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Chapter Text

1- His First Deck

Adrien was forever grateful to the Gorilla. He really did love his bodyguard since he was a lot more parental than the other adults in his life. 

Currently, the child model was browsing through a card shop that he had asked the Gorilla to take him to. Adrien had recently gotten an email that he had been accepted into the Francois Dupont Duel Academy. Though, he was one-hundred percent sure that he was only accepted because he was a famous model for his father's fashion company. He knew that it was the wrong way to get into the school, but he loved dueling.

While he was a model for his father's company, dueling was what Adrien loved the most. His mother had been a really good duelist and she and he had a lot of little duels together when he had been little. He used an extra deck that his mother had since he was too young to really have a deck of his own, but he loved every second of it. But after his mother disappeared six months ago, his father locked up his mother's cards and never let him touch them.

So, that was why he was not at the Garden Family Card Shop. It was one of the most well-known card shops in Paris. It was run by the Garden family, a family of Greek citizens that moved to Paris since they were given a golden opportunity to open a card shop in the city of love. The youngest of the family, twins Lyon and Vallia, were actually both students of the duel academy as well from what he knew.

He browsed the shop to see if there were any cards that he could connect with. His mother had used a deck of fairy cards, but he wanted something he had personally chosen himself.

"You obviously look like you need some help," a male voice with an accent said.

Adrien nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice. Turning around, he saw that it was Lyon Garden. He could easily see why he was known as the Ice Prince given that he was dressed entirely in silver, white, and blue. Plus, his bright blue eyes were very cold even with a sense of warmth in them.

"You're Lyon Garden," Adrien was shocked.

"I know," Lyon smirked. "I also can see that you are definitely a newbie to the world of dueling. But, you also have a great love for it."

"You can tell all that about me just like that," Adrien could not help but raise an eyebrow.

"I have always been able to tell who a person is," Lyon says. "It's better to see inside of a person's true heart than it is just seeing good in others. Call me the ultimate realist."

The way he spoke definitely had a level of coldness to it that added to the fact that he was known as the Ice Prince. Not that Adrien could really blame him since having the best card shop in Paris also meant that a lot of wannabe duelists would try and cozy up to the family in order to try and get the best cards out of them.

"I...I used to play with my mother's cards," Adrien tells Lyon. "I loved playing with her, but I never had my own cards."

"You came to the right place, then," Lyon went behind the counter. "We have starter decks, custom decks for those that order them, decks of specific archetypes, and many other things in the shop. We also have duel disks for those that do not already own their own. My older brother, Apollo, also teaches new duelers on the weekends."

"No wonder your shop is so popular," Adrien said.

"We do our best," Lyon smirked. "So, do you have an idea on what special summoning technique you want to focus on?"

Adrien had to think about that. His mother's deck only used special summoning when it came to regular monsters. She did not have any fancy monsters like fusion, synchro, ritual, XYZ, pendulum, gate, or link monsters. Adrien knew about them, but he never got the chance to use any of them. And he really wanted to.

(AN: Gate summoning/gate monsters are my own original idea. It will be explained more as I continue the book.)

"I think I would want to use fusion summoning," Adrien decided.

"That is a very good choice," Lyon got out the decks that they had that all had fusion monsters. "These are all decks that all have fusion summoning as part of them."

Adrien looked at the decks. There was certainly plenty that he could choose from. Looking at them, there were definitely some that caught his eye. The Amazon, Fossil, Melodious, Lunalight, Elemental Hero, Destiny Hero, Cyber Dragon, Gladiator Beast, Gem-Knight, Gem-Beast, and Gravekeeper cards all looked very interesting to him. He definitely had to take a few minutes before he decided which to use.

His hands hovered over them until he decided which of the decks that he wanted to choose as his own.

"The Elemental Heroes," Adrien picked up the deck.

Lyon smiled. "That is a very good choice of deck. Would you also like to buy a deck holder and a duel disk as well?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Adrien says.

Adrien ended up choosing an emerald green deck case to match his eyes. He also went with a duel disk that would look like a long curved blue blade.

(AN: I will be using duel disks inspired by those from 5D's and Zexel.)

"I hope to see you in school soon," Lyon says. "It has been a while since we have had any fresh meat."

"Fresh meat," Adrien was made a little nervous as he saw the smirk on Lyon's face.

"Lyon, don't scare the poor boy," said a female voice.

Adrien turned and saw Lyon's sister, Vallia, enter the shop. Vallia was the complete opposite of her twin in terms of how she presented herself. She was known as the Flower Princess because of her more sunny personality as well as how she always had flowers in her hair.

"You never let me have my fun," Lyon playfully pouted as his sister used his shoulder as an armrest.

"Your fun involves you using that Ice Prince persona to scare the living daylights out of people," Vallia giggled.

"I still don't see what is wrong with that," Lyon smirked.

"Brothers," Vallia shook her head fondly at her brother's antics.

Adrien could only just stand there awkwardly. He felt like a third wheel even though Lyon and Vallia were siblings and not a couple. But, they were twins, so it was only natural that they would be able to just talk to each other like no one else was around. Made him think that if the two of them ever teamed up for tag duels, their opponents would be seriously doomed.

"You... You two do attend the FD Duel Academy, right," Adrien finally spoke up.

Both twins nodded.

"It had the best reviews for duel schools when we moved here," Vallia said. "We attended duel school in Greece, so we wanted to continue that education here since we are living here currently."

"We also went to a duel school in Japan when we lived there a couple of years ago," Lyon tells Adrien.

"So, you three speak Greek, Japanese, and French," Adrien was amazed.

"Our father's parents are also American and still live in the states, so we also speak English as well," Lyon said.

That certainly threw Adrien for a loop. He would figure that the twins were smart, but he did not expect that they would be this smart. He spoke English as well, but he only spoke Mandarin and French other than that. 

"Wow," was all that Adrien could say.

"We would appreciate you keeping the fact that we lived in Japan to yourself, please," Vallia requested.

"I will," Adrien said but was confused. "But why?"

"Japan is known to have some of the best duelists in the world," Lyon explained. "Like Yugi Moto and his brother Atem. Not to mention Jaden Yuki and Seto Kaiba. If people find out we lived there, we would be bothered so much by those trying to use us for those types of connections."

"Oh," Adrien said. "I can understand that. I am a model and the son of the fashion company owner, so you know that I also have people wanting to be around me for favors. Especially those that either want to meet my father or want to work for my father."

"Isn't your father a recluse that has not left his house in almost a year," Lyon raised an eyebrow.

Vallia slapped her brother on the shoulder.

"You do not just ask a question like that to someone," she scolded him.

"I don't mind, actually," Adrien says, calming Vallia down. "Yeah, my dad does not leave the house. I don't know why, but he just never leaves."

"Well, we won't pry," Lyon stated.

"Since you two attend the school, can you tell me anything about it," Adrien asked them.

Adrien paid for the deck, the deck holder, and his duel disk. But they all continued to talk as he did this. He was starting to like these two. Since he had grown up very isolated from a lot of people because of his dad being so overprotective, the only other person that Adrien really counted as any kind of friend would be his childhood friend, Chloe Bourgeois. It was another reason why he wanted to go to the duel academy. Because he wanted to make more friends. 

"Well, there are different classes and clubs based on dueling skills as well as summoning techniques that are used," Lyon tells Adrien. "I personally use gate summoning while my sister uses XYZ summoning."

"There is also a very fun little rivalry between some classes," Vallia giggled. "It is all in good fun, so it never goes too far. It is really only individual students that do not get along instead of entire classes hating each other."

"That is actually so cool," Adrien said.

"There are always dueling between classes as part of exams," Vallia says. "There is a written part, but there are also duels between the classes to see how our skills have increased as well."

"I mostly just feel sorry for those that have to go up against those like Kagami and Luka," Lyon chuckled.

"I am guessing that those two are really good," Adrien said.

"The two of them are some of the best duelists in the entire school," Vallia says. "Kagami is also from a family of champion fencers and is part of the school team. She is a very fierce opponent that is known for having probably the mother of all poker faces."

"Luka is also the twin brother of our friend Juleka in our class," Lyon also tells Adrien. "He may be one of the nicest guys that you can ever meet, but his dueling is no joke. He and Juleka say that their mom is basically a pirate, so you can definitely say that they were both raised to fight for anything that they want."

"You two certainly know some unique people," Adrien could not help but smile.

"When you have been to as many places as we have, you tend to always be able to find interesting people to interact with," Vallia shrugged. "Otherwise, life would be so boring."

"Plus, we have a saying in our family," Lyon said. "Being normal is vastly overrated. In other words, we pride ourselves on being unique since normal is just boring."

Adrien was about to ask about their own class when he got a text on his phone. It was the Gorilla telling him that they needed to get going before Adrien's father learned where they were because of the tracking stuff he had on Adrien's phone.

"I have to go now, but I hope to see you two in school," Adrien quickly packed up all of his purchases and left the card shop.

"You are usually not that nice to new people," Vallia tells her brother.

"There is something different about him," Lyon replies. "Something in his eyes that tells me he is a lot more than just a model with an overprotective parent."

"Well, since he is a model, that does mean he has a lot of practice putting on masks and other things to hide how he really feels," Vallia says. "There is a reason why I hate that teen and child models are actually a thing. No teenager or kid should have to deal with the pressures that came from always having to try and be society's definition of 'perfect."

"He told me that he used to use his mother's cards when he would play with her," Lyon tells his sister.

"That definitely says a lot about him," Vallia said. "Some of the best types of dueling memories are made with the parents they have that also duel."

"It will definitely be fun to see what he can do with a deck of his own," Lyon admitted. "While he may be a little out of practice, he will most likely be quite the opponent once he gets used to his new deck."

"He chose the Elemental Heroes deck, right," Vallia asked as she watched her brother put away the other decks that Adrien had not chosen.

"That's right," Lyon tells her.

"That definitely is a deck that provides a challenge when truly mastered," Vallia said. "After all, Jaden Yuki is one of the most well-known duelists in the world."

"Not as much as Yugi Muto and his brother Atem, but Jaden also is a very good duelist," Lyon says.

"Do you think that we should have warned him about brats like Chloe and sore losers like Max," Vallia asked her twin.

Lyon shrugged. "There is no better way for him to learn than to learn the hard way."

Vallia giggled. "You can be really evil when you want to be."

"Not evil, but just a realist," Lyon stated. "Sometimes, you have to experience the downsides of life to really learn that they are out there."

"If there is one thing that I know about you, it is that you really love slapping people with reality," Vallia giggled again.

"Well, I see no reason for rose-tinted glasses," Lyon says. "I think that the world would be a lot better if reality is what people see and not just everything being sunshine and rainbows. It only leads to things like letting bullies run free, never standing up for yourself, and thinking that a slap on the wrist is the best way to make bad people change their ways."

"You really hate Bustier, don't you," Vallia knew who her brother was mostly talking about.

"The woman needs lessons on how to be a teacher," Lyon stated. "Plain and simple."

Vallia could not help but agree with her brother.

*****Meanwhile, In A Cliche Villain's Lair*****

A man stood in the center of the room, covered by shadows. In front of him was a truly adorable little creature. Floating in the air was a little lavender-colored creature with little purple wings and a darker purple swirl design on its forehead. But even as adorable as it was, the poor thing looked terrified of the man in front of it.

"So, you are the kwami of metamorphosis. Nooroo," the shadow man glared at the creature. "You would give me the power to turn others into superpowered human beings."

"Y...Yes," the now-named Nooroo stuttered out. "My power is empowerment and my power is used to create hero champions."

"Which means that it can also be used to create supervillains," the shadow man evilly smirked.

"But my power if not supposed to be used that way," Nooroo weakly protested.

"I am your master, so you will do as I tell you," the shadow man yelled at the creature.

"Y...Yes, master," Nooroo could not disobey the orders from the man that owns his card.

"The ladybug and black cat mystical cards are also in Paris, correct," the shadow man demanded an answer from Nooroo.

"Y...Yes, master," Nooroo answered. "I... I can sense them, but I can't tell their specific location. Just that they are in the city."

The man glared even more at the creature, making Nooroo float a little farther away from him. He had hoped that when his card was found, it would have been found by a good person. Unfortunately, that was not the case. And with a power like his, that was not a good thing.

"I will get my hands on them no matter what it takes," the shadow man declared. "Nooroo, dark wings rise!"

