field including Haruko’s are sucked into the cart before promptly closing shut as if going back to being an unremarkable cart door.

Half a second of silence passes before Kasha’s flaming wheels erupt. Haruko helpfully explains the situation. “Kasha is a yōkai that steals corpses. When he’s summoned, all monsters are shuffled back into the deck, and for every zombie monster - including yours, it gains 1000 attack.”

Mina cursed something underneath her breath. her plan of domination was totally ruined by this overglorified wheelbarrow.

Kasha - 5000/1000

“Go, Kasha. Attack her directly.”

And so it does. Its flaming wheels begin spinning rapidly, staying in place at first as the wheels lose traction from the sudden acceleration, only to take off at a rapid pace towards Mina, resulting in a devastating crash.

[14400 LP > 9400 LP]

Although it hurt losing five thousand LP at once, she still had more than she started with, so she wasn’t going to panic just yet. Haruko ends her turn, and as Mina draws, she finds she drew exactly what she needed. Without it, she would have likely been screwed.

“Alright, I summon Vampire Retainer onto the field, then use Vampire Domain, paying five hundred life points and tributing Vampire Retainer to summon Vampire Red Baron. Using Vampire Retainer’s effect, I can once again send a card to my graveyard to special summon Vampire Retainer in face-up attack position. But that’s not all baby cakes, I activate Vampire Red Baron’s ability. By paying a thousand life points, I can switch control of Vampire Retainer with Kasha.”

Vampire Retainer - 1200/0
Vampire Red Baron - 2400/1000

[9400 LP > 7900 LP]

Now she had the upper hand in this duel, and it felt like she was on cloud nine. ”I attack Vampire Retainer with Kasha. I’ll finish you off with your own monster!”

[1100 LP > 0 LP]

She celebrated by jumping up and down, pumping her fist in the air. “How do you like them apples!?”

Haruko simply shook her head as she faded out of existence.

Cassandra Moore – Obelisk Blue

The darkness swallowed her and Cassandra tried her best not to let the oppressive feeling coming from the shadows overwhelm her. It sapped away any cheer she might have felt after her duel with Gokibore, any victory she might have felt over making a new friend; Haruko’s arrival was a sudden and cold reminder of her current situation and why she had felt compelled to come to the wood tonight in the first place.

Cassandra’s life was on the line in this duel; yes, she had realised that by now, the bleeding wound in her leg from the duel she had finished moments ago had made that very clear. Nonetheless, she didn’t have any choice but to duel; her opponent, whether that was Haruko or the spirits using her, wasn’t giving her a chance to refuse. It was a threat, not a warning.

Her opponent summoned a duel disk from the shadows and began to draw cards; Cassandra raised her own duel disk in response. She drew her own hand and frowned; it seemed luck was not on her side at the moment. She had no plays she could make.

“I’ll go first.” Haruko spent little time thinking over her plays and simply placed every card in her hand to the field. “I’ll set five and end my turn.”

Drawing for turn, Cassandra was relieved to see a card that would let her make use of the rest of her hand. The five unknown cards on Haruko’s field were daunting and Cassandra was tempted to play this safely, but she needed to end this quickly if she could. “I normal summon Reptilianne Gardna, then activate the effect of my Kagetokage in hand to special summon it.” There was no response from her opponent, no card activations and nothing verbally either. Cassandra continued. “Next, I’ll overlay my two monsters to XYZ summon King of the Feral Imps.”

“I activate my trap card, Enma’s Judgement.” Haruko revealed one of her backrow, a demonic judge appearing within the shadows behind her to pass judgement on her monster. Her monster was destroyed.

“I set a card and end my turn.”

The spirit-possessed Haruko smirked. “I draw.” Another card was drawn from the shadows and added to her hand. “I flip summon Shutendoji and then reveal a face-down, Graveyard of Wandering Souls.” The battle field changed, the shadows relenting to reveal a graveyard on Haruko’s side of the field; tombstones sprouting from the ground and wisps of spirits drifting among them. “I attack directly with Shutendoji.”

[Cassandra: 8000 > 6500]

“I set another card and end my turn.”

“I Draw.” Another good card, another chance to make a play. Two of Haruko’s face-down card had been revealed, but she still had unknown cards that she could use against Cassandra should she commit to this. She had no choice; her leg was starting to feel numb and her hands were starting to shake. Naga was still behind her, still clutching onto her back, but she barely noticed. “I summon Reptilianne Scylla, then special summon another Kagetokage.”

No response, yet again. Cassandra decided to play it safe and deal with Haruko’s monster before anything else. “I attack Shutendoji with Scylla.” The snake-monster lunged forward, tearing into and through the ogre.

[Haruko: 8000 > 7700]

“When a monster of mine is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, my Wandering Souls summon a token to my side of the field.” Some of the wisps floating around the field gathering together into a little ball of flame before placing themselves between Cassandra and Haruko’s lifepoints.

“Kagetokage, attack the Fireball token.” The shadowy lizard, barely visible on the current field, rushed toward to bite into the fireball and destroy it. “Next, I’ll overlay my monster again to summon another King of the Feral Imps.” The summon was successful this time, her monsters being replaced by a large, horned and muscular imp. “I’ll activate King of the Feral Imp’s effect, detaching my Scylla to add Reptilianne Vaskii to hand and ending my turn.”

“I activate my trap card.” Cassandra flinched. “Monster Rebone. I’ll be summoning your other King of the Feral Imps.” The monster in question rose from among the gravestones on Haruko’s side of the field; deathly pale and rotting in places. “Then I’ll activate another; Call of the Haunted and summon back Shutendoji.”

One step forward, two steps back. Haruko drew for turn. “I change King of the Feral Imps to attack position and normal summon Master Kyonshee. I attack your King with mine.” The undead King of the Feral Imps charged forward, crashing into her own and beginning to struggle with it; they were evenly matched, of course, and in a burst of light they both disappeared. “Attack directly with Shutendoji.”

[Cassandra: 6500 > 5000]

“Attack with Master Kyonshee.”

[Cassandra: 5000 > 2250]

“End turn.”

Cassandra drew and wilted when she say it was another Reptilianne Naga. She had all three in her hand now and as much as she cared for her closest friend she would not help her here. “I activate my face-down; Ojama Trio. I summon three tokens to your side of the field.” Three tokens appeared across the field from her, filling up Haruko’s side of the field. “Next, I’ll tribute two of those tokens to summon Reptilianne Vaskii.” The tokens faded into the shadows at the edges of the field as Vaskii emerged from the same.

“I’ll activate Vaskii’s effect to destroy Master Kyonshee.” The monster in question was destroyed, only to immediately be replaced by another fiery ball of wandering spirits. “I’ll go to the battle phase and attack Shutendoji with Vaskii.” That monster too was destroyed and a second Fireball token took its place.

[Haruko: 7700 > 6600]

“I’ll set a monster and pass.”

Haruko drew again and looked neither happy with annoyed with what she saw. “I end my turn.”

“I draw.” Cassandra’s hands shook as she added another card to her hand, then shook even more once she saw what it was. Evil Dragon Ananta; it was a card she had picked up around the same time that she had found her friends, discarded like all the others had been, but it had always felt… different from them. Darker. She had added it to her deck regardless because it seemed like a strong card and she had no reason not to; besides, she didn’t want to make the mistake of misjudging someone the way every had misjudged her friends even if it did make her feel uneasy.

It was the one card in her deck that she didn’t get along with. If you could, she tried to avoid summoning it but… it might be what she needed in this duel.

“I flip summon Reptilianne Naga. Then, I’ll activate Vaskii’s effect to destroy the last Ojama token.”

[Haruko: 6600 > 6300]

“Then… I’ll… I’ll banish all of the Reptiles I control and all the Reptiles in my graveyard to summon Evil Dragon Ananta.” The Naga and Vaskii on her field vanished into the shadows and all the monsters in her grave, Gardna and Scylla and the King of Feral Imps vanished too. In their place was a huge, multi-headed hydra.

“My Ananta gains attack for each monster I banished to summon it, meaning it has 4800 attack and defence. I’ll use it to destroy your Fireball token.” Then token was destroyed in an instant as the multiple serpent heads crashed down on it. “Then, in main phase 2 I’ll set another card and end turn. In the end phase, Ananta destroys a card on the field; I’ll target your face-down.” A trap card appeared and was destroyed before Cassandra had a chance to see what it was.

“I draw. I set one monster and pass.”

Cassandra drew again and immediately preceded to the battle phase. The end was in sight now; Ananta could attack over or destroy any card Haruko used, it would take time to get through all of the tokens she had, but Ananta could destroy the Graveyard creating them too. “Ananta will attack your face-down monster.” The monster was revealed, a collection of spirit goats, before being destroyed.

“When flipped, Scapegoat summons three Black Sheep tokens and when it is destroyed my Graveyard summons another Fireball token.”

“I end my turn; in the end phase Ananta destroys your Graveyard.”

“I draw. Let’s not prolong the inevitable any longer; I Link summon Yuki-Onna, the Icicle Mayakashi using the three Black Sheep tokens you just gave me. On summon I use its effect to negate your Evil Dragon Ananta and reduce its attack back to zero. I move to the battle phase and attack your Ananta.”

It was over. Ananta’s effect was negated, which also removed the attack it had gained from its effect, leaving it easily destroyed by the Mayakashi and taking the rest of her life points with it.

[Cassandra: 2250 > 0]

Cassandra fell to her knees, ignoring the pain in her leg as she waited for the darkness to close in on her.

----

Leo Wilde – Slifer Red

“What the hell? Who turned off the lights?”

To say Leo didn’t know what was going on would be an understatement. Ever since he had woken up to all that noise at the dorm everything had been progressing like something out of a cheap horror movie; teenagers mysteriously disappeared, a search party heading into the woods to find them only to find the place haunted or some dumb thing like that. Now he had to duel that weird girl who everyone said was a Satanist of something because they’d stumbled across her doing weird things in the forest in the middle of the night. She even had some kind of reverb effect on her voice.

This whole mess was either a bad dream or some kind of elaborate prank, either way he wasn’t going to entertain it much longer. If Haruko wanted a duel then he’d give her one.

“Alright, let’s go!”

Despite the declaration, it was Haruko who went first. “I set two cards and summon Master Kyonshee and end my turn.”

“Draw!” Leo ripped a card from his deck and added it to his hand; why he’d even thought to bring his deck with him he didn’t know, but it was coming in handy after all. “I summon Stratos and activate it’s effect, adding Blazeman to my hand. Then I move to battle and attack your Kyon-whatever.” The turbine hero dashed forward and punched through the zombie. “I set a face-down and end my turn.”

[Haruko: 8000 > 7950]

“You seem confident, but that’s only because of your ignorance. If you had any idea what you were up against you would be cowering in fear.” Haruko, or whatever she was calling herself in this roleplay of her, drew a card and added it to her hand. “I activate Solidarity and summon Mezuki. I attack your Stratos.”

The hero was destroyed as the empowered undead rushed over it, but rather than looking upset Leo looked vindicated.

[Leo: 8000 > 7300]

“You talk a lot of game for someone who just walked right into my trap. I activate Hero Signal, which lets me special summon a HERO monster from my deck when a HERO I control is destroyed by battle. I summon Shadow Mist.” A hero in dark armour appeared on the field, out of the shadows themselves like its name suggested. “Then I activate its effect and add a Mask Change to my hand.”

“I end my turn.”

“Draw. I summon Blazeman and activate its effect to add Polymerisation to my hand.” Leo added the card in question from his deck, and then slapped a second card from his hand onto the field. “Then I activate R – Righteous Justice and destroy two of your spells or traps; get rid of that Solidarity and the set card on the left.” Rays of brilliant light shone from both Blazeman and Shadow Mist, destroying Solidarity and an unknown card; Leo caught a glimpse of a demonic looking figure behind a desk before it was gone.

“Next, I’ll fusion summon using the Blazeman on the field and the Alius in my hand. Say hero to Elemental HERO Nova Master!” The Blazeman burst into flames, flames which grew and expanded before fading to reveal a larger and more powerful looking figure. “Nova Master, attack her Mezuki.” The zombie was easily blown away by the fiery hero now that it was no longer empowered by Haruko’s spell.

[Haruko: 7950 > 7050]

“When it destroys a monster by battle, Nova Master lets me draw a card. Then, I’ll attack directly with Shadow Mist.”

[Haruko: 7050 > 6050]

“I set one card and end my turn.”

“I draw.”

“What, no more taunting?”

“…I normal summon Shutendoji and activate its effect, banishing Mezuki and Master Kyonshee to draw a card.” The two zombies vanished from the grave as they were banished and Haruko added another card to her hand. “Then I’ll attack your Shadow Mist with Shutendoji.”

“Ha, I activate Mask Change.” Leo flipped up his face-down card, grinning widely as he did so. This was the first time he’d had a chance to activate this card since coming to this damn school and it was always one of his favourites. “I tribute Shadow Mist and summon Masked HERO Anki in its place. And because Shadow Mist was sent to the grave, I can activate its effect to add another HERO to my hand; Elemental HERO Woodsman.”

“I end my turn.”

Not so talkative now, was she? Whatever this was, nightmare, prank or whatever else, Leo was going to make this girl regret underestimating him. “I draw! I normal summon Stratos and activate its other effect to destroy your last backrow. With that gone, let’s wrap this game up. I attack your Shutendoji with my Anki.” The drunk ogre was quickly dispatch as the dark hero charged leapt into the air and crashed down on it with a kick.

[Haruko: 6050 > 4750]

“That triggers my Anki’s effect to add another Mask Change to my hand, but I’ll save that for now. Next I’ll attack directly with Stratos!”

[Haruko: 4750 > 2950]

“Now it’s Nova Master’s turn.”

[Haruko: 2950 > 350]

“Then I’ll activate the Mask Change I just search and tribute Stratos to summon Masked HERO Blast. Blast, finish this duel!”

Leo’s last hero attack, scarf blowing out behind it as it rushed towards Haruko and dealt the final blow.

[Haruko: 350 > 0]

“It doesn’t matter what I’m up against; I’ll always win in the end.”

Valerie blinked once, and then all she saw was black. The only thing that stood out in the void was the possessed Slifer girl, brandishing her Duel Disk and cards.

"Fine, let's get it started." She huffed in response, Ceruli hovering anxiously by her side.

"Take this seriously, Valerie." The Duel Spirit hissed, a bead of sweat dripping down his head. "Should you lose, even I cannot fathom what consequences will befall you at the whim of these spirits."

"I hear you, I hear you. Can't exactly control what I draw though, can I?" Valerie responded as Haruko started with the first turn.

___

"Well, damn." Valerie sighed ruefully, a slight grin still on her face from the thrill of the duel as the last of her life points ran dry. She'd made a bad read on Haruko's deck from her first move, and paid the price accordingly. Whereas Valerie had thought that Haruko's Scapeghost was in aid of going for link summons, instead the Slifer had decided to just go for zombie beatdown by drawing multiple Solidarities. For someone like her that didn't run too much backrow removal, it'd been a bad matchup. Her own draw luck past the first turn hadn't helped much either.

"No! Valerie! I told you to not take this lightly!" Ceruli screeched in despair, eyes wide and desperate as the darkness surrounded Valerie.

"Sorry, Ceruli." Valerie gave him a weak smirk as everything seemed to start to fade. "I screwed up pretty badly. Just...if this kills me, it's been real fun. Hell, I owe you pretty much everything. This isn't your fault..." Was the last thing she managed to utter before the void surrounded her.

"Damn you little wretches to the underworld!" The spirit bellowed as the darkness started to take him too. "By the Lord Grapha, I will do everything in my power to ensure you suffer once I break free of these confines!" The last of his yells were swallowed up by the same darkness as he joined Valerie in defeat.