There was a flash of dark purple, sending out a wave of magic that was only felt by certain creatures. A floating little turtle creature, another kwami, shook as he felt it.

"Master," the creature cried out as it flew right to an old man that was in the room with him. "I felt Nooroo! He's in evil hands! What do we do!?!"

The old man turned to look at a gramophone that he had in the room.

"It is time, Wayzz," he told the kwami. "The ladybug and black must be activated to get back Nooroo and his mystical card. Or Paris will be doomed to very dark times."

Somewhere else in Paris, two other cards were glowing inside of the decks of two others. A glowing white card in one deck and a glowing pink card in another. It made the owners look at each other as they were well aware of what that meant. Two more kwami floated next to the two of them.

"Looks like we are going to have a very interesting year," the boy said.

"Beware, you two," a floating little wolf warned them. "Nooroo's power is very strong. You will need to prepare for really tough opponents."

"We will do our best," the girl says.

"Your best is what is going to be needed," a floating monarch butterfly kwami warned them. "Hopefully the ladybug and black cat will be out there as well."

The two humans nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

Adrien was practically vibrating in his seat as his bodyguard took him to his new school. There was nothing else in the entire world that would make him more excited than he was at that very moment. His first day at an actual school. A duel school where he would be able to learn and practice something that he was actually passionate about. 

His father, of course, had not been happy that he had gone behind his back to sign up for the school. But, Adrien doubted that anything ever could make his father happy since he was always looking for improvement in basically everything around him. His father was also not the biggest fan of dueling. He was the owner of a fashion company, after all, not a dueling one. But, Adrien was able to talk him into letting him stay enrolled at the school by bringing up how the connection to his mother and how she and Adrien used to duel a lot. So, Gabriel allowed him to stay enrolled to keep the connection to his mother alive. Probably one of the few times that Adrien was ever actually able to win any type of argument with his father. Okay, if he was being honest with himself, it really the literal first time he ever won an argument with his father.

When he arrived at the school, Adrien was very intrigued by how the school actually looked. The exterior of the school is tan with a slate blue cobblestone roof. The building is three stories tall.

The front of the building has eight large arched windows, each slightly inset with a striped design above them. The steps leading up to the entrance door widen as they approach the sidewalk and vice versa towards the entrance. The double entrance doors are dark oak, with gray handles. Above the doors is a white banner with a red outline hanging down. Above the banner are four rectangular windows, a large circular window, and a smaller circular window on each side.

The central portion of the school is an open-air courtyard. The entrance to the courtyard has a diagonal black and white checkerboard pattern, with a slate cream under this design. On either side of the entrance doors are a wooden bench and two chalkboards. Along one side wall of this area is a door leading to a utility room. The nurse's office, which a placard indicates is handicap-accessible, is located along the opposite sidewall.

The courtyard is made up of slate-gray concrete, with white lines painted on to make a basketball court. On either side of the courtyard is a basketball hoop hanging by a white rope. There is also a set of green metal stairs on either side of the courtyard, leading up to the second-floor rooms. Next to the stairs are green support pillars, supporting the platforms above.

Around the perimeter of the courtyard are various rooms, including locker rooms with adjoining bathrooms, and several classrooms, among them a science classroom.

The second floor has a green overhang, cream slate walls, and thin green metal pillars for structural support of the overhang. The platform jutting out from the wall, designed to allow people to get around the second floor, is made of green metal.

The second floor also has the entrances to the various classrooms, including an art studio room. Most of the classrooms have large windows and a birch door. Other rooms have no inward windows and a dark oak door with a window. At the bottom left of the stairs leading to the library is the headmaster's office.

The third floor at the front of the school has only one room, the library. The stairs leading up to the library are a light slate cream, with a slate orange and light brown banister. Just underneath the slight overhang of the banister are small white stone rectangles, positioned evenly throughout. Just at the apex of the two stairs is a stone design of a fleur-de-lis, with a downward-facing bow and flowers within the bow. The doors to the library are dark oak, with large windows and no discernible handles.

The third floor along the school's rear perimeter houses the cafeteria. Access to the cafeteria was shown to be via stairs from the first-floor courtyard.

Adrien was glad that Natalie had given him a map of the school. Otherwise, he would just have been completely lost. And by the look of the school, it certainly was big enough for it to be a duel school.

Now, the only problem that Adrien had was making friends since he knew no one around him. He reached into his bag and held his deck in its deck case. It comforted him. He knew that he was a good duelist, but it was more the memories of dueling with his mother that actually comforted him.

Adrien walked into the school as nervous as ever. He could already see a lot of students that were already there, just hanging out before class started. He kept his head down so that he was not mobbed by fans. He was not there for attention, he was there just to be a student.

Looking around, he was glad that no one had seemed to notice him yet. It gave him the chance to look around a bit before he would go to class. And he definitely noticed the wide range of people around. There was a blond girl, with two long ponytails, that was dressed almost like she had turned the sky into a dress with it being a blue dress covered in cloud designs. She was talking with a black-haired boy in a red sweatshirt that also looked to be wearing a rainbow shirt while also having painted nails. Looking another way, he saw a short girl with dark pink hair that looked to be dressed as some type of skater and she appeared to be arguing with a really tall boy in a red and white short-sleeved sweatshirt who looked to be very athletic. There was also a girl with ombre-designed brown and red hair that was staring at her phone, a boy that seemed to be doing small magic tricks for a short blond girl dressed entirely in pink, and many other types of students around.

Adrien certainly never had been around so many types of people before. He was usually only ever with other models and they typically were all very similar to him since models had to all be the same skinny and beautiful body type. Seeing all of the unique people around made him smile.

The ironic thing about him looking around him so much was that he was not actually watching where he was going. So, he ended up walking right into someone.

"I am so sorry," Adrien apologized immediately.

"Why am I not surprised that I would be the one you would run into, Adrien," a familiar voice said.

Adrien finally looked at who he had bumped into and it was Lyon. Vallia was close by. It made Adrien start to wonder if the two of them ever willingly separated. He knew they were twins, but they still spent a lot of time together.

"Oh, Lyon," Adrien breathed a sigh of relief that he had not bumped into a bully or a rabid fan. "Sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"I can see that," Lyon said. "You seem a lot more interested in the school than most other new students would be."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, to be honest, I did not go to any type of school before here," Adrien admitted. "I have been homeschooled my entire life. Tutors were brought in by my dad to teach me. Along with a tutor to teach me Chinese, a piano teacher, and a private fencing instructor as well."

"That is a lot to place onto one person," Vallia said. "Especially onto a teenager."

"My father knows what's best for me," Adrien shrugged. "Besides, he's allowing me to go to the duel academy, so I'm fine."

That made the twins share a look with each other. What Adrien was saying was really ringing some alarm bells in their heads. But, they did not know Adrien that well yet, so they were going to take a "wait and see" approach to this.

"So, who is your main teacher, Adrien," Vallia asked, changing the subject.

Adrien pulled out his school schedule. "Some teacher called Bustier."

Both Lyon and Vallia had to fight not to let out some groans. They were obviously not fans of the teacher.

"Well, lucky for you that she is also our teacher," Lyon tells him. "And believe me when I say that you need luck when in that class."

"Huh," Adrien was confused.

There was then a hyper and loud girlish shriek. The kind that would more likely be heard at a boyband concert than inside of a dueling school. But, with a literal model now attending the school, it made sense for someone to make that noise. And since there is only one girl that could sound like a complete brat while letting out an excited shriek, the twins knew exactly who it was.

"You are about to find out in about three... two... one," Vallia counted down.

Adrien was then basically tackled by a very excited blond girl. And judging by Adrien's face, he knew who she was as well.

"Adrikins," Chloe Bourgeois, the spoiled brat of the school, shouted as she was the one that was tightly hugging Adrien. "You're actually here!"

"Oh... Uh... Hi, Chloe," Adrien was visually uncomfortable with how she was hugging him. "But can you let go, please? I told you that I don't like it when you do this to me."

"You're so silly, Adrikins," Chloe completely brushed off what he just said. "You love me and you know it."

"He said to let him go, Chloe," Lyon glared at the blond girl. "You really need to learn to listen to something other than the sound of your own voice."

Adrien almost jumped when he heard Lyon's voice. It was different than before. It was so cold and icy. It was as if he could cause a case of frostbite just from speaking to someone like that. Very different from the previous gentle and kind voice that he had been using before. It was like his entire personality had done a complete 180 twist.

"Don't make me call daddy," Chloe threatened Lyon.

But the icy teen only rolled his eyes in response. Vallia also did not look impressed by the threat at all.

"You have tried that threat lots of times on me, Chloe," Lyon says. "It did not work, then, and it will not work now."

"Your dad may be the mayor of this city, but what use can he be against those that have three other governments behind their backs," Vallia also sounded a little colder than usual.

Chloe glared at them but did not say anything else to them. She turned back to Adrien with some very fake sweet eyes.

"Come on, Adrikins," Chloe latched herself onto Adrien's arm and started trying to pull him in another direction. "I can have Sabrina show you around. I would do it, but playing tour guide is for commoners."

"Chloe, let go," Adrien finally pulled his arm from her grip. "I can find my way around myself just fine. Thanks for the offer, though."

Chloe pouted like a child that was just denied the candy bar that they wanted.

"Suit yourself, Adrikins," she said. "But make sure to stay close to me since I am the best student in this WHOLE school." 

The twins rolled their eyes, clearly thinking something completely different. They definitely were not fans of Chloe and they made it very clear.

"I'll... uh... think about it," Adrien turned her down in the nicest way possible by making it seem like he would just think about it.

That clearly had gone right over Chloe's head as her smile at Adrien did not falter at all.

"I'll see you in class, Adrikins," Chloe walked off.

Lyon and Vallia both gave Adrien looks that were very obvious questions as to why he had let Chloe hold onto him even after he told her to let go. He had obviously not liked it and had told her as such. But the look on his face when she refused to let go and brushed off what he had said about not liking it said that he had expected her to act like that.

"Chloe's family has been friends with mine for a long time," Adrien explained. "I've known her since we were in diapers."

"That doesn't give her the right to treat you like that," Vallia said. "She was treating you like a piece of meat that belonged to her."

"Chloe is not that bad," Adrien said. "She is just really friendly with me."

"Yeah, so friendly that I felt the need to get a crowbar to get her off of you," Lyon rolled his eyes. "We better get to class before the bell rings."

He walked off. Vallia and Adrien followed him, but the blond model could not help but look at  Vallia as they did.

"Is Lyon alright," he asked her. "He acted... well... cold when Chloe showed up."

"Behold, your first meeting with the Ice Prince, Adrien," Vallia tells him.

"Ice Prince," Adrien was confused.

"Lyon is a very private person," Vallia explained. "We come from a very rich family and you are aware that our card shop is the most popular in the city, maybe even the whole country."

"Let me guess, you guys always have people trying to warm up to you in order to try and get the best cards either for a discount or for free," Adrien guessed.

"You have no idea how much that it happens," Vallia sighed.

"I was aware of Lyon's nickname already, but I figured that it was more because of his style and how he does sound a little cold when he talks," Adrien says. "Plus, I also know what it feels like to be used because of some fans wanting me just for my looks or my money instead of wanting me for me."

"That is always what is hard for us," Vallia said. "We hardly ever know who to really trust because of how we have money, connections, and other things that people would want to take advantage of."

"Trust takes years to build, but moments to destroy," Adrien was sure he heard that quote from somewhere before.

Vallia nodded. "It's why Lyon is an Ice Prince. Not only to keep away those that would use us for what we have but to also make sure bullies do not mess with him. He has been burned by broken trust before and he has not been the same since."

"He was not like that with me," Adrien was confused as to why he did not get the Ice Prince when he first met Lyon.

"I am sure that Lyon also told you that he is good at reading people," Vallia said. "He probably saw that you were not like others and would not take advantage of him. It most likely helps that as a model, he would know that you would have the same type of trust issues as him."

"It's not that I have trust issues," Adrien said. "If anything, I trust too easily. That's what my cousin Felix says, anyway. But, I am just wary of strangers just coming up to me and instantly trying to be my friend."

"Well, at least you know not to trust everyone," Vallia giggled.

The two of them and Lyon all walked into the classroom together. It certainly was a big room and Adrien actually liked how it seemed like a very light and friendly environment because of the large windows that let in so much light. He also liked how big the desks were since that allowed for a lot of space to lay out cards in order to make strategies as well as to do all normal school work too.

Adrien looked at all the students that were in the classroom already as well as the ones that were coming in. There was the pink-haired girl, athletic boy, and ombre-haired girl that he had noticed before, plus the blond girl that was in all pink. But there were also nine other students in the room. And that included Chloe and her best friend Sabrina. There was also a goth girl, a tall boy in a skull shirt, a red-headed boy whose hair covered one of his eyes, a girl with rainbow hair, a boy wearing headphones on his head, a boy that looks like a nerd stereotype from a high school movie, and a blue-haired girl carrying a box that looked like it had come from a bakery.

All in all, it was a very interesting class.

"Nino," Vallia called out to the boy with headphones. "We have a new kid in class. This is Adrien. Since Aurore is in Mendeleiev's class this year, you have a free seat next to you. Do you mind?"

"Not at all, dudette," the now-named Nino smiled at Vallia.

But then Chloe latched herself onto Adrien once again. It made Vallia seriously start considering going out and getting a crowbar. Even if she could not actually get her hands off of him with it, she would be more than happy to knock Chloe out with it and get her hands off him that way. 

"My Adrikins will be sitting with me," she declared.

"But...But I sit next to you, Chloe," Sabrina looked really upset at just being thrown out of her seat like that.

Chloe ignored her. "Come on, Adrikins."

"Chloe, stop," Adrien tried pulling his arm away from her again. "I am perfectly fine with sitting next to Nino. I decided to come to school because I wanted to make friends."

"You will be much happier sitting next to me than some commoner loser," Chloe refused to let go of him again.

"Chloe, you can either let him go and let him sit where he wants, or I will beat you a lot faster than last time if we duel again," Lyon threatened her.

Chloe actually let Adrien go, but to turn to Lyon. He did not even blink at the glare that she sent his way.

"You only beat me because you got lucky," Chloe yelled at him.

"Then I also must have gotten lucky the other dozen times we dueled as well," Lyon had on a very icy smirk.

Adrien used the opportunity to slip into the spot next to Nino before Chloe had a chance to grab onto him again. He caught Sabrina's eye and she gave him a smile and a nod as a silent "thank you" for not letting Chloe just throw her out of her seat like that.

"Is it always like this," Adrien asked Nino as he saw Chloe failing to get under Lyon's skin.

"More or less," Nino shrugged. "Think of it like a welcoming to the class since no one is ever really welcomed until they witness one of Chloe's temper tantrums."

"Things will never be boring around here, will they," Adrien asked him.

"You have no idea," Nino chuckled, patting him on the back. "Just wait until  duel practice starts."

That was definitely something Adrien looked forward to.

Chapter Text

Adrien's thoughts on his first class at the duel academy were that he had really loved it. He was well aware of the fact that he was behind when it came to some of the newer parts of the game. Even before his mom had vanished, he had never been allowed to go out and duel others nor was he ever allowed to go to any dueling tournaments. Those restrictions only got more intense after his mom disappeared.

So, when his teacher, Ms.Bustier, started to teach them, he had been very excited to learn. Especially since while he knew about and was able to use fusion and ritual summoning, the newer summoning techniques were really things that he wanted to learn about. He already knew that Lyon used gate summoning while Vallia uses XYZ summoning.

He did not know much about synchro, XYZ, gate, link, or pendulum summoning. At least, he didn't know until the end of his first class.

Synchro is when two or more monsters are used to combine their levels into the level of the synchro monster that is being summoned. And one of those monsters needs to be a tuner monster for the synchro to actually be possible. XYZ is when two monsters of the same level were combined to summon the monster. Those monsters would become overlay units that would be used to activate the monster's special abilities. Pendulum summoning is when two pendulum monsters are placed on either side of the duel disk and would then be considered spell cards that would be used to summon multiple monsters at once. Pendulum monsters are monster cards with gem-like symbols on them with numbers that tell the levels of the monsters that would be allowed to summon, which would be any monster with a level that is between the numbers of the two used pendulum monsters. Link summoning is when one or more monsters are used to call a monster with the same number of links as the number of monsters used with their special abilities sometimes depending on the number of links they have. And gate summoning is when two monsters that are the same type, such as two light monsters or two warrior monsters, are used to become the "keys" to open up the "gate" for the monster. The monsters would become similar to overlay units and pendulum cards where they would remain the "keys" and could be used to call the monster over and over again unless they were destroyed.

He thought that all of them were amazing, even when he wanted to stick with his fusion summoning. He knew about that already and even when fusion, advance, and ritual summoning were the three oldest summoning techniques, they were still all very good techniques as well. 

Fusion summoning was when two or more monsters were brought together through the use of a spell, special ability, or trap in order to fuse them together into a whole new monster. Advance summoning was when one or more lower-level monsters would be sacrificed or tributed in order to summon a higher-level monster with levels five and six needing one tribute while levels seven through nine needed two and ten through twelve needed three. And ritual summoning was when a spell or trap ritual card was used in order to sacrifice monsters to equal the level of the monster that was going to be summoned. Though, ritual and advance summoned monsters were kept in the regular deck unlike how the other monsters were kept in the extra deck.

And during class, he actually did get to talk with Nino a little when he was able to. Nino turned out to be a very nice guy with a deep love of music. Not only did he duel, but he also wanted to become either a professional DJ or a film director in the future. Adrien was really starting to like Nino since he seemed like such a nice, relaxed, and fun guy. Though, he would not tell his father about it since there was no way his father would approve of someone that wanted to be a DJ one day.

Nino also gave him a low-down on the rest of their classmates since he did not know any of them other than Lyon, Vallia, and Chloe. And Adrien had to admit that there were certainly a lot of colorful characters in his class.

Starting with the girls, there were Marinette, Alya, Juleka, Alix, Rose, Mylene, and Sabrina. Marinette is a fashion design hopeful that is actually a big fan of Adrien's father. Alya wants to be a reporter and even has a blog all about her reporting on up-and-coming duelists. Juleka was a quiet and shy girl but is actually a very skilled duelist. Alix is an athletic girl that is about as tomboy as a girl can get. Rose is the class sweetheart that never wants to see the bad in anyone. Mylene wants to be an actress and was actually very skilled for her age. And Sabrina was basically just Chloe's minion that did anything that Chloe says no matter what. 

With the guys, there were Kim, Nathanial, Max, and Ivan. Kim was another of the class athletes that is known for having a really good heart while also being a bit oblivious at times. Nathaniel is an artist that loves to draw duel monsters and he dreams of being a card designer one day. Max is the class geek and he uses a lot of math to help him predict how duels will go. Ivan is a quiet guy that looks like he could be a WWE Superstar but is actually about as harmless as a guy can be.

Adrien also learned what most of the class seemed to think about Chloe, Lyon, and Vallia. In all honesty, they thought that Vallia was a very nice girl that was really quiet at times and was the only one that seemed to be able to "control" her brother. They even called her the Flower Princess since she always had flowers in her hair. That was the complete opposite of Lyon as Nino told him that most of them see Lyon as the cold and serious Ice Prince. It seemed that other than his sister, Lyon only really talks to Juleka, Kim, and Nathaniel from their class. Chloe probably was who Adrien learned was hated by everyone. Not even just in their class, but in the entire school. Nino tells Adrien that they all knew that Chloe was nothing but a bullying brat that gets away with everything she does because she is the daughter of the mayor.

Even when Adrien told Nino that Chloe was his childhood friend, he had only patted the blond and said that he would have better friends soon. Adrien just thought that Chloe needed to have a friend around and then maybe the others could see that she was not that bad. After all, she never was mean to him, so maybe that would help her get along with others.

Little did he know that if others heard him say things like that, they would have all facepalmed. Adrien was definitely a little too much of a little ball of sunshine for some people.

After a few more classes came the time that Adrien knew he would enjoy the most. Duel Practice class. Well, it was not really a class as it was more just the time every day that was used to have the students practice their dueling together. But, it was called a class anyway.

Adrien had no idea about what other decks were going to be used by the others, so it was going to be a very interesting class. He could hardly contain his excitement.

"You definitely have a great love of dueling, don't you, Adrien," Nino chuckled at his new friend's excitement.

"I can't help it," Adrien was practically vibrating in excitement. "I have not seen this much live dueling in a long time."

"You are going to love this class," Nino chuckled.

"It has been the one that I have been looking forward to all day," Adrien's grin was brighter than the sun.

All of the students made their way to the courtyard as they got their duel disks from their lockers in order for them to duel each other. From what Adrien could see, there was a lot of talking between the students that went to different classes. They all wanted to test their skills on those that were outside of their friend group.

"So, is there anyone that you want to duel first, dude," Nino asked the blond.

"I think that I should watch a duel before I take part in one," Adrien rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I may be rusty."

"Well, lucky for you that duels usually start off right away around here," Nino says.

And Nino turned out to be right. It seemed that Chloe did not take too kindly to being called out by Lyon earlier. She obviously wanted to duel him again. 

"This is seriously getting old, Chloe," Lyon crossed his arms as he looked at her. "You have never beat me before and you won't beat me now."

"You only got lucky all those times," Chloe yelled at him. "And I will be the one to beat you when your luck runs out!"

Lyon just rolled his eyes as he activated his duel disk. Chloe also activated hers as well.

 Adrien wondered what their desks would be. Usually, a duelist's duel disk would reveal the type of deck that they would use, but others simply just used a style that they liked. Since it has been a long time since he had seen any public duels since he usually just watched professional tournaments on TV, he was really curious and excited about this duel. And even when Chloe was his childhood friend, he had no idea what her deck would be.

Lyon and Chloe were the first two to step onto the duel field. They stood on opposite ends of it as they prepared to duel.

"This is really starting to get old," Vallia actually looked bored.

"Two people can only duel so many times before it starts getting predictable," Nathaniel says.

"It must be boring at this point since Alya is not even bothering to film it for her duelist blog anymore," Kim pointed out.

True to what the athlete had said, the reporter hopeful was on her phone, but she was not filming the duel about to happen at all.

"Do they really duel that often," Adrien asked them as he and Nino joined them.

"To no fault on Lyon's end since all he does is beat her and Chloe never accepts it whenever she loses," Vallia tells him. "She always accuses others of either cheating or just being lucky whenever she loses."

"Really annoying," Kim added.

Their attention then went back to the duel. The two duelists drew their five-card hands as they gained their 4000 life points. Their duel disk hologram systems activated.

"Let's duel," they both said.

"Ladies first, peasant," Chloe insulted Lyon while drawing her first card from her deck. "Let me start off your destruction with this precious crystal. Gem-Knight Garnet in attack mode."

On her field appeared a knight completely covered in bright red armor. Its fists were blazing with fire, making the garnet gem on its chest glow even brighter. Red eyes shined through the eye holes in its helmet. It got into a battle stance with its 1900 attack points.

Adrien remembered the Gem-Knights being one of the options that had been offered to him when he wanted to use a fusion deck. He actually thought that it was a good deck for Chloe since she always loved crystals and jewels. She owns more jewelry than anyone else that he had ever met. Except for Chloe's own mother, the famous Style Queen.

"Same move as always," Vallia yawned. "Does she ever get tired of trying to go full-offense and then leaving herself with weaker monsters for later?"

"At least it is always entertaining to see Lyon defeat her without even actually using his full skill-set," Juleka giggled.

Adrien was really starting to understand more about the class dynamics and where everyone has formed their own groups within the class. He would need to spend more time with them to try and see where he belonged. He just hoped that was actually possible since there is no doubt that his father will have him do a lot of photoshoots whenever he could to make up for the ones that he can not do while at school. But, it was worth it to actually be able to go to the duel academy.

"With Garnet on the field, I will let you admire its beauty while I end my turn with two facedown cards," Chloe said.

She placed down two facedowns. Facedown cards were when a duelist would place a spell or trap card onto the field in a face-down position in order to use them at a later time during the duel to use against their opponent. If the card's rules allowed it, then the trap or spell could even be used during their opponent's turn.

"At least you finally stopped talking," Lyon drew a card from his deck. "And I think that I will start my turn by activating a spell card. Gardener's Choice. This spell allows me to choose a level four or below plant-type monster from my deck and add it to my hand."