As the nine students finish their duels with Haruko, the inky blackness slowly recedes around them, depositing all nine of them back into the small forest clearing. It was just in time, too, because the geyser of spirits had just began to peter out, coming to a gradual yet unceremonious end as the last of the spirits flew up into the supernatural storm above. Haruko lied unconscious on the grass, doted on by her flock of Scapeghosts. At least at first, things finally seemed to be over.

And then four of the students spoke in eerie unison.

"It seems the worst of it is over."

Cassandra, Pine, Sina, and Valerie all spoke, turning to give their fellow students a grin as the realization of what had happened dawned on their peers.

"We said it was a duel with your lives on the line, didn't we? We meant it."

The four of them all walked to one end of the clearing before turning to the other students and raising their duel disks. "Come. The calamity may resolve itself, but we aren't yet satisfied."

Renho grit her teeth. "You guys go. I barely won my duel. I'll look after Haruko."

The four possessed students laughed. "At least one of you recognizes a fluke. Come. It's been so long since we've been able to duel like this. You kids want to save your friends, don't you? All you have to do is defeat them. Come! Double or nothing!"

Helena had hoped that this was all over, the spirits were an annoyance but she got through them, only to duel Haruko, or Haruko’s clone? Copy? It didn’t matter. What mattered was saving her friend from this spiritual mess that she got forcibly dragged into. Helena got into the mindset that if this was just a copy of Haruko, maybe she wouldn’t be too hurt by her psychic abilities. Helena went all in on the duel, promising to save her friend, and she won the duel. The void slowly opened back up into the forest and the copy vanished too. Was it over?

Not by a long shot. Some of the other duelists that were in the forest, for one reason or another, seemingly lost their duels and had been possessed as a result. All of this was becoming too much for Helena to bare, she held her head in pain and frustration as she gritted her teeth. “Why can’t you all just leave us alone!? We’ve done nothing to you!” She yelled out, breaking her usual quiet tone. “Helena! Calm down!” Chosen tried to comfort her but it wasn’t going to work. “I’ve had it with all this running around and dealing with you spirits! Now let go of those people or else I’ll make you!” She exclaimed as she brought out her duel disk.

It ended up becoming a tag duel, Helena was paired up with the girl she had seen before. Mina? At least that’s what she remembers anyway. The duel, in all honesty, was a mess. Neither her or Mina could do anything to break Cassandra and Sina’s defenses. One last ditch effort from Helena in summoning Faerie Master to protect her and Mina wasn’t enough as Cassandra easily got rid of him using her Reptiliannes. The duel ended in the disaster, Cassandra and Sina barely taking any life point damage. While Helena and Mina were slowly but surely taken out of the game.

Helena couldn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. Was she dead? Did she fail to save Haruko? She couldn’t take it. Helena had no way to release her psychic abilities during that whole duel, and with a loud cry of pain, a small shockwave blew out from her as she collapsed to the ground. Her mind overloaded from the stress of her psychic powers, causing her to pass out. In her last moments of consciousness, all she could think of was her failure to save Haruko and the others, before drifting away.

After a series of tag duels that played out like tournament semifinals: Cassandra and Sina vs. Helena and Mina, Pine and Valerie vs. Kaison and Leo, and finally Kaison and Leo vs. Cassandra and Sina, the last possessed student was freed from the control of the duel spirits.

Although most disappeared without so much as a trace, the spirit of Master Kyonshee stuck around, hovering above Renho and Haruko. It simply held out its hand and dropped a card - itself, before fading away like smoke. Renho, unable to see the spirit, simply took the card and raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this in Haruko's deck?

As things settled down, Kaison took charge. "Is everyone alright?"

A clear answer or nod from most of them. Although the finalists - Cassandra, Leo, Sina and him all had some scratches from the duels with their psychic opponents, they were mostly unharmed, and the previously possessed students all managed to stand up, except for Pine and Helena.

Although it was rather worrying that neither had woken up since their duels ended, both were still breathing, confirming that neither has died, at least. There was the more insidious possibility that they had lost their souls, but it didn't make sense given their respective partners were fine.

Renho picked up Haruko, carrying her piggyback. "I'll bring Haruko back to her room. Lemme know what it was that woke everyone up later, kay?"

Kaison joined her, carrying Pine, who had fallen unconscious. "Same here. I'm curious, but this has been a weird night and I'm suddenly a lot less curious after all of that."

Sina grumbled. "What the heck was all of that? How am I supposed to ignore such a crazy event!?" She let out a long-suffering sigh as she mimicked Renho, struggling to carry Helena on her back. "But a hero's work is never done. I'll bring Helena back. It looks like things are over, but you guys be careful, okay?"

With that, the six of them headed back, leaving Cassandra, Leo, Mina, and Valerie in the clearing. They could go back now and forget this ever happened... Or they could go see what it was that caused that massive light. Decisions, decisions.

Mina felt like she couldn’t breathe, she was sure that she was going to lose the duel. She had not been drawing a lot of good cards, and what cards she did play were quickly snuffed out by her opponent. She was mentally preparing herself for the loss, and the consequences that would follow, but when it finally came, nothing seemed to happen. opening her eyes, she noticed she did not end up like the others. Neither did Helena, for that matter, though something else seemed to be wrong.

Helena, along with Pine, was unconscious. “Shit.” She ran to Helena. She came to a stop beside her, crouching down to get a closer look. “Hi, are you okay?” She shook Helena, thinking that shaking her would be able to wake her up. She was not sure if the academy had a hospital, but there was the school nurse. Mina thought the nurse could try to help her and Pine, though they might also end up in trouble for breaking curfew. She placed two fingers on Helena's neck, thanking the big man in the sky she was breathing. She announced it to the others, and the ones who still weren't possessed were relieved.

Mina wanted to help Helena get medical attention, in case she needed it, but she was curious about the spirits still duelling. What would happen if Kaison and Leo lost? She was paralyzed by indecision, monitoring both the duel and Helena worriedly until the duel came to a close, luckily without Helena's condition getting any worse.

Sina went ahead and volunteered to carry Helena back, so Mina went ahead and started walking towards the source of the pillar, along with the others. About halfway there, they found a creepy looking well, and a bit further, an equally creepy looking machine.

Making her way toward the machine, she felt a cold wind beating against her body. It was unnerving being here, but for some reason, she could not help but feel drawn to it.

“Oh, have you come to save me? You’re a little late for that…” Pine scoffed and and rolled his eyes. And so, a tag duel began. Pine summoned his strongest monster, Tytannial Princess of Camellas. But she was soon destroyed… Or rather she was forced to tribute herself to stop another undesirable effect…

He summoned Jerry Beans man, and powered him up to absurd levels, and he too was destroyed. Ugh.

Still, he was able to use the effect of seed cannon, and he exerted all of his psychic powers to make sure every hit he was able to land hurt. Including every seed fired from the cannon. “You know, Haruko had nothing to do with interrupting your date. I may have… borrowed her monsters, but she had no idea what was happening. That was all me. You may asking yourself, but Pine why would you do that? Hmm, well why don’t you use that brain and figure it out. You never even offered me a copy of Lost in the Labyrinth. But a pretty girl asks you out, and I guess I’m just left to fend for myself huh…” Pine rolled his eyes. “I’ve already had my heart broken once. I put that boy in the hospital for his trouble. I was a fool to think things would be different here.”

Pine would have continued with a monologue, but Pine was soundly defeated. His deck had betrayed him, and his partner was of no help. Pine had passed out from over exertion, and did not wake up after being freed.

Cassandra Moore – Obelisk Blue

When Cassandra next opened her eyes she was staring at the sky; a night’s sky, visible through the sparse branches of trees above her head and with a small smattering of stars glimpsed through wispy dark clouds. The ground underneath her was lumpy and uncomfortable, something sharp was digging into the small of her back and the cold dirt was leeching the heat from her body. Her arm, lying across her chest, still had her duel disk active on it.