A card stuck out of his deck from its place in his duel disk's deck holder. Lyon then took the card and added it to his hand. 

"Plant cards," Adrien could admit that he was a little shocked.

Nino chuckled. "Yeah. No one would ever guess that he would use a plant deck since he is known as the Ice Prince."

"So, does that mean Vallia is the one that uses ice cards," Adrien laughed a little as he made the joke.

"Actually, my deck is called the Sky Spirit deck," Vallia tells him. "It's based on birds, harpies, and other wind monsters."

"Cool," Adrien was definitely now interested in seeing Vallia duel.

"You talk a big game, but you will see why things are called a force of nature and not a force of crystals," Lyon says. "I summon Floral-Beast Euphorbia Elephant in attack mode."

Lyon's deck was showing how it was made of the fusion of plants and animals. Onto his field appeared an elephant with a floral twist. It was similar to a real elephant, but it looked like it was made out of gray wood with a floral necklace of the reddish-pink flowers. It also had a vine-like tail with the same flower at the tip of its tail. There were also flowers around all of its ankles and well as a giant one at the end of its trunk. It also showed why the flower was also known as the Mexican Fireplant when it tooted its trunk and shot a fireblast into the air to show off its 1800 attack points.

"It seems that I was right when I declared when we first met that you are as dumb as you look," Chloe taunted him. "My Garnet will destroy that eye-sore."

"You really should learn some patience," Lyon said as he took the card from his hand that he had brought from his deck with his spell. "Because I have a plant-type monster on my field, I can summon Floral-Beast Honeysuckle Hummingbird to the field."

His newest monster flew onto the field with elegance and grace. It was a giant hummingbird with bright blue feathers and a white feathered belly. It had honeysuckle flowers all down its back as well as wrapped around its ankles and around its neck like a necklace. It floated next to the elephant monster as it gained a blue outline since it was in defense mode. It had 1500 defense points.

"You still can't beat me with those monsters," Chloe laughed tauntingly.

"I activate Euphorbia Elephant's special ability," Lyon ignored what Chloe was saying. "When another Floral-Beast is special summoned to the field, it gains its attack points for the rest of the turn."

Red energy flowed from the hummingbird to the elephant. Honeysuckle had 1000 attack points, and that now made Euphorbia 2800 attack points strong. Lyon ordered the attack on Garnet and his elephant charged at it. Garnet was unable to defend itself as it was lifted into the air by the elephant's trunk. The monster shattered into golden shards as Chloe's life points dropped to 3100.

"You got lucky," Chloe shouted.

"And you are hurting my ears," Lyon stated. "I end my turn with a facedown."

His elephant's attack points returned to normal as Chloe drew her own card. Adrien was definitely really intrigued by the duel. Lyon was certainly proving that he was really good with his cards.

"Your brother is really good," he tells Vallia.

"This is not even the best that he can do," Vallia smirked. "He could have placed Honeysuckle in attack mode and dealt extra damage after Euphorbia destroyed Garnet. But, he chose not to in order to give himself some defense as well as offense."

"Even when he's beaten her multiple times as you have told me, he does not underestimate her," Adrien realizes.

Vallia nodded. "Lyon takes every duel seriously no matter the opponent that he has."

Chloe was really looking angry as she wanted to defeat Lyon so badly. She looked at the cards in her hand and actually smirked. She obviously had a plan.

"Let's see how you handle this precious crystal," she continued to smirk. "Gem-Knight Alexandrite."

Another knight appeared on her field. This one had white armor, but with several rainbow-colored gemstones on its knees, elbows, back of hands, shoulder, and a giant gemstone on its chest. It held a sword as it had 1800 attack points.

"This strategy again," Lyon muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes. "This is seriously getting old."

"But this gem won't be sticking around for long," Chloe says. "Because by using its special ability, I can sacrifice it to summon any normal-type gem monster from my deck. And I think that Gem-Knight Crystal will do nicely."

Alexandrite shattered, but its pieces were put back together onto a different monster that Chloe called from her deck. This one was twice the size of her precious two knights as well as a lot more decorated as well. It had shared of clear crystals on its shoulders and on either side of its hips. The rest of it was a tan-colored armor right out of Camelot. It had 2450 attack points.

"At least her cards are pretty," Adrien heard their classmate Rose say.

"That's the only thing actually pretty about Chloe," their classmate Alix laughed at her insult.

"Now, attack that ridiculous bird of his," Chloe ordered her knight.

Crystal started to charge at Honeysuckle Hummingbird.

"Why go after the card in defense mode when she could actually do some damage by attacking Lyon's elephant," Adrien was confused.

"Even Chloe can come up with strategies sometimes," Nino tells him.

"And I think that I will make this duel a lot more interesting by playing my trap card, Strike Slash," Chloe played one of her facedown cards. "This not only increases my monster's attack by 700 points but also allows me to deal damage even when your monster is in defense mode."

Her knight charged at Lyon's hummingbird as it went up to 3150 attack points. The plant monster tried to fly away, but was grabbed by the knight and then slammed into the ground. The hummingbird shattered when it hit the ground. Lyon's life points dropped down to 2350 points.

"Now that was a major hit," Adrien said. "But... is Lyon even phased at all?"

Lyon really was just standing there. He did not look like he was worried at all even after losing one of his monsters and taking a big hit like that. And yet he looked as cool as a cucumber.

"He is the Ice Prince," Nino said.

Adrien did not like that Lyon was basically known as being only the Ice Prince to some of their classmates. Lyon was really nice, but he obviously saw something up with the rest of their classmates since he only talked with his sister, Juleka, Nathaniel, and Kim. He was so confused about how to deal with social things. He had been away from kids his age other than Chloe for so long that he really was clueless. He liked Lyon, but Nino had been so nice to him. His brain hurt trying to figure everything out.

Back at the duel, Chloe was looking smug since she landed such a big hit.

"That should take you down a peg or two," she laughed. "I'll end my turn with a facedown. You're move, loser."

The ending of her turn made Gem-Knight Crystal's attack points return to normal.

"Do you ever shut up," Lyon asked her as he drew his next card.

That only caused Chloe to glare at him some more.

"Just make your move already so that I can beat you," she was obviously annoyed.

"Whatever," Lyon said, basically ignoring her. "My garden has a lot more dangers in it than you think. And while I do thank my Euphorbia Elephant for its help, I now have to sacrifice it in order to call upon an even more dangerous flower."

His elephant shattered as he took another card from his hand to place on his duel disk.

"Wow," Adrien gasped when he saw it.

"I advance summon Floral-Beast Evening Primerose Bald Eagle," Lyon called.

The elephant was exchanged for another bird plant monster. This one was twice the size of his Honeysuckle Hummingbird. A giant-sized bald eagle with the primroses lining the top of its wings as well as having a giant one at the base of its neck as if it was the pendant of a necklace. Its talons were also like giant thorns. And almost every time that it flapped its wings, it seemed to scatter flower petals everywhere. It let out its eagle shriek as it glared at Chloe and Gem-Knight Crystal with its 2000 attack points.

"I always have liked that monster," Vallia smiled.

"I activate Evening Primerose's special ability," Lyon says. "When he is first summoned, I can banish another Floral-Beast monster from my graveyard to double its attack points until my next turn. I choose to banish Euphorbia Elephant."

He took the card out of his graveyard and put it in his pocket since monsters and cards taken out of play like that would not be used again unless another ability brought them back into play. When Lyon did that, what seemed to be the spirit of his Elephant went into the flower around Primerose's neck and then his eagle's attack points went up to 4000. It was definitely enough to beat Chloe's Gem-Knight.

With a wave of his arm, he commanded his monster to attack Chloe's knight. Gem-Knight Crystal tried to defend itself, but the eagle's strength was too much for it. With a difference of 1550 attack points, Evening Primerose Bald Eagle used its thorn-like talons to destroy the knight. It shattered as Chloe's life points dropped down to 1550, literally cutting her life points in half.

Lyon then ended his turn with another facedown card. He was still as cool as ice, something that Adrien really liked. He was not sure if he would ever be this calm when he would finally get a chance to duel. especially since while Lyon was currently in the lead, his 2350 life points were only 800 points ahead of Chloe's 1550.

"He is very good," Adrien says to Vallia. "But Chloe does seem to be putting up a good fight as well."

"That may seem what it looks like, but Lyon could have beat her at any point," Vallia tells him. "And this is not overconfidence in my brother, but the knowledge that I have of his deck."

"Plant cards are very powerful in the right hands," Adrien said. "There is that legendary plant duelist in Japan, Akiza, that used to be known as the Black Rose."

"Not just that," Vallia says. "Lyon's deck is very rare and very powerful. The fact that Chloe has made it this far in the duel is because Lyon has allowed her to. He could have used Hummingbird and Elephant to gate summon a powerful monster before and yet he didn't. He also has had a facedown card since his first turn that he also has not used. Chloe may think that she has an upper hand since it is now her turn, but Lyon's garden has a lot more thorns in it."

Adrien really did have a lot to learn as he looked at the duel again. And not just about the game, but about his new friends as well. He was getting more and more curious by the second.

Chloe drew her next card and she had a smirk on her face.

"You're going down, you wannabe prince," she said. "I activate the spell card Gem-Knight Fusion."

Adrien's eyes widened as he also smiled. He was finally getting to see some special summoning happen. While he had chosen a fusion deck as well, it was not like he had actually dueled anyone, yet.

"Anyone want to bet what she is going to try this time," he heard Kim ask the others. "I think she is going to try for Master Diamond again."

"I bet it will be Lady Brilliant Diamond," Nathaniel guessed.

"Maybe she will try and use both again," Juleka said.

"This really is getting old," Vallia says. "I am going to have to teach Lyon how to say 'no' to a duel."

"Or, one of us is just going to have to challenge him before Chloe gets the chance to do so," Kim stated.

"Either way, we really need to stop Chloe from continuing to annoy Lyon like this," Vallia said.

"With this card, I am going to fuse three of my precious crystals together," Chloe says, taking the remaining three cards in her hands. "I fuse Gem-Knights Sapphire, Obsidian, and Sardonyx. Bringing them together to form an even more powerful monster."

The three knights appeared over the field on Chloe's side. Sapphire was a female-looking knight with light blue armor that had a giant sapphire gem on its chest. Obsidian was a shorter knight with black armor and a giant obsidian gem on its chest. And Sardonyx was a muscled-looking knight carrying a wreaking ball-like weapon with maroon armor and a sardonyx gem on its chest. 

A swirl of blue and orange light appeared around them as the three knights all joined hands. They turned into a white light that joined in with the blue and orange light.

"Amazing," Adrien was impressed by the effects.

"I fusion summon, Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond," Chloe called her next monster.

A more elegant knight then appeared on the field. It was a large female knight with silver armor with select rainbow diamonds around the armor. It also had on a short red cape attached to its shoulders. There were also three large diamonds on its chest. It held a sword with its 3400 attack points.

"I knew it," Nathaniel shook his head.

"Good thing that I did not bet money on Master Diamond," Kim chuckled.

"And since I sent Gem-Knight Obsidian to the graveyard from my hand, that activated its special ability," Chloe says. "I can now take a normal-type Gem monster from my graveyard and special summon it to the field. So, let's have Garnet come back to help show you your place, loser."

The knight of fire soon rejoined the duel. Its fists still blazed with its 1900 attack points.

"Are you sure that Lyon is not in trouble," Adrien asked Vallia, concerned for Lyon's chances in the duel.

"While I am sure that Lyon would appreciate you being concerned for him, he can handle himself," Vallia tells Adrien.

"We will help get you up to speed on who is skilled and who is not, blondie," Kim placed one of his arms around Adrien's shoulders.

Adrien could not help but smile since Kim, even from the small amount of time that he knew him, always just seemed to be happy and energetic. His happiness was infectious.

"I also activate Brilliant Diamond's special ability," Chloe says. "Where she allows me to fusion summon using only one monster. And I think that Garnet will be the perfect crystal to help Brilliant Diamond take you down."

Brilliant Diamond moved its hands closer together and more diamonds came out of the ones on its chest. Garnet and the diamonds floated up into the air and another swirl of blue and orange light appeared.

"She thinks that she can beat me, but she refuses to grow as a duelist," Lyon thought to himself. "She is not going to get very far in the dueling world if she continues to believe that her style is perfect and never does anything to improve it." 

"I fusion summon, Gem-Knight Ruby," Chloe called her next monster.

Another red knight appeared. This one was the same size as Brilliant Diamon, but was more muscled and had deep red armor with some gold details as well. It also had a long blue cape rather than Brilliant Diamond's short red cape. It held an ax with a long handle to show off its 2500 attack points.

"I guess there's a reason why Chloe always needs Sabrina to do her math homework for her," Alix snickered.

While Chloe looked very irritated and angry over Alix's comments, she tried to focus on the duel. She was clearly planning on insulting Alix later for the pink-haired girl's comments.

"You won't be so high and mighty after I take you down," she glared at Lyon. "I play my trap Call of the Haunted. With this card, I can bring back any monster from my Graveyard. So, if you thought that you were done with Garnet, you were mistaken."

The knight once again appeared on her field. But as Adrien looked at Lyon, he was shocked that he was still as calm as he was. He knew that Evening Primerose's attack points were higher than all the monsters' on Chloe's field, but it was still three monsters against his single one. Plus, even with the two facedown cards on Lyon's field, Chloe had another facedown as well. He really wished he knew more about his classmates to know if he should actually be worried about who would win and who would lose.

Plus, even though Chloe was his friend, he was actually cheering for Lyon on the inside. The way that Lyon was able to keep his cool so easily was something Adrien knew that he could never do. He would have been freaking out if he was in Lyon's position.

"I wonder if she will ever try anything new," Lyon was seriously annoyed with Chloe thinking that she could beat him with the same strategies over and over again.

"Let's see how tough you are when I activate Gem-Knight Ruby's special ability," Chloe smirked. "By sending Garnet back to the graveyard, my Ruby gains all of its attack points. And that will be enough to take out your weak flower and then have Brilliant Diamon finish you off for good."

Ruby looked at Garnet and the knight almost seemed to be frightened as its bigger comrade took its ax and brought it down onto it. Garnet turned into red energy and was absorbed by the ax. Ruby's attack points went up to 4400. Just enough to defeat Lyon's Floral Beast. But yet even then, Lyon did not look as if he was phased in the least.

But at the same time, there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes when Chloe so easily sacrificed her Gem-Knight the way that she did. How she did not care at all instead of respecting her card. Lyon actually looked annoyed with her over that.

"A duelist needs to respect ALL of their cards," Lyon thought as he narrowed his eyes a little at Chloe. "They are not just tools to use."

"Time for your luck to run out," Chloe smirked. "Take down that bird, Gem-Knight Ruby."

Her knight charged across the field toward Lyon's monster. Adrien did not want to see, yet he also could not look away. Chloe's monster jumped into the air and brought down its ax onto Evening Primerose. There was a burst of light as the eagle shattered. No one could see anything because of the light. Chloe did look smug as Lyon went down to 1950 life points.

"She is going to be in for a surprise," Adrien heard Vallia say.

"Huh," Adrien was surprised by her.

He only got a smirk in response from the human version of a flower.

Chloe still looked smug. "I told you that you were a loser and now I get to show everyone how much of a loser you are."

"You really need to wait for the smoke to clear before you think that you have won," Lyon said.

Chloe and Adrien were both confused. At least, they were confused until the light finally died down and it was revealed what was on Lyon's field. There was a glowing trap card on his field and there were three new monsters as well. Even if they were a lot smaller than his usual Floral Beast cards.

The three of them were little kittens but actually were more like little lion cubs since they had manes made out of giant sunflower petals. Each of them also had sunflowers at the ends of their cute tails while also having sunflower petals around each of their ankles as well. They all were sitting on the field with blue outlines around them with their zero defense points.

"WHAT," Chloe obviously did not see that coming. "You were supposed to lose like the pathetic loser that you are!"

"You have never beat me before and that will not happen now," Lyon tells her. "As for what has happened, I activated my trap card. Flower Pollen activates whenever a Floral-Beast monster that is level five or higher is destroyed. And when it happens, three Floral Tokens appear on the field. And as long as they are on the field, you can not target any other monsters that I bring out."

Tokens are different types of monsters than regular monster cards. Tokens were summoned through the use of a card effect rather than them being actual monster cards that could be summoned normally. The most common tokens were the Sheep Tokens from the Scapegoat spell card. But, a lot of cards have their own token monsters that could be summoned.

"Woah," Adrien gasped. "He really is good."

"Told you," Vallia smirked.

Chloe basically snarled at him. "I WILL take you down, you utterly ridiculous loser! Brilliant Diamond, get rid of one of those ugly things."

The tall knight ran across the field but stopped just short of stepping on one of the Floral Tokens. It was actually funny to watch as the monster itself looked conflicted about actually attacking the adorable creature in front of it. But, the knight ended up just flicking it in the forehead with one of its fingers and the token monster shattered. Chloe ended her turn after that.

Lyon drew his card and then got a look in his eyes. And out of all the looks that Adrien knew from watching professional duelists on TV, it would be how that look was one where they decided to end the duel in that turn.

"I would say that this was a nice duel, but I would be lying," Lyon said. "It's time to end this."

Chloe laughed to taunt him. 

"As if you can actually win when all you have are two stupid cats while I have my beautiful crystals," she flicked her ponytail as she looked smug.

The "I'm going to win in this turn" look only got more intense in Lyon's eyes.

"Two plant-type monsters are all I need," he said. "I use my two Floral Tokens to become the keys to open the gate."

"I've never seen a gate summon before," Adrien was excited.

"Then you, blondie, are in for a treat," Kim tells him.

The two tokens on Lyon's field floated up. Both of them soon turned into golden keys while a golden gate rose up behind Lyon. The two keys went into the gate's keyholes.

"Danger blooms in my garden and gives definition to the phrase 'force of nature," Lyon calls his monster. "The Floral-Beasts never let anyone stand in their way of victory. I call a creature to aid me in this fight. I gate summon Floral-Beast Black-Eyed Susan Black Bear."

The keys inside of the gate turned and unlocked it. The gate opened and out came Lyon's monster. It was a giant black bear with emerald eyes and very sharp teeth. It had a chain made out of vines around its neck with a black-eyed susan as the pendant of the chain. Other flowers were also around its chest and back as if it was like armor. It also had thorn-like claws with its 2300 attack points.

The two keys came out of the gate before the gate vanished. The keys floated above the bear monster. It was how gate summoning worked. The keys would be like a combination of an XYZ monster's overlay units and the pendulum cards that are placed in the pendulum zone in order to summon monsters. The keys would stay on the field until they were destroyed by another card effect. And until the keys were destroyed, the monster that they were used to summon would return to the extra deck to be summoned over and over again until the keys were no longer able to call it. If the keys were destroyed before the monster, that would be when the gate monster would be sent to the graveyard.

"Gate summoning is so cool," Adrien was amazed.

"Lyon always has been a master at it for a long time," Vallia giggled.

"If you think that you can beat me with an eye-sore like that, then you are definitely the loser that I know you are," Chloe taunted Lyon.

"Never underestimate a plant, Chloe," Lyon smirks. "You never know if it has any thorns. Such as my Black-Eyed Susan Black Bear's special ability. When you have two attack-position monsters with attack points stronger than itself, then it can pass right by them and attack you directly."

"WHAT," Chloe did not like the sound of that.

"Attack her and end this, my friend," Lyon commanded his bear.

The Floral-Beast charged across the field to attack Chloe. It pushed past both of her knights, knocking them to the ground as it did. It raised one of its paws and slashed it down at Chloe. She was knocked onto her butt by the energy that was used for the attack. Her life points went down to zero, making Lyon the winner.

"Never doubt Lyon when it comes to his dueling, Adrien," Vallia tells the blond. "He is the best in our class."

Adrien was definitely looking forward to spending more time in his new school.

Chapter Text

4- Heroic Performance

"Wow," Adrien could not help but go right up to Lyon when the duel ended. "Lyon, that was so cool."

"What that was actually was a complete waste of time," Lyon says. "I am getting sick and tired of dueling Chloe just so she can try and satisfy her ego."

"I am sure Chloe is not that bad," Adrien tried to play peacemaker. "Maybe she just wants an opponent that she knows is tough."

"Adrien, you're sweet, but Chloe does not think anyone is actually a tough opponent," Vallia tells him. "She thinks that she is the best duelist in the school, maybe in all of Paris, and her losing to Lyon only makes her angry."

"Chloe is not as bad as you think," Adrien still was trying to make peace. "You just don't know her as I do."

"You're like a walking ray of sunshine, I hope you know that," Lyon tells him.

Meanwhile, Chloe was getting up after she had been knocked onto her butt by Lyon's last attack. She was glaring at Lyon, basically growling at him as well. Even as Sabrina went to help her up, she did not stop glaring at Lyon.

"You cheated," she yelled at Lyon.

He rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."

"Chloe, for the love of the gods, Lyon did not cheat," Vallia was seriously annoyed with the blond girl. "You lost. Fair and square. Get over it."

"He has to have cheated," Chloe screamed. "That is the only way he could have beaten me."

"Or maybe you are just not as skilled as you think you are," Lyon said to her in a really icy tone. "I have never met anyone with an ego as big as yours. You really need to get over yourself."

"You can't talk to me like that," Chloe yelled at him. "I'm calling Daddy!"

"You seriously need to grow up," Lyon shook his head. "You have the maturity of a five-year-old. And that is insulting to actual five-year-olds."

"Adrikins," Chloe cried out, latching onto Adrien's arm again. "Get me away from these mean people!"

"You're one to talk about someone being mean when you're the biggest bully in all of France," Vallia said.

"I'd rather swim with sharks than continue being in the same class as you," Kim suddenly appeared next to Vallia.

Adrien looked between Chloe and his new friends. He did not want to choose between them. Chloe had been his only friend for years, even though he was well aware that she could be difficult at times. But, he also really wanted to have more friends than just her, especially Lyon and Vallia since they were very helpful when he was in their shop.

"Chloe, how about you just breathe and try to relax," Adrien tries playing peacemaker. "I am sure there are many others you can defeat in a duel."

The twins and Kim had to hand it to Adrien. The words he was using ensured that he never actually said that she could defeat Lyon on top of how he never agreed with her about Lyon just being lucky or being a cheater. And yet, the words he used would also calm her down as they would feed her ego, which was really the only natural way to calm down Chloe when she throws a temper tantrum.

"You're right, Adrikins," Chloe actually let go of his arm. "I can beat plenty of the students here because I am the best duelist in the school and probably all of Paris. I will beat these losers next time. Let's go plan my victory party for when that happens, Sabrina."

"Of course, Chloe," Sabrina followed after Chloe like the slave that she is to the rich brat.

"One of these days, she is going to piss off the wrong person," Vallia sighed.

"Didn't she already do that when she pissed off Lyon," Kim chuckled. "I've lost count of the number of times he's threatened to shoot her with an arrow."

"What," Adrien gasped, shocked.

Lyon only smirked while Vallia was the one that explained.

"My dear brother also happens to be a talented archer on top of being a great duelist," she said. "It only happens to those that make him REALLY angry, but he does actually threaten to shoot people with an arrow if he gets pissed enough."

"Well, what better way to make stupid people leave you alone than to threaten to shoot them," Lyon shrugged, acting as if it was such a normal thing to say.

"I...I don't know whether to be afraid or in awe of you," Adrien admitted.

"Nothing wrong with both," Lyon smirked.

"Adrien," Nino called out to the blond as he approached him. "How about the two of us duel?"

"Us," Adrien was shocked by the offer. "I...I'm not so sure about that. I have only just started here and I am sure that when I used to duel my mom, she went easy on me."

"All the more reason to duel me," Nino smiled as he encouraged his new friend. "Not only will it be fun, but it can be like your welcome duel to the school."

"There's a welcome duel," Adrien asked, confused since he had never heard of it before.

"There isn't," Vallia tells him. "Nino was just being funny."

"Fun is my middle name," Nino proudly declared.

"I would not be surprised if it actually was," Kim chuckled.

"It would be good for you to learn how you are against someone else, Adrien," Lyon tells the blond. "Dueling is a part of classes here, so you will need as much practice as you can get before you start doing duels that would actually be graded for class."

"Well, when you put it that way," Adrien gave it another minute of thought. "Sure, Nino. I'd be glad to duel you."