But her eyes were open.

She hadn’t expected that to ever happen again. The last thing she could recall was losing the duel to the possessed Haruko, the darkness closing in on her and the reminder that she had been duelling for her life ringing in her ears. She had expected that loss to be… permanent, but apparently it hadn’t been. Unless…

Sitting up, Cassandra took in her surroundings, her eyes adjusting to the darkness to let her see a little further. The oppressive feeling of misery and anger had abated enough that though it still lingered in the air it was bearable and Haruko was nowhere to be seen; that was a good sign, but didn’t give her any answers. What she did see were three other students, none of whom she recognised; a boy in Slifer red and two girls in Ra yellow. Idly, she picked a dried leaf from out of her hair and called out to the person closest to her, the boy.

“Hmm, excuse me? What happened?”

He turned to her, a frustrated frown of confusion on his face as he looked her over warily. “Honestly? Not a damn clue. I’m still waiting for someone to fill me in on that.”

Nodding, Cassandra pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs; it was still cold out and she had rushed out here in her pajamas, but she didn’t feel like standing up just yet. “There were a lot of angry duel spirits in the woods; I think they were upset about being abandoned, discarded. They possessed that girl and… were trying to do something; gain power or… use power for something. I felt it from my dorm, so I came out here to help but… I lost. I’ve never lost before.”

The boy scoffed at her. “Spirits and possession? Are you serious? Are you sure it wasn’t just… wait, you’ve never lost before?” He stopped speaking then, staring at her in surprised. She responded by shaking her head. His eyes dropped to her jacket then, the blue standing out less in the dark than his red, but still visible, and shook the thought away. “Whatever. Anyway, this was probably just some prank right? Spirits don’t exist. Hell, you were a part of it; you started acting all weird after beating that girl…” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder to one of the Ra’s. “…and then challenged me a Kaison to a tag duel. Then we won and everyone just kind of… snapped out of it.”

Understanding lit up in Cassandra’s eyes and she nodded at the boy’s explanation, even though he himself still looked confused. “Hmm, that makes sense.” She had been fighting for her life, but losing hadn’t meant death or destruction, it meant possession; like what Haruko had been through. After losing to Haruko she’d duelled on the spirits behalf, defeating others before being defeated herself and apparently being freed. That meant this boy had beaten her. And saved her. “Thank you.”

“Er, you’re welcome. I’m Leo by the way.”

Finally standing up, Cassandra patted some of the dirt from her pajamas and deactivated her duel disk. “I’m Cassandra. Nice to meet you.” She patted her pockets, making sure her deck was still there and pulling it out. All of her cards were still in her possession, including Gokibore, so she was happy; even if tonight could easily have gone much worse. “I’m going to go back to my dorm now.”

Still confused, Leo rubbed a hand through the hair at the back of his head. “Yeah, sure, er… do you need me to walk you there?”

“Hmm, no, I’ll be fine. I have my friends with me.” With that, she turned and walked away, limping slightly due to the cut on her leg, more than ready to crawl into bed and get some sleep.

----



Leo watched the strange girl leave, glancing from side to side to try and see these ‘friends’ she has mentioned. He considered following after, just to make sure she made it back ago, but decided against it; she was a big girl after all. Well, no, actually she was tiny, but she was old enough to take care of herself.

Instead he turned to leave, walking back in the direction of the Slifer dorm so he could try and get some shut eye before classes tomorrow. “Man, everyone in this school is so weird.”

Caleb & Lexa

Several minutes earlier...

He ran over to the machine. He couldn't help his facial expression at the moment, pained and twisted up like he was watching his parents being murdered. He shut his eyes tight, then blinked the moisture away. He wasn't about to cry in front of Alexis, not when it was his fault. He addressed her without turning around. "Please tell me you know how to fix it."

There was a certain desperation in his voice. He cursed himself for it. He'd never said anything about wanting to go back before now, but it was plain to see what was on his mind.

"There's no way."

That was it, then.

She kept talking, though Caleb tuned her out, too caught up in his own thoughts. She was only going on about how it was impossible anyway, as if to make sure there wasn't any hope. It was pretty kind of her, he thought, to be so heartless. It'd only be false hope anyway.

"Who did this? We weren't followed here, right?"

"That should be impossible. I explained it before, right?"

"Ugh. Multiple times."

"Let's hope you remember, then, so I don't have to do it again. Come on. If you saw it, then others probably noticed it too. We should get out of here before they show up."

Caleb sighed. "You're right." She always was, it felt like.

Valerie opened her eyes with a groan, immediately registering Ceruli hovering worriedly around her shoulder. What the hell had happened...?

Oh, right. The spirit she lost to possessed her or something. And then she'd lost a duel for the second time tonight. Damn. Possessed her didn't even get enough time to be a bitch, having bit her tongue more than once because her tag partner had been pissing and moaning about being passed up for a date or something. Ugh. Prick didn't have something better to complain about?

"Valerie?" Ceruli asked hesitantly. "Are you alright now? I was afraid you'd not return to the land of the living."

"I'm fine. You know, except for my pride." She sighed, picking herself off the ground. "Probably a good thing we lost that last one, but it still feels like it sucks."

"I am still holding to that 'no help' stipulation you gave me years ago, you know." Ceruli pointed out as Valerie began to slip away, in no mood to talk to anyone else for the moment. "If I-"

"No." Valerie said flatly as she trudged back towards the dorms. "I'll make some deck adjustments tomorrow and look into picking up some new cards. I can do this. Just need to play better."

A resigned sigh was all the response Ceruli gave as they made their way back.

The next day, everyone went about their business as usual. Pine, Haruko and Helena all managed to make a full recovery without the involvement of the school faculty, which handily avoided landing any of the students out past curfew that night in hot water.

None of the other students at school seem to acknowledge the blinding pillar of light or supernatural weather phenomena of last night, though it was completely gone by daybreak, after all. As the school day came to a close, Haruko came up to each of the students who were there for her rescue, one by one, to thank them, offering each of them a gift.

"I want to give you this, for helping me through... last night. Just take it. If you don't, I'll get angry."

@Crimson Flame@Darkmoon Angel@Eviledd1984@King Cosmos@Psyker Landshark

Cassandra, Helena, Leo, Mina, Pine and Valerie can each edit their deck to include one of the following choices:

• Up to three copies of Call of the Haunted
• Up to three copies of Haunted Shrine
• Up to three copies of Spiritualism
• Up to three copies of both Mischief of the Yokai and Possessed Dark Soul
• One copy of any card from Haruko's deck
• One copy of any of the following:
  • Dark Dust Spirit
  • Extra-Foolish Burial
  • Ghost Mourner & Moonlit Chill
  • Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries
  • Ghost Sister & Spooky Dogwood
  • Hino-Kagu-Tsuchi
  • Plaguespreader Zombie
  • Spirit Reaper
  • Yamata Dragon
  • Yata-Garasu

---

Kaison, Haruko, and Melony
Things had gotten awkward between Kaison and Pine. He'd quietly left a game key on Pine's laptop last night, after putting a bandaid over the bruise from Pine's seed cannon. He confirmed Pine was okay the next day, though he didn't have the nerve to broach the things Pine had said while possessed, and decided to go to school early. He seemed to assume he had thought Haruko ruined his date, though he didn't even think of the possibility. He didn't like thinking of that night at all, in fact, because of how embarrassing he acted in front of his girlfriend. That he was taking responsibility for it was... upsetting, to say the least.

That it was because he was apparently interested in Kaison was... what's the word... overwhelming? Surprising? Awkward?

He'd never really given much though to relationships to begin with, much less sexuality, and luckily he doesn't have to start now. He's already in a relationship with Melony, and she's been nothing but cool, so while he feels bad for Pine, he isn't about to dump her to make him feel better.

Still, his words weighed heavily on his mind all day, so when Haruko came by to give him a card in front of the school as thanks, he decided he needed to grill her for information.

"I'm not sure how much you remember last night, but Pine admitted to ruining my date."

She looked relieved for some reason. "Oh? That's good." A look of realization dawned on her soon after, and she scrambled to correct herself. "I-I mean, it's good he told the t-truth, not good that your date was ruined! Honesty is the best policy, I a-always say. I'm not just saying it's good because I'm selfish. Hahahahahahaha..." She laughs awkwardly, for a little too long, in a way that is a little too stilted and forced.

"Yeah, about that. I didn't know what happened that night, and I didn't do much asking."

"O-oh?"

"Yeah. I know you were outside that night, if I remember correctly, but I don't know why he and you assume I thought you had ruined my date."

"M-me? W-when d-did I-"

"Just now, you said you weren't saying it's good because you were selfish."

"T-that's... u-um..."

"And another thing, what were you doing out that late yesterday, anyway?"

"O-oh... that... I was... uh... trying... something..." Haruko looks likes she's trying to fold in on herself and disappear.

"Please, tell me about it. I want to know."

"I w-was... uh..."

"Yes?"

"L-laying a curse..."

Kaison blinked. That hadn't been what he was expecting at all. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't more supernatural shit. "A... curse?"

"Y-yes."

Kaison tilted his head. "Why would you want to lay a curse on someone? Who was it?"

"T-that... uh... uhhhhh..."

Having watched the scene unfold halfway, Melony decides now would be a good time to interject. "Hands off, man-eater bug!" Melony wrapped herself around Kaison possessively, and it was Kaison's turn to stutter.

"M-man-eater?"

Melony, still holding him close, rubbed her face against his shoulder. "My poor, innocent Kaison. Haven't you heard the rumors? You've got to be careful around girls like her."

Kaison raised an eyebrow. Haruko seemed to have gone dead silent, though he couldn't see her eyes past the glare on her glasses. A sinking feeling formed in the pit of his gut. "What rumor?"

"Well, I hate to spread it when I don't know if it's true," she started. A flagrant lie, given how she started the conversation, though one Kaison could still overlook as carelessness. "But there's a rumor going around that she lures men in with her cute facade, gets them to break school rules, then blackmails them afterwards! I've even heard that blond Slifer friend of yours was one of her victims!"

Haruko spoke. "Bullshit."

Melony hid behind Kaison, with a sardonic smile on her face that Kaison couldn't see. "Kyaaahhh~! Protect me, Kaison! The cute ones are always the scariest~!"

Haruko was breathing heavily. She let out a growl and pointed at Melony with fury in her eyes. "IT'S HER! I WAS TRYING TO CURSE HER! THERE'S NO ONE ELSE THAT WOULD SPREAD A RUMOR ABOUT ME AND THAT WEIRD BLOND GUY!"

Kaison was bewildered, caught in the crossfire and utterly confused. Passersby, startled by the commotion, started to watch the drama unfold.

Melony put on her sickly sweet 'innocent' voice. "I didn't start the rumor. Even if I did, how would we know you're not just lying to get out of trouble?"

"YOU'RE THE LIAR! YOU'VE ALWAYS HATED ME! THIS IS JUST LIKE WHEN WE WERE KIDS, AND I'M NOT DEALING WITH IT A SECOND TIME!"

"When we were kids? Haruko, we used to be friends! Sure, I was mad after what you did in that old abandoned house, but that's ancient history!"

Haruko smirked, looking at Kaison. "She got mad because I scared her so bad she pissed herself."

The peanut gallery laughed. Melony gasped dramatically. Kaison was starting to get uncomfortable that this was a public event.

"You also promised you'd never talk about it! Liar!"

"I didn't promise shit! You never talked to me after that, just started spreading rumors and making jokes that I was some freak who only had ghosts for friends!"

"CAN YOU BLAME ME AFTER YOU LIFTED OFF THE GROUND AND STARTED MAKING CREEPY GROANING NOISES!? I wasn't the only one there! Everyone was terrified! My parents thought I was crazy! Even my friends started thinking I was crazy after everyone convinced them it was fake! Even I started thinking it was fake, but you know damn well it wasn't! I did talk to you after that, too! I asked how you hid the wires, or who helped you do it, but you wouldn't tell me anything! I only realized it was real when I asked your parents and they said they didn't do anything! They even said they didn't have any rope or wires in their house!"

"Fuck you! That's no excuse to turn everyone against me!"

"You're the one who refused to say how you did it, or even that it was real. You turned everyone against yourself! I didn't start a single rumor then, and I didn't start a single rumor now!"

"Pine's fucking gay!" She said it so abruptly and with such certainty that it caught everyone off guard. Though, when Kaison caught the eyes of some of his classmates in the crowd, all they did was nod. It didn't seem like a revelation to them? It made Kaison feel like an idiot. He had only noticed it last night, and yet everyone was talking about it like it was obvious?

Haruko continued, "He hates the rumors maybe just as much as I do, and there were only five people there that night! I've never interacted with Pine before then, so unless Kaison or Ms. Hibiki started it, WHICH I FUCKING DOUBT, it could only have been you!"

"Pffft. As if. The walls in Slifer Red are paper-thin, you know? If Ms. Hibiki heard us from her room, I bet the whole dorm could have heard it."

"Why would any of them do that!? You're the only one with a motive!"

"Motive? Haven't you ever heard of the suspension bridge effect? If anything, I should be thanking you for ruining our date. It only brought us closer."

Melony leaned in to Kaison again, but Kaison gently pushed her away this time. "Wait, wait, wait. Say that again."

Melony looked genuinely hurt to have been pushed away. It certainly made Kaison doubt himself for a moment. "I was just saying that scary experiences ought to bring us closer. I know you don't like them like I do, but-"

Kaison shook his head. "No, I meant the part about ruining our date."

Melony's face brightened up, like she was just told some very good news. "Oh, that. Haruko here was the mastermind behind our ruined date. I caught her snooping around outside, and, as you might have gathered, she has a history of messing with the supernatural. Our date was ruined by fuzzy dodgeballs thrown through a closed door, and I can't think of anyone else who could do something so ridiculous but Haruko." She turned away from Kaison again, such so that he couldn't see her sneer at Haruko. "I think she just did it because she was jealous. You are quite a catch, after all."

Kaison stared at Haruko. "..."

Haruko lowered her gaze. She felt like she had been defeated. "..."

Melony gently pulled on Kaison's arm, ready to ditch Haruko. "Come on, let's go back to my room. You said I was getting close to the end of the game, right?"

"Hey, Melony?"

"Yes, my sweet?"

"I think we should break up."

The crowd erupts like Kaison just ended Melony's whole career. Kaison visibly cringes from the commotion and a nearby teacher decided that it warranted investigation, so Kaison gently tugged on Melony's arm, a nonverbal request to come with him so that they could talk it out, but she just stood there, frozen, until, as the center of the crowd, they were approached by the teacher and asked what was going on.

Kaison realized that trying to drag a girl off by the arm wasn't a good look, so he sighed and let go of Melony. "Nothing, sir. Goodbye for now, Melony."

And with that, Kaison left, simply walking off down the road.

The teacher, of course, asked Melony the same question, though she didn't respond, at least at first. When he pushed for an answer, she simply fell to her knees and began crying.

It was Haruko who finally gave him a proper answer as the crowd began to disperse. "They broke up."

Seemingly satisfied and/or uncomfortable with handling a teenage girl bawling her eyes out, he gave Melony some awkward platitudes about love before leaving, coming to a stop nearby in case he was further needed but otherwise taking the hands-off approach.

Time passed. Some other students tried to help Melony up, but she swatted them away. She was inconsolable.

Haruko moved to stand in front of Melony. She couldn't lie, she was reveling in Melony's misery. Still, this was kind of pathetic. It was surprising how fast and how long a girl like her could lose her cool. She thought she was faking it at first, but no, Kaison already left and she didn't so much as glance up at the other students. She was ugly crying in full view of the entire student body. It reminded Haruko of the first time she had been possessed.

"You always were a huge crybaby."