"Great," Nino grinned as he almost raced to one side of a duel field that Lyon and Chloe just used.

Adrien went to the other side and activated his duel disk. Nino did the same. Looking at Nino's and remembering how cool Chloe and Lyon's duel disks looked, Adrien figured that he should probably get a new duel disk at some point. His was just the standard one while all the others looked to have their own personal ones. Nino's was a very cool golden color.

"This should also help Adrien learn how to deal with the newer summoning techniques," Lyon says as Vallia and Kim stand near him.

"Adrien did choose fusion summoning when he chose his deck," Vallia remembered. "And since he said he dueled with his mom, it goes to show that he probably does not have much experience with the newer summoning techniques."

"So, you guys think that Nino is going to beat him," Kim guessed.

"We didn't say that," Lyon said. "While Adrien is behind, we don't know how good he is. Even against a deck that he has never faced before, his own skills could balance out that inexperience."

"Plus, there are plenty of professional duelists out there that also use fusion summoning," Vallia says. "Just because something is old doesn't mean that it no longer works."

"That is why there are also those that also still use ritual and advanced summoning for their main summoning techniques," Lyon said. "As long as it works for them, then it works."

"Besides, Juleka uses ritual summoning and she is amazing with it," Vallia pointed out.

"Okay, you do have a point with that one," Kim admitted.

They watched Adrien and Nino standing on either side of the duel field. Adrien obviously looked nervous, especially since he definitely did not want to ruin a potential friendship if he did manage to defeat Nino. But, at the same time, he was going to try and duel at his best.

They soon drew their five-card hands and gained their 4000 life points. 

"Let's do this," they both said at the same time.

"You can go first, Nino," Adrien says. "That should help me prepare better."

"Sounds good, dude," Nino nodded in agreement, drawing a card from his deck. "For starters, I am going to summon Performapal Friendonkey to the field in attack mode."

Placing the card on his duel disk, his first monster appeared in a burst of colorful stars. A regular-looking donkey appeared, only it had a small top hat on its head with a pooka-doted bow tie around its neck and with a saddle on its back connected to two pink boxes with big stars on the side of them. The donkey had 1600 attack points.

"Well, that is certainly a unique monster," Adrien stated.

"I am only just getting started, dude," Nino smiled. "I activate my Friendonkey's special ability. Because I summoned him, I can special summon another Performapal from my hand. And I choose Performapal Handsamuraiger."

In another burst of stars, Nino's second monster appeared. This time, it was a samurai monster. It had long black hair held out of its eyes by two red metal hair clips. The monster was in red armor with blue accents. Tied around its neck was a white cape lined in gold with a single star in the center of it. It held a sword with 1800 attack points.

"I've never heard of Performapals before," Adrien admitted, curious about the cards.

"They're my favorite card," Nino smiled. "They are all about having a good time, just like me. What's more fun than the circus, after all."

"Nino always has loved having fun more than anything else," Kim chuckled. "But that doesn't mean that you should underestimate him, blondie."

"Trust me, I won't," Adrien called back.

"We'll see how you do against me, dude," Nino said. "I end my turn with a facedown. It's your go, dude."

Adrien drew a card from his deck. Right away he knew that Nino was not going to be someone to mess with on the duel field. Even just on his first turn, he was able to get two monsters out onto the field. He also didn't know what type of special summoning technique Nino used. Given that he had never heard of Performapals before, he was basically going into this duel completely blind. Yet, at the same time, he was not going to give up.

"I summon Elemental Hero Clayman in defense mode," Adrien called his monster to the field.

A monster made out of stone appeared in front of the blond duelist. It was definitely a very large monster, but certainly not as large as others are known to be. It looks like a giant stone statue with both circular and rectangular features. It took a knee and crossed its arms as it gained a blue outline to represent that it was in defense mode. It had 2000 defense points.

"It's good to set a good defense," Lyon says as he watches the duel. "Adrien may be playing it safe, but that is only natural since he has only recently picked up the game again."

"I wonder how this duel will go," Vallia wondered out loud. "Nino is skilled and he uses a very difficult summoning technique. But yet we do not know what Adrien can do."

"Seems that things are already interesting and the duel has only just started," Kim said.

"I place two cards facedown to end my turn," Adrien placed down his spells/traps. "It's your go, Nino."

"Try to not play it safe the entire time, dude," Nino tells him as he draws his card. "After all, a duel should never be played safe otherwise it would be very boring."

"It's still my first duel here, Nino," Adrien reminds him. "As much as I want you to not hold back, I am still learning."

"We'll see how this goes, dude," Nino says. "You don't want me to hold back, so I won't. I tribute my Friendonkey to advance summon my Performapal Drummerilla."

Nino's donkey vanished in a flash of light, quickly replaced by his third introduced Performapal. This one was a gorilla, but it was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and red boxing gloves. There was also a top hat on its head. It also had two big drums placed right where its pecs normally would. It banged against its drums as it unleashed its 1600 attack points.

"For a level five monster, that attack power is pretty weak," Adrien said to himself. "It must have a special ability that Nino wants to use."

"My Performapal Handsamuraiger will attack your Clayman," Nino ordered. "And because of Drummerilla's ability, I can give her another 600 attack points."

"Oh no," Adrien gasped.

"Time to see what a sword does to stone," Nino says.

The gorilla banged on its drums, causing light to go from it to the samurai monster. It charged at Clayman, its attack points going up to 2400 because of the boost. With a slash of its sword, Clayman shattered into pebbles and the classic yellow shards that monsters burst into when destroyed.

"You activated my trap," Adrien activated one of his facedown cards. "Hero Signal. By destroying my monster, I can summon another Elemental Hero from my deck. And I choose to call Elemental Hero Woodsman in defense mode."

A bat-signal-type beam of light came from the trap card. It shined an "H" into the air. Another hero then jumped onto the field. This one was made out of wood with half of him being regular wood while the other half looked like soft green wood. The hero also wore shorts and boots that looked to be made from bark. He took a knee as he gained a blue outline with his 2000 defense points.

"Dang, dude," Nino swore. "Guess you've got more skills than I thought."

"I may still be getting the hang of all these new dueling techniques, but that doesn't mean that I don't have my own tricks up my sleeves," Adrien says. "Despite Clayman's strong defense, I knew that it would be better to be safe than sorry. So, I prepared for if you would be able to destroy him."

"That is a good strategy," Nino said. "While it is good to take risks in a duel, making sure to have a backup plan is also a good thing."

"Thanks," Adrien smiled.

"But my turn isn't over, yet," Nino says. "Performapal Handsamuraiger also has an ability. She managed to destroy your Clayman, so I get to choose a level five or higher pendulum monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And I choose Performapal Monkeyboard."

He took the card from his deck, showing it to Adrien. It was something most duelists had to do when they would use abilities like that to add cards to their hands. He then placed a card facedown to end his turn.

"Pendulum cards," Adrien talks to himself. "So that is the type of deck he uses. It's tricky from what I learned in class today. But I can handle it."

Adrien drew his next card. Lyon, Vallia, and Kim continued to watch their duel.

"They seem pretty even right now," Kim said.

"But that can quickly change," Vallia says. "Adrien has obviously never faced off against one of the new summoning techniques. And pendulum summoning is not exactly the best type of deck to start off with when facing off against one of those techniques."

"Pendulum summoning is a very hard type of deck to fight," Lyon agreed with his sister. "Being able to call not only multiple monsters at once but also be able to bring back any pendulum monsters that were destroyed and sent to the extra deck."

"Nino always has been a really good duelist," Kim says.

"Elemental Hero Woodsman's ability activates," Adrien said as he placed the card he drew into his hand. "During my standby phase, whenever he is on the field, I can add a polymerization to my hand."

He then took the fusion card from his deck and added it to his hand.

"Fusion summoning is the strength of the Elemental Heroes," Nino said to himself. "While most of the heroes on their own are not that strong, it's the fusions that you have to worry about."

"And I am not done, yet," Adrien says. "I also activate the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. With it, I am going to bring back Elemental Hero Clayman from the graveyard. I add him to my hand."

A card was released from where they are placed in the duel disk that is used as the graveyard. Adrien added his monster back to his hand.

"Is he going to add more power to his defense," Nino thought, wondering what Adrien was doing. "Maybe he doesn't have another card to use with Clayman or Woodsman and that is why he brought them both out. Adding more defense to buy himself more time to get the cards he needs."

"I activate Polymerization," Adrien then played the spell that he got earlier.

"Well, I was wrong," Nino thought to himself.

"I use this card to fuse together the Elemental Hero Sparkman in my hand with the Clayman that I brought back from the graveyard," Adrien continues his move. "Heroes always work together and that is what my deck is all about."

Clayman appeared right over Adrien's field. It was joined by another of Adrien's heroes. This one was a very technological hero since he wore an electricity-themed outfit. It mostly wore a blue bodysuit with some lightning patterns on it. But, over the bodysuit, the hero had on golden armor that also had a lightning design to it.

The two heroes joined their hands as a swirl of blue and orange light appeared. Similar to when Chloe had also fusion summoned. The monsters soon also turned into light and joined the swirl.

"Things just got interesting," Vallia said.

"I fusion summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant," Adrien called.

A monster that had to be three times as big as Clayman slammed onto the field. It was a giant with very large boots, gauntlets, and chest armor. All of them were made from golden and white metal. The giant's helmet was also made from the same metal with a visor over his eyes. The rest of its outfit was a dark purple fabric that also had white line patterns under its armor. There was also a blue crystal on its chest that sparked with electricity. The giant had 2400 attack points.

The two dueling guys as well as their three viewers were unaware of this, but there were others that were watching the duel. Marinette and Alya from their class were also watching from the second floor of the school.

"Girl, you are looking really focused on this duel," Alya noticed about her best friend.

"Why wouldn't I be," Marinette giggled. "Adrien Agreste is dueling. Isn't he just dreamy, Alya?"

"Ooo! Does my girl have a crush," Alya teased her.

"No! Of course not! He's a model, so of course, I think he's dreamy," Marinette waved her hands in front of her as she tried to cover up her obvious crush.

"Okay, whatever you say, girl," Alya clearly did not believe her.

"It's only a shame that Lyon had to get to him first," Marinette says. "How could anyone like someone so cold?"

"Don't look at me for an answer, girl," Alya shook her head. "I'm still shocked that someone like him is related to Vallia. She is definitely the sweet twin."

"She is not called the Flower Princess for nothing," Marinette says. "Even if it confuses me how she is able to deal with her brother when he acts so cold all the time."

The others were completely oblivious to the two other girls. But, with the duel just getting interesting, they didn't care if anyone else watched. After all, it's not like the duel was private given that this was during school.

"I activate Thunder Giant's special ability," Adrien commanded. "I can choose one of your monsters with attack points less than his own and then destroy it. Your Drummerilla is entertaining, but it is going to have to be sent to the graveyard."

Thunder Giant's large hands sparked with electricity. It fired at the gorilla monster, making the monster shatter. Nino certainly was shocked by it, having not expected a move like that. 

"Looks like I underestimated you, Adrien," Nino says. "Guess I should have known better even when you are still a newbie."

"I may be new to this new style of dueling, but I have still been dueling for years," Adrien reminded him. "It's about a person's dueling style, not the system that they use to duel."

"Well then, I can't wait to see what else you can do," Nino was glad that this was not turning out to be easy for him.

"You're about to," Adrien stated. "Thunder Giant, attack Handsamuraiger with your thunderbolt attack!"

The giant's hands once again sparked with electricity. Nino's samurai monster readied its sword, but could not do anything as the hero shot its lightning at it. With a flash of lightning, the monster was shattered and Nino's life points went down to 3400.

"Despite how it is an older style, you should never underestimate fusion monsters," Lyon says.

"Too true," Vallia agreed with him.

"That's the end of my turn," Adrien says. "You can have your go now, Nino."

"Alright, dude," Nino drew his next card.

He took a look at the field and he knew that he was at a disadvantage. Adrien not only had Thunder Giant, but Woodsman was also still on the field as well. So, even if he managed to bring out a monster with enough attack points to destroy Thunder Giant, Woodsman's ability to bring another Polymerization to his hand. So, he could bring out another fusion monster since he had two other cards in his hand. There was also one more facedown card that he had as well.