She ignored Haruko. Some of the lingering students gave Haruko the look, but she ignored them.

"If you're going to cry, you should at least do it in your room."

She didn't stop. Haruko rolled her eyes and grabbed Melony by the arm. She tried to jerk it away like she did with the other students, but Haruko kept a firm grip and roughly dragged Melony to her feet. Melony didn't stop crying into the wrist of her free hand as she let Haruko drag her back to the Obelisk Blue girl's dorm.

Meanwhile, Kaison turned on his duelist radar and wandered around. He just wanted to duel right now.

It was weird when she brought up the rumor that Pine and Haruko were a thing, especially when Pine confirmed it was fake a long time ago. When she blamed Haruko for their ruined date, it all fell into place. The reason Pine and Haruko both thought he would blame Haruko was because of her. It stood to reason, then, that the rumor between Pine and Haruko was because of her. It had to come from somewhere, and Haruko said there were only 5 people there, which Melony didn't even deny. If he came up with the idea that it was her himself, he'd worry he was jumping to conclusions, but Haruko was directly accusing her, and if he had to choose somebody to believe...

It wasn't his girlfriend...

Maybe he was being hasty, but he didn't want a girlfriend who could do such a thing. He wasn't blind. He knew Mr. Monoma's sudden sex ed lessons were because of the rumors. He caught Mr. Monoma talking to Pine. It must have been mortifying. He couldn't believe a girl so sweet could do something so cruel, but all the facts pointed to one culprit, and even if he asked her directly, would she even give a straight answer? She lied about Haruko ruining their date, didn't she? Or was she just mistaken? Did he just make a horrible mistake? No, she should have been the one responsible for the rumor. Was there other bullying too? Maybe it doesn't matter, people can change, right?

He couldn't stop thinking about his choices. Did he make the right one? With the facts at hand, he couldn't deny his choice, so why did it feel so bad?

He wanted to duel. He wanted to stop thinking about the way he was feeling.

Kaison vs. Donte
Donte starts off strong with a pair of Marauding Captains, but they end up getting banished by Numeron Gate Sunya immediately. He still had Swords of Revealing Light to fall back on, but it was quickly dispatched by Lyrilusc - Promenade Thrush. He dead draws and swiftly loses the next turn under the offensive pressure of Sunya and Downerd Magician.

Kaison vs. Chris
Although Chris started off playing quite coyly, Kaison just did the same in response. He was forced to go offensive, giving up his element of surprise, and from there, there was nothing his deck could do against Number 54: Lion Heart. His monsters just took attacks turn after turn.

Kaison vs. Caleb
Although Caleb controlled the board at first with his overwhelming quantity of removal effects, Kaison's ability to stall with Battle Fader and generate resources using Mystic Piper proved too much. It was over after Kaison nuked the board with Numeron Gate Sunya, forcing Caleb to top deck as Kaison continued to refill the board.

Kaison must have gone on for hours. He didn't speak much with his dueling opponents, or anyone, for that matter. He continued on quite the impressive winning streak until, finally, his brother showed up, running into him through the duelist radar.

For once, Jon was the one to initiate a conversation. "Hey."

Kaison readied his duel disk. Showing up through the duelist radar meant he was here for a duel, after all. "Hey."

Jon looked troubled, like he hadn't come here to duel at all, but he readied his duel disk anyway. "I heard what happened."

Kaison scoffed ruefully as he drew his opening hand. "If it's reached you, then everyone in the school must know by now."

"I was there when it happened."

Kaison looked neither relieved nor surprised. "Oh."

Kaison vs. Jon
Kaison went first. He knew Jon's deck inside and out. Forcing it to go second was definitely ideal. "I activate foolish burial, sending Treeborn Frog to the grave, then I summon Evil Seed, and use its effect to tribute it, deal 300 damage, and special summon two more Evil Seeds. I use the effect of Jester Confit from my hand, special summoning it, then use all three as materials to XYZ summon Number 54: Lion Heart."

There was absolutely no way for Jon's deck to punish him for an early Lion Heart. In fact, nothing in Jon's deck can destroy Lion Heart. His deck completely folds to it.

Looking at Lion Heart, Jon frowned, then turned his attention back to Kaison. He wasn't smiling. That wasn't normal. "Are you doing okay? You said you never had a relationship before. You... left me a lot of messages about it."

Kaison frowned back at Jon. "You've never been in a relationship before, either, despite leaving me a lot of messages about how girls constantly hit on you now. I end my turn."

Jon knit his brow. The atmosphere was weird. The girls pursuing him mostly just looked at his entrance exam score. He hated this. Kaison knew this. Was he trying to annoy him? That was... unusual. "Draw."

Jon's hand was pretty good this time. "I activate Heart of the Underdog, and normal summon Protron. I use Protron to link summon Link Spider, then use Link Spider to special summon Bitron. Using Bitron, I link summon Imduk, the World Chalice Dragon, then use his effect to normal summon Beckoned by the World Chalice..."

Jon continued his standard Link ladder combo. Even if his field would just become a detriment because of Lion Heart, leaving an empty field would just open him up to Downerd beatdown, and it was better card draw to summon them. He could link into Beat Cop of the Underworld to protect Heart of the Underdog, though that wouldn't stop Kaison's deck from removing it, considering Promenade Thrush. Things were already looking dire. "...Using Transcode Talker's effect, I special summon G Golem Stubborn Menhir, which lets me special summon Bitron. I then Link Summon Splash Mage using G Golem Stubborn Menhir and Bitron, which lets me special summon G Golem Stubborn Menhir again. I'll link summon Linkross using G Golem Stubborn Menhir, allowing me to special summon two tokens, then I Link summon Decode Talker Heatsoul using Linkross and Splash Mage, co-linked with Transcode Talker." He'd take more damage this way, but it didn't really matter against Kaison, and at least he'd keep his draw power safe from Vacuumen.

His deck was a bit troubling to learn at first, and an absolute headache to update with new cards. He's tried multiple times to modify it, adding just a couple of cards to it, such as Cyberse Witch, Dragunity cards, Guardragons, Sprights or even The Legendary Exodia Incarnate, if only to incorporate a fun new option or change things up, but all he ever got were bricks and headaches for his trouble. He really couldn't modify the deck in any meaningful way.

"I activate Decode Talker Heatsoul's effect, paying 1000 lifepoints to draw a card, then end my turn. I'll pay to draw again during yours, also."

"Draw. I special summon Treeborn Frog from my grave. Main Phase, I activate Heavy Storm."

Fuck.

Beat Cop wouldn't have worked either, given the rest of Kaison's turn from there. He proceeded to summon Kinka-Byo and XYZ for a second Lion Heart.

It was over.

Having been beaten effortlessly, Jon walked over to Kaison. He wasn't the talkative type, and Kaison knew this, so he was expecting Kaison to start the conversation. Instead, Kaison returned to the impassive expression he had before the duel and turned to walk away without a word.

Jon reached out to stop him, grabbing him by the shoulder. Kaison looked back at Jon, looking slightly annoyed. Jon met his gaze without flinching. "If you want to talk about it, I'm still your brother."

Kaison reset to a blank facial expression before giving Jon the fakest smile he's ever seen. "Thanks, bro. Maybe later."

With that, Kaison walked away.

It was just another day at school when Mr. Monoma dropped it on everyone. "Today's parent visitation day."

They were living on an island and no one had heard of this previously, so the class showed visible and audible confusion.

"Did I not mention it?"

A chorus of noes.

"Could have sworn I did... Well, whatever. Because Duel Academy is located on an island, not all of your parents have had an opportunity to visit our facilities in person, and now that you students have had time to settle in and get used to school life here at the academy, it's a good time to receive them. Of course, plenty of your parents are only coming to give you a visit."

Donte spoke up. "Did you forget to tell them about it too?"

"All of your parents or legal guardians were informed weeks ago, though only about half of them have RSVP'd. In any case, today's not going to be a full school day, and you'll all be dismissed at the docks once the boats arrive. Of course, you'll each be asked to give your own parents the tour. We simply don't have the staff to go around."

"Tch." Donte looked visibly annoyed. He muttered to himself, "don't tell me..."

Mr. Monoma seemed to hear him. "Mr. Lorenzo was among those who confirmed they would come to visit."

Donte scowled. He didn't mutter this time. "Fuck."

"Language."

The school day proceeded much as normal, though the students took the surprise visit of their parents in different ways. Donte wore a facial expression that looked like he was on the verge of death and had a demeanor that emitted killing intent the entire time. About half way through the day, the school bell rang, and the students were lined up and walked to the docks.

They stood there, waiting for the arrival of their parents as a set of boats quickly approached from over the horizon.

@Crimson Flame@Darkmoon Angel@Eviledd1984@King Cosmos@Psyker Landshark@SSW@WXer

After a very eventful night, the school day went as normally as possible. Except with the announcement that their parents would be coming. Pine rolled his eyes, and carried on with his day. Class ended early, and Pine waited by the docks with the others, looking sullen.

Jerry Beans Man appeared on Pine’s shoulder trying to cheer him up. “Don’t be sad bud! Today’s gonna be a good day!”

Pine didn’t care if he was seen talking to Jerry. They already thought he was weird anyway. “My parents aren’t coming. Dr. and Dr. Pine are probably too busy with their research to come see me. That’s how it’s always been. Why would it change now? Kaison probably hates me, and I’m the outcast of the school again. I’m back where I started…” He pulled out his deck, and lovingly looked at all the cards in it. “All I have are my beautiful plants!”

Cassandra Moore – Obelisk Blue

When classes ended and the students were corralled towards the docks, Cassandra allowed herself to be drawn with them, despite the fact that she already knew that her own parents couldn’t make it. It wasn’t idle speculation that made her think that, since they had told her so themselves when she had last called them a few days ago; too busy with work, as usual, and unable to pull themselves away. It was a surprise to her to see so many students not know what today was; even if the school had failed to mention it, her parents had not.

Rather than be disappointed, she understood and accepted the news that they wouldn’t be coming. Her mom ran a veterinary clinic and was always busy, while her father was her assistant and was usually even busier; either one of them coming here today would mean closing the clinic due to them being understaffed and with patient appointments and even a surgery already booked in there was no choice but to stay home.

So she just sat at the docks, waiting with the other students despite knowing that there was no one for her to wait for. She would head back once the boats arrived, she supposed. Until then she passed the time by alternating between staring out at the ocean or by watching the people around her; the view was lovely from the docks, provided you liked ocean vistas, and the other students, the ones she had met so far, were all interesting. Particularly the ones that had spirits with them.

No one else had spirits back home. No one else could even see spirits back home; the other kids had always called her strange when she talked about her cards like they were her friends and the adults always gave her strange looks when she talked to Naga or Vaskii. They thought she was seeing things, hearing voices; which, in a way, she was, but they thought she was seeing and hearing things that weren’t real, instead of just things that were there but that they couldn’t perceive. It didn’t stop her from doing either of those things of course; her cards were her friends and she wasn’t just going to ignore them when they spoke to her. That would be rude.

Coming to this island, it was the first time she had seen other spirits and definitely the first time she had seen people who could see them like she could. It wasn’t every student, not even many of them, but there were a few; like the girl with the giant fiend monsters, or the girl with the little warrior, or the boy with the plants standing right over there. He even had his deck out and was talking to it, like she sometimes did, though strangely she hadn’t seen him with a spirit until today. Maybe he’d only met them recently?

Curious, Cassandra decided to walk over to the boy, whose name she didn’t actually know, to ask him. “Hello, I’m Cassandra.” At her back, she felt tiny hands grip onto her jacket as Naga poked her head out from behind her back. “And this is my friend Naga. Nice to meet you.”

@Crimson Flame

----

Leo Wilde – Slifer Red

Leo hated parent-teacher days. It wasn’t just because they usually ended in him being scolded; honestly, he didn’t get into as much trouble at school as people thought he did, but he did get into some and that was still more than the none his caretaker wanted him to get into.

No, any school activity that involved parents was always annoying to deal with; another awkward occasion where students would ask why the person who showed up looked nothing like him, or was too old to reasonably be his parent, or where the staff would give him that oh so sad look because he was a poor orphan boy with no mom and dad and wasn’t that just sad? Even though he was just fine without them and the people who ran the orphanage were damn good at taking care of the children under their care. Assholes.

At least he wouldn’t have to deal with that today. He knew for a fact that the old caretaker didn’t have the time nor the money to sail all the way to this island to talk to his teachers; not when there were two dozen other kids that needed looking after. In fact, technically he wasn’t even under the orphanages care anymore; when he’d left to come to duel academy it had been more than just a temporary thing. He’d left. He was on his own from now until graduation; even though he was sure he wouldn’t be turned away if he ever needed to go back.

Not that he was planning on going back until he was a world-class duellist. This was sink or swim for Leo; always had been.

That hadn’t stopped the school from dragging him over to the docks with everyone else though. Kind of insensitive of them, to be honest.

Leo was looking for a chance to slip away and go back to the dorms when he spotted someone familiar. Sort of familiar anyway. It was one of the Ra girls he had duelled against the other night when she had been ‘possessed’. He still wanted to get to the bottom of that; it was a little too weird to just be a prank and the fact that none of the people involved had come clean about it even after everything was over was just strange.

“Hey, Dark World girl! You got a minute?”

@Psyker Landshark

"Today's parent visitation day."

"...Fuck." Valerie muttered under her breath at the announcement, folding her arms in front of her. For the entire rest of the period, her expression was practically murderous and she stormed out of class without a word. The only thing that gave her pause was Haruko giving her a free card...

...Ash Blossom? Damn. They almost never printed this card, and Haruko was entirely comfortable just giving her one? Between this and last night, how the hell was this girl a Slifer?

"Wait, seriously? Look, you don't have to. All I did last night was get wrecked twice-"

"Just take it. If you don't, I'll get angry."

Well, there wasn't really anything she could say to that, could she? So with a resigned sigh, Valerie took the card and tucked it away, making a mental note to slot it into her deck later.

___

Some time later, Valerie managed to slink away from the crowd of students waiting for the boats. Instead, she sat atop a shipping crate, pulling her deck box and her collection out as she went through her cards, retuning her deck to both include Ash Blossom and account for the weaknesses she'd seen in last night's duels with what she had. Damn, she really needed to hit the card shop soon. There wasn't much in her current collection that would help much.

"Valerie." Ceruli materialized, sitting down on the crate next to her. "Do you want to-"

"No." She said flatly as she resleeved her cards. "I gave up on this changing years ago."

"Very well." Ceruli sighed as he propped himself up to his feet. "Know that I will be present should you wish to speak of it. In any case, it seems you've a visitor. I'll make myself scarce."

“Hey, Dark World girl! You got a minute?”

Oh, what now? Valerie glanced up at the familiar voice as she finished retooling her deck.

"Oh. You're the HERO player from last night." She remarked tonelessly, idly shuffling her deck and drawing a test hand. "Look, today's not great. Can we make this quick? You need something?"

@King Cosmos

Mina was not excited to have her parents visit, she had an argument with her parents a few hours ago on the phone. Not wanting to be pressured to be the best duelist in the world. But they were not hearing it and would yell at her the first chance they get. She waited by herself, ensuring she was as far from the others as possible. Her hands were shoved into the pocket of her pants. Her head looked down at the dock floor, not happy that her parents were about to arrive. As the boat was coming closer to the dock, a part of her wanted to start running away. But she couldn’t as the boat had just arrived. Lucy’s parents arrived, walking straight towards her. “Mina.” The sound of her mother’s voice, made Lucy cringe. The two had closed the gap, so it was now impossible for Mina to escape. “Have you won any duels?” Her father chimed in, her parents were towering over her.

“A few duels.” She was honest, she had lost a couple of duels.