His own field certainly did not have as many chances. He only had two facedown cards with three cards in his hands. But, that did not mean that he was going to give up. After all, his previous turn had set up for him up perfectly for this turn even if his monsters were destroyed.

"Here it comes," Lyon said.

Nino took two cards from his hand.

"I set the pendulum scale with scale one Monkeyboard and scale eight Performapal Skullcrobat Joker," Nino says. "Along with Monkeyboard's pendulum ability where I can add a level four or lower Performapal monster to my hand since I activated him this turn."

He placed the two cards on the farthest sides of either side of his duel disk but did not place them on monster card spaces, and then he also took another card from his deck. Two pillars of blue light appeared on either side of his field. On the left side was Monkeyboard, which was a monkey in a small suit riding a unicycle. Its head was quite large, matching the large smile on its face. But with its smile, it showed that it had piano keys for teeth. A glowing number one shined under it.

In the other pillar was a dark clown. Skullcrobat Joker was a medieval-jester-like clown with a black and dark purple outfit with classic poofy pants, large curved shoes, and even a giant hat. Its large amount of blond hair did not hide that the card also was wearing a black mask. A glowing number eight shined under it. A giant crystal pendulum pendant also appeared, swinging back and forth.

"My first time facing an actual pendulum summon," Adrien says to himself. "Let's see what happens. I hope I can handle it."

"With these two in the pendulum scale, I can now summon monsters from levels two through seven all at the same time," Nino said. "The circus is not over, yet. Swing far and wide, pendulum. Bring more fun to the field. I pendulum summon!"

A circle of light, kind of like a portal, appeared between the two beams of light. Three falling star-like things came out of the portal and onto the field. The first monster was Drummerilla coming back from the extra deck. The second monster was a golden wolf that was wearing a red vest that also had a brown back. There was a red star on its cheek, a blue bowtie, and silver chains on its front ankles. It had 1800 attack points. The third monster was a giant bear that looked like a mix between a king and a clown. It had red and gold clown-like pants while wearing a white shirt, a red vest, a golden crown, and a red cape that was lined with white and black fur. It had 2200 attack points.

"Woah," Adrien gasped. "Amazing."

"This is the power of the pendulum," Nino presented his field. "You've already met Drummerilla, so how about you also meet Performapal Gold Fang and Performapal King Bear!"

Adrien held his cards more firmly in his hand. Even with Thunder Giant's attack points on top of Woodsman defending his life points, it did not stop him from worrying. Nino was obviously a really good duelist. Between Lyon and Nino, he was now seeing the true power that their chosen summoning techniques had. It left him wondering what those like Vallia and Kim could do since he had not seen either of them duel, yet.

"I am not sure if I will be able to actually beat you, but that will not stop me from trying," Adrien says.

"I admire you for not willing to give up, dude," Nino tells him. "Not that it will make me go easy on you. First things first, Gold Fang's ability adds 200 attack points to all Performapals for this turn because he was summoned."

Drummerilla went up to 1800, Gold Fang now had 2000, and King Bear's increased to 2400. 

"King Bear is now tied with Thunder Giant," Adrien thinks to himself. "Nino could be planning to take him out like that, but he would not lose his monster because since King Bear is a pendulum monster, he would go to the extra deck when destroyed rather than going to the graveyard."

Nino must have also almost been reading his mind because he smirked.

"King Bear also has a special ability," Nino says. "As long as he is on the field, he gains 100 attack points for every Performapal that I have. And I have three, so he gains 300 more points."

Adrien's eyes widened as he saw the giant bear gain more attack points. King Bear went up to 2700 attack points. Plus, he knew that with Drummerilla and its special ability, he would not have two monsters for much longer.

"Come and get me, Nino," Adrien was not backing down.

"I was hoping that you would say that," Nino said. "First, my Drummerilla will be powering himself up to attack Elemental Hero Woodsman!"

The gorilla monster banged against its drums once again. The monster glowed as it gained 600 attack points to now have a total of 2400. It charged at Woodsman, jumped up, and then slammed its fists against the hero. The wooden hero shattered. But, there was luckily no damage since Woodsman had been in defense mode.

Adrien's hand moved down to play activate his facedown, but he stopped himself.

"Not yet," he tells himself. "I have to time it perfectly."

"It's King Bear's turn, now," Nino says. "He is going to take your Thunder Giant off the field. Attack!"

The bear charged at the huge hero. Thunder Giant's gauntlets and King Bear's paws met as the two monsters fought. It looked like the two of them were doing judo or wrestling. King Bear soon came out on top. Pushing Thunder Giant away and then clawing at its chest. The giant shattered with the 300 attack point difference being taken from Adrien's life points. Bringing him down to 3700.

"Nino's picking up some momentum," Vallia says. "Having plenty of monsters to attack with is the best skill of pendulum summoning."

"Gold Fang will now attack you..." Nino tried to command.

"You activated my trap," Adrien interrupted him, shocking Nino. "Hero Counterattack!"

"Woah," Nino gasped. "I knew that I should have expected something."

"This trap is actually pretty risky to play," Adrien says. "Hero Counterattack gives you the ability to pick one of the cards in my hand. And if that card happens to be an Elemental Hero, I can summon that card and destroy one of yours!"

"Really," Nino was shocked.

"A trap card based around luck is a very risky move," Kim said. "There is a reason why those types of cards mostly went out of style. It's because they are the hardest to master."

"I wonder if Adrien had a plan when he placed that card down," Lyon wondered.

Adrien held up the two cards in his hands. 

"Choose a card, Nino," he said.

Nino scratched his head as he had to think about it. Adrien obviously had a monster in his hand since he activated the card. If the other card was a spell or trap, then it would be a fifty-fifty shot whether he would be able to pick the right card.

"I pick the card on the right," Nino chose.

Adrien smiled as he picked up the card. "Come on out and join the fight, Elemental Hero Prisma!"

Nino gasped as he had chosen the monster in Adrien's hand. As it flew onto the field, the monster nearly blinded everyone. It was completely made out of crystal, including the wings on its back. It didn't even have any facial features because of how its head was also made out of crystal. It had 1700 attack points.

"But it has fewer attack points than Gold Fang," Kim said. "And with that card still able to attack, that card, there wasn't much use in summoning it."

"You forgot about the other effect of the trap, Kim," Vallia says.

"Gold Fang won't be destroying Prisma because my trap is removing him from the field," Adrien ordered.

His trap shattered, but the shards shot at the wolf monster. It was also destroyed.

"You really do take risks, dude," Nino smiled at him. "And since I already used the pendulum summon this turn, I can't bring Gold Fang back. So, I guess I will just have to end my turn."

The end of his turn took away Gold Fang's power boost. So, Drummerilla went down to 1600 attack points while King Bear now how 2400 since it also lost another 100 points since Gold Fang was removed from the field.

"There are some risks that are worth taking," Adrien said as he drew his next card.

Of course, Adrien did currently keep it to himself that both of the cards in his hand were monsters. So, no matter which card Nino picked, his trap would have worked. His hero deck was not known to rely on much luck other than the luck of the draw. But, there was always a need to take risks every once in a while. Especially if he knew that the risk would pay off.

"They actually seem pretty evenly matched," Kim said.

"At least until next turn," Vallia says. "Adrien may have managed to place another monster on the field, but now he's out of facedown cards with two cards in his hand. But with Nino, he still has his pendulum set up for his next turn, which will bring back Gold Fang to once again activate its special ability to bring up their attack points."

"Adrien could end up having a card that could destroy the pendulum," Lyon thinks out loud. "After all, pendulum monsters are treated as spells while in the pendulum zone. There are plenty of cards that destroy spells and traps."

"You seem to have a lot of faith in Adrien," Vallia noticed about her brother.

"It's logic, not faith," Lyon playfully rolled his eyes. "Elemental Heroes are a more simple deck compared to those like Nino's Performapals or even my Floral Beasts. So, it stands to reason that Adrien's deck would have simple and effective cards such as Mystical Space Typhoon, Heavy Storm, or any other older card that's purpose is about destroying spells and traps."

They continued to watch the duel. Adrien looked to be sweating as he looked at the cards he had.

"I activate Pot of Greed," he ended up deciding. "With it, I can draw two more cards from my deck."

Adrien took two more cards from his deck.

"Smart move," Nino thinks to himself. "Getting more cards in his hand is smart at such a late stage in the duel."

"I activate another spell," Adrien says. "Fusion Recovery. This spell allows me to bring back both a fusion material monster as well as Polymerization from my graveyard. I choose to bring back Sparkman."

He took the two cards from his graveyard and added them to his hand. Nino knew that he was planning another fusion monster, but he had no clue which it would be. After all, he had no idea which fusion had Elemental Hero Prisma included. He had not faced off against many fusion decks in the past. Chloe was the only one he was aware of using fusion cards before he met Adrien.

"I wonder what he'll do next," Nino said to himself.

"Elemental Hero Prisma has an ability," Adrien answered Nino's question without even trying. "I can reveal a fusion monster from my extra deck in order to change the identity of Prisma into one of the fusion materials of that monster by sending it to the graveyard."

"What," Nino gasped.

Adrien took one of the cards from his extra deck and showed it to Nino.

"This is Elemental Hero Plasma Vice, which has Elemental Hero Bladedge as one of its fusion materials," Adrien says. "So, I send Bladedge to the graveyard to power up Prisma."

He sent a card from the deck to the graveyard. The spirit of that monster formed over Prisma. It was a large warrior monster covered completely in gold armor. It was a bulky monster that obviously was strong because of how large the armor was. Its name also made sense because of the two large blades that came out of its arms. Prisma's attack remained at 1700 even though Bladedge had 2600 points.

"So that's his plan," Lyon says to himself. "Clever."

"I think it's time to meet one of my best monsters," Adrien calls out. "I play Polymerization once again to fusion summon. I bring together the Sparkman in my hand with Prisma-Bladedge! Together, they will form a hero to steal the spotlight from your performers."

Sparkman appeared above the field, soon joined by Prisma-Bladedge. The swirl of orange and blue returned as both of the hero monsters turned into white light to join the spiral. A new monster joined the field. It was the same giant size as Thunder Giant. Maybe even a little bit larger. It was very clear that it was a combination of Bladedge and Sparkman given that its large arms, legs/feet, and torso were covered by heavy golden armor just like Bladedge. But, it could be seen wearing a blue outfit with lightning patterns just like Sparkman. Also being like Bladedge, Plasma Vice had 2600 attack points.

"Plasma Vice," Nino gasped.

"You got that right," Adrien smiled. "Plasma Vice is throwing himself a 'Welcome To The Duel' party by using his special ability. I can discard a card from my hand in order to destroy one of your monsters that is in attack position."

"What," Nino shouted, shocked.

Plasma Vice's hands sparked with green lightning. It shot it at King Bear. The royal bear shattered as it was destroyed. 

"He's now coming for Drummerilla for an attack," Adrien commanded.

"I activate Drummerilla's special ability," Nino says. "I may not be able to save him from destruction, but I can at least limit the amount of damage that I take."

The gorilla monster banged its drums, going up to 2200 attack points. But as Nino had already pointed out, it was not enough to save him. Plasma Vice once again shot its green lightning. Drummerilla was blasted by it and shattered. Nino's life points went down to 3000.

"I place one card facedown and end my turn," Adrien said.

"I can still turn this around," Nino says as he drew his card.

"I am not going to be cocky and claim that you won't be able to," Adrien said. "After all, your pendulum summoning is no joke."

"It's nice of you to say, dude," Nino smiled at him. "Hopefully you will still be nice to me after I beat you."

"We'll see about that," Adrien smirked.

"We can still try and have fun while we're at it," Nino smiled. "I still have Monkeyboard and Skullcrobat Joker in the pendulum zone. So, time for a return of my favorite circus performers. Pendulum summon!"

The blue portal once again opened up over Nino's field. But this time, four comets of light came shooting out of it onto his field. Meaning that he had summoned four monsters instead of his previous three. Drummerilla, Gold Fang, and King Bear all returned to the field. But his fourth monster was a wolf just like Gold Fang. Only this wolf was a normal silver and white color with giant claws on its front paws. A large blue feather boa thing was around its neck along with a red and orange bow tie. There was also a star on its cheek.

"Talk about an encore performance," Adrien commented.

"You've met the others, but allow me to introduce you to Performapal Silver Claw," Nino says. 