“A few? You did not win all of them?” Her mother was glaring at her. “I thought we had taught you better.” Mina was starting to feel quite embarrassed. Her eyes looked around for someone she could speak with, and to try and avoid her parents.

“I won a few duels, really important ones too. And they were pretty tough cookies too, so I think that would be a good thing.” She didn’t want to mention that she kinda won against some creepy spirits a few days ago. Her parents looked at each other as if they were speaking to each other telepathically.

“Well as long as you are winning more duels than losing, we are happy with your progress. Show us where you live.” Her father spoke up folding his arms underneath his chest. Mina and her parents were now walking toward her dorm room. Her father was looking at her deck, making comments about how unsynchronized her deck was. Her mother suggested she use another deck, that would give her a better win ratio.

Mina just hoped that Rina or someone else would come along, and try to take her away from her parents.

Kaison & Jon
Dad didn't show up. It wasn't surprising. He was busy as hell with his work even before his kids were put on an island, so this was nothing new.

Caleb & Lexa
Caleb and Lexa likewise did not seem surprised to see that neither of their parents showed up. They didn't do any more than share a meaningful glance before splitting up separately.

Chris
Chris seemed to get a phone call in lieu of a visit. He smiled as he talked.

Haruko
An elderly woman stepped off the boat, wheeling an elderly man off it in a wheelchair. Both were wearing similar clothes to Haruko's, and just as they appeared, were apparently Haruko's relatives. Their relation was unclear, however, since they both began chatting with Haruko in a foreign language.

Sina
Her mother stepped off the boat and smiled warmly as Sina ran into her open arms. "Mom!"

She hugged her daughter tightly. "Hello, dear. How has school been for you?"

"Great! Just a couple of days ago, I got possessed by genocidal duel monster ghosts! I got saved by a friend before being I started plotting world domination though, so it all turned out okay!"

Her mother's smile didn't so much as flinch. "That's nice, dear."

"I even got to save one of my friends afterward, when she collapsed. This place really makes me feel like I'm getting closer to becoming someone like Yugi Muto."

Her mother began fawning over her only daughter. "Oh, my baby's growing up~! Just don't forget to visit your dear old parents when you become a big, famous duelist, okay?"

"Of course!"

Miles
"Father."

"Miles."

They simply stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Miles looked annoyed while his father, who bore quite the resemblance to him, looked like he was expecting more. When he didn't get anything, he sighed, looking annoyed himself. "Come on, show me around."

Miles turned and led the way wordlessly.

Roché
A man in a luxurious white suit wearing sunglasses and smoking a fancy cigar walked off the boat. Roché ran up to him and they began chatting animatedly. The man seemed to be perfectly capable of talking while keeping the cigar between his teeth, which was a bit odd, but not as odd as when he suddenly exclaiming "THAT'S MY GIRL!" before laughing heartily like he was in on the grandest joke in the world. He was loud enough that nearly everyone at the docks turned to look, though Roché didn't seem to mind, laughing along with her father.

Melony
Like Roché's father before her, Melony's mother proved to be visibly rich, stepping off the boat wearing a dress one might describe as gaudy and dramatic. It was poofy, like a fairy tale princess dress, but about half of it was cropped off to reveal purple-black thigh highs that matched the woman's lipstick. She was bedecked in similarly almost-gothic black and purple jewelry and her hair was a complicated series of braids and loops while somehow remaining long enough to reach past shoulder length.

Melony took small, sullen steps towards her mother with her eyes affixed to the ground. "Hey, mom."

"Oh, dearie, what's the matter? You look terrible!"

"I... it's..." Melony looked like she was about to cry in public again.

"Oh, baby, don't worry, mommy's here for you." She crouched down awkwardly in her heels to hug her daughter. "Why don't you show me where you've been living, and tell me all about it there. Mama will make it all better."

"I don't... I'm not sure I even..." Melony covered her face with her hands again.

Melony's mother leaned in and whispered something in a curt tone. "Not in public, dear." She gave Melony a push while maintaining her bright smile and they began the walk back to her room.

Rin
Rin's father wore a black suit and carried a black briefcase. He had short black hair and didn't particularly stand out among the other parents. He walked up to Rin, who greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Rin. How have you been?"

"I've been doing alright. Welcome to the island, dad."

"Good to be here; good to see you. I heard from the school that you'd be giving me a tour?"

"Sure, dad. Though, I don't know much about places other than the main building and the Ra Yellow Dorm."

"Why don't we start with your room, then? Students of all dorms are paired with roommates nowadays, aren't they? How's yours?"

"She's great. I feel like I didn't understand her that well at first, but she's very nice."

"That's good to hear."

They continued to make idle conversation as they walked back to Ra Yellow

Donte
He's here. Donte grit his teeth.

"You're still wearing that all that?"

The bespectacled man in a neat black suit walked up to Donte looking irritated. "Nice to see you too, dad," Donte deadpanned through gritted teeth.

"Maybe you'd be nice to see if you didn't look like a thug straight out of juvie."

Donte glared at the man. "Why'd you come?"

"What kind of question is that? You haven't even been here that long and you're already failing everything but P.E. You're the one who wanted to be a duelist."

"No. I said I liked dueling once and you enrolled me without telling me anything."

"You've got to do something with your life, and since you refused to decide where to go, I decided for you, like any good father would."

"A GOOD FATHER WOULDN'T-"

"HEY. Don't you talk back to me! If you want to go to a military school, just say the word, boy."

Donte put a hand on his face and let out a deep breath. He wasn't any stranger to corporal punishment, though his father gracefully avoided stuff like that in public in favor of other threats that were, to him, arguably worse. He considered making another remark, but the man before him had absolute control over his life. It didn't matter the context, talking back could mean anything, because it was just his dad's way of saying it was time to shut up before he got really mad. He crossed his arms and did just that. It was gonna be another one of those days.

"Show me your room. Now."

Donte turned and began walking back to Slifer Red, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His father lectured him the whole way there about his attitude, clothing, grades, posture and future. Donte tuned it out. He was used to it.

After a while, the spirit incident in the forest became just another bad memory to Helena. While she was happy that Haruko was safe and sound, she still didn’t feel good about the loss she suffered to the other possessed students. If things hadn’t turned out like they did… She didn’t even want to think about it. It did, however, open her eyes to how her deck wasn’t performing well. Against other students anyways. Once she had gotten a few card packs, Helena looked through her deck and patched up anything that might’ve been a weak link. That mostly came down to her Gearfried cards. While she liked them, she knew that they weren’t doing her deck any favors. Before making the adjustments, she thanked Gearfried for at least being there to start the duel off for the past few duels, and put him away with the other cards she took out of her deck.

Once that was done, she gave a heavy sigh. Mr. Monoma had said earlier that today was parent visitation day. Helena was dreading it, for it’ll be the proof she needs on whether or not her parents really do care about her. She made her way to the docks to wait with everyone else. “Try to be optimistic, Helena. I’m sure they’ll come see you.” Chosen spoke up, trying to comfort her. Helena just gave a slight nod and stood by the edge of the docks. She watched as the boats soon came to the docks, but as the parents of the other students got off them, her heart started to sink more and more. “Figures…” she mumbled to herself as she just sat on the edge of dock, tears welling up in her eyes.

Leo Wilde – Slifer Red

Huh, okay. That was kind of a hostile reception. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one that found these kinds of parent/teacher days stressful; Leo could sympathise, but that wasn’t going to stop him from asking his questions anyway.

“Yeah, I want someone to give me a straight answer about what the hell happened last night.”

Subtlety had never been Leo’s strong suit, surprisingly enough. Maybe he was being too blunt just asking straight out like this, maybe he’d have better luck if he tried to make friends with this girl first, but he wanted answers so why not just ask for answers? “Why was everyone in the middle of the woods and why were you all acting like you were possessed or something? And don’t tell me it was ‘angry spirits’ like that weird Obelisk girl did; I want the real answer.”

@Psyker Landshark