"I've seen Nino use that card before," Kim said. "Silver Claw gives an extra 200 attack points to all Performapals when it attacks."

"That would be a useful ability if Adrien had other monsters on the field," Vallia pointed out. "But he doesn't. If he did, Silver Claw could have been used to attack it and then add more attack points to his other monsters. But he can't."

"But with King Bear once again getting powered up by itself and Gold Fang, Silver Claw's ability can still be activated by attacking Adrien directly," Lyon added. "If he doesn't stop this attack or summon another monster, he'll be finished this turn."

The three of them continue to watch the duel with curiosity.

"I am sure you know what happens next," Nino says. "Gold Fang adds 200 attack points to all my monsters for this turn on top of King Bear gaining 100 for every Performapal on my field."

"Yeah, I remember," Adrien mumbled.

Gold Fang and Silver claw both went up to 2000 attack points. Drummerilla went up to 1800. And with all of the abilities, King Bear went up to 2800 attack points. Adrien clenched his jaw as he got more stressed about the results of the duel. He looked at the card he had placed facedown on the field. He hoped that it would be enough.

"King Bear, let's start the end phase of this duel," Nino ordered.

The royal bear charged at Plasma Vice.

"I activate a trap," Adrian says. "Hero Barrier. This stops your attack because I have an Elemental Hero on my field."

Nino gasped as a shield appeared in front of Plasma Vice. It blocked King Bear, forcing it to go back to Nino's field.

"None of my other monsters can attack Plasma Vice," Nino said. "So, I guess that my turn is over."

Because he ended his turn, it made his cards lose the points they gained from Gold Fang. So, all of them went down 200 attack points.

"I'm lucky that I had that trap when I did," Adrien says. "Pot of Greed really helped me."

"We'll see if you can turn this around, dude," Nino tells him.

"I hope I can," Adrien drew his next card.

"He saved himself for one more turn," Nino thought to himself. "But he is down to the last card in his hand on top of not having any facedown cards anymore. Even if he uses Plasma Vice's ability to destroy King Bear again, that would leave him without any cards in his hand. If I can hold out for this last turn, I can win."

Lyon made sure to watch Adrien's reaction to the card he just drew. He saw Adrien form a small smile on his face. He knew that this duel was over.

"I activate a spell," Adrien played the card he drew. "Card of Sanctity. With it, we both draw until we have six cards in our hands."

"That was definitely a lucky draw," Nino said as he pulled the cards into his hand.

"I believe in my deck," Adrien says as he also drew his cards. "I watch dueling on TV a lot, so I like watching the reruns of Yugi Muto's duels. Him talking about the heart of the cards was one of the main things that inspired me to duel."

"Okay, is anyone else seeing this guy as a human ray of sunshine," Kim chuckled.

"He's like a puppy given a human form," Vallia giggled.

"Now, let me show you how much more my deck has in store for you, Nino," Adrien declares. "First, I activate the field spell, Skyscraper!"

"That card," Nino gasped.

The Skyscraper card was very famous. It was one of the main cards in the deck of famous duelist Jaden Yuki, who also used Elemental Heroes.

Around the duel field, buildings started to shoot into the sky. The area around the duel field soon turned into a dark city. Field spells always change the field into another environment that fits into the deck of the duelist.

"Since you obviously know what this field spell does, allow me to give you another blast from the past," Adrien says. "I activate the Polymerization in my hand to also bring out this hero. Avian and Burstinatrix join together to bring out Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!"

"Uh oh," Nino swore.

Two other heroes appeared over Adrien's field. The first was a male hero that looked like a hybrid of a bird and a man. He had a mostly green feather-covered body with light green for their color other than dark green feathers on his forearms while his chest was silver. He also had dark red bird feet as well as a dark red bird claw over his left hand. He also had large bird wings of white feathers with the top of the wings being green. Next to him was a female hero that definitely was hot, literally since she was a fire-themed hero. She looked a lot more simple all that she wore was a crimson-red bodysuit. She also had a golden crown-like thing on her head, which probably was why her dark hair, with silver ends, was spread out like a fan.

Both of the heroes joined hands as the fusion spiral returned for a third time. The heroes went in and a different one came out. This time it was a dragonic man with black and dark green skin along with dragon-like clawed feet. One arm was the same dark green and black colors with claws on its hand while the other arm was literally a red and black dragon's neck and head. It also had a single white wing on its back as well as a dragon's tail. It had 2100 attack points.

"Oh crud," Nino swore again.

"Flame Wingman, attack King Bear," Adrien commanded. "And because of Skyscraper's effect, his attack goes up to 3100 because his attack is lower than your King Bear's."

Flame Wingman flew up to the top of one of the buildings of the Skyscraper field. It soon flew down as it went up to 3100 attack points. With a slash of its claws, King Bear was shattered, bringing Nino's life points down to 2500. But the hero monster was not done yet. It faced its dragon arm right at Nino.

"What's going on," Kim was confused.

"Flame Wingman's special ability activates when it destroys a monster," Lyon explained. "Now, it can take that monster's original attack points and deal it as direct damage."

"Woah," Kim gasped.

Fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, making Nino hold his arms up to protect himself even when he knew the flames were not real. As the fire engulfed him, he lost 2200 life points. Meaning that he only had 300 left.

"I believe you know what comes next," Adrien smirked. "Plasma Vice is attacking Drummerilla. And even with its special ability, I will still nail you for 400 points of damage."

Nino didn't even try to use Drummerilla's ability. All he did was smile as he saw the other monster attack his creature.

"Congratulations, dude," he said as the green lighting destroyed the gorilla.

Nino's life points dropped to zero, ending the duel.

Chapter Text

An old man groaned on the ground. His groceries were scattered in front of him as he struggled to reach for his cane. He would have continued to struggle had someone not quickly approached the moment they saw the elderly man.

"Let me help you, sir," a kind and young male voice tells him.

He helped the old man up and walked him to a nearby street bench. He sat him down before going back for his cane. After bringing that back to the old man, he collected his fallen groceries. Luckily, the old man was using a reusable bag, so there was no difficulty in finding something to hold the groceries.

"Thank you," the old man said. "You are very kind."

"It's no big deal," the teenage boy smiled kindly at the elderly man. "Just doing what's right. Do you need help getting back to your house?"

The old man shook his head. "No need for that, young man. It was just a little clumsiness on my part. I can make it back on my own."

"Alright, but please be more careful," the kind boy said. 

"I will," the old man nodded.

With that, the teenage boy walked away. As soon as he was outside of hearing and sight range, a little floating turtle creature came out of hiding.

"He seems like a good choice, Master," Wayzz says. "He's got a kind and selfless heart. I can sense it."

"He was not the first to notice me, but the first to help," the old man agreed with the turtle creature. "He's a good fit for the ladybug."

"Now, we need a black cat," Wayzz said.

"I am sure we will find one soon since holders typically are close to each other even before becoming holders," the old man said.

*****Back Inside The School*****

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. He did not think that he would be able to handle himself in his first duel, yet he had won.

The field soon returned to normal as all the monsters vanished as well as the Skyscraper field. The first thing that Adrien did, after he had fully calmed himself, was go over to Nino. Much to his relief, Nino was still smiling at him.

"That was a great duel, dude," Nino said, beaming.

"Thanks, Nino," Adrien smiled back at him. "I didn't think that I would be able to beat you, but it was all in the luck of the draw."

"Never discount random luck, dude," Nino pats his shoulder. "Sometimes, all it takes to win a duel is luck."

"I have certainly learned about decks that rely almost entirely on luck," Lyon says. "After all, there are plenty of cards where flipping a coin is involved."

"It's true," Vallia agreed with her brother. "Though, dueling should be based on skill, not luck. Good luck only goes so far."

"You two would know given that your family owns a card shop," Kim chuckled.

"It would not surprise me if you two got accused of taking advantage of that," Adrien could not help but admit. "After all, people accuse me of taking advantage of being a model and the son of a designer whenever they see me with some of the latest high-end fashion choices."

"They can not blame you when it's probably your father that makes you wear his designs," Vallia says.

"It's true," Adrien says. "It's not even like I wear anything but his designs, anyway."

"Lesson number one of human interactions, Adrien," Lyon tells him. "People are stupid."

Kim shivered a little. "Even when casual, he still sounds like the Ice Prince."

"I was the Ice Prince long before coming to this country," Lyon says.

"And yet you use plant cards," Adrien chuckled.

"Plants are always underestimated, and that's what I like about them," Lyon says. "But, people need to remember that even the prettiest rose still has thorns."

"That is how most people describe me when I duel," Vallia giggled. "I am known as the Flower Princess. Until I start dueling and then my thorns come out."

"You two can be pretty scary when you act like that," Adrien commented.

"We'll take that as a compliment," Lyon smirked.

His smirk made several of them shiver. Adrien was quickly figuring out that Lyon enjoyed having that kind of aura about him.

"So, anyone else want to duel," Nino asked the group.

"Duel practice is almost over," Vallia says. "We can watch the end of some other duels, though."

"That sounds great," Adrien was excited at the thought of that.

The group went to watch some of the other duels that were finishing before the dueling period would be over for the day. Adrien was especially excited since he wanted to see more of the decks that were used by the other students. He was already learning a lot at Dupont and wanted to learn more through first-hand experience.

From the duels they managed to see finish, there was a wide variety of duelists at the school. Many had their own style and clearly enjoyed using specific themes and archetypes for their decks. It was exciting to see. Nino, Kim, Lyon, and Vallia were also great helpers to identify who were the ones dueling so that he knew their names.

There was one boy who he was told was named Jean who used a magician-themed deck, but more for entertainment than anything else since his top monster looked to be "Performage  Trapeze Magician." There was also a girl whose name was Aurore. Her deck was weather-themed as she used "Cloudian" cards. It certainly went with her brand given that his new friends told him she carried an umbrella everywhere she went and almost all her dresses had some type of weather-related pattern on them. There was a trio of friends, who he was told were named Kang, Lian, and Jiao, using similar decks. They all used warrior-themed decks but from different archetypes. Jiao used X-Saber, Lian used Brotherhood of the Fire Fist, and Kang used Battlin' Boxer. (AN: I know they are from the Shanghai special, but I wanted more named characters at Dupont without making too many original characters.) Another boy, who was dressed in a scarily similar outfit to the one Adrien usually wears when modeling and named Wayhem, was using a deck of Gagaga cards.

Adrien also enjoyed seeing some of his new classmates finishing up their duels. So, he got to see a few of their decks as well. Max used a deck of Mecha Phantom Beast cards. Kim told him that since Max liked to tinker around with machines, he often enjoyed using machine decks. Mylene's deck of choice was a cute one since she used the Aquaactress archetype. Adrien recognized her last name as the same name as the famous mime actor, so it made sense for her to have actor-themed cards when she was related to an actor. 

But the last duel he saw made him flinch. Sabrina, with her police-themed deck, badly lost against Chloe. Though, by the look on Sabrina's face, it seemed she was used to it. Judging by the looks on the faces of others who saw the duel, they were annoyed. Especially when Chloe immediately started bragging about being the best duelist in the school, despite how she just lost to Lyon not too long ago.

After duel practice ended for the day, the students all started heading home. Duel practice was typically held at the end of the school day because some duels could last for longer periods than a class had. So, having it at the end of the day means that any duels that run long don't take away time from any regular classes.

"So, you're simply heading home, Adrien," Lyon asked the blond as they walked down the front steps.

Adrien nodded. "Father only agreed to let me attend a dueling school if I agreed to still have tutors for my extracurriculars. Such as my Chinese lessons, piano lessons, and fencing practice."

"That's a lot of stuff, dude," Nino looked a little concerned.

"I've been doing all of that for years, so it's no big deal," Adrien shrugged. "I'm just happy to finally be attending school like a normal kid!"

"Normal kids don't get excited about attending school," Kim couldn't help but remark.

"He's a teen model, so I think it's clear he's not exactly 'normal," Vallia stated.

"He's got you there, dude," Nino chuckled.

As they walked down the stairs, Adrien sighed as he saw that Natalie was already there. She was standing next to the car that was usually used to transport him around. Without a doubt, his bodyguard that he fondly nicknamed "The Gorilla" was in the driver's seat and ready to drive them back to Agreste Mansion.

"Guess I have to do," he sighed again.

"We'll see you at school tomorrow, Adrien," Vallia patted him on the back.

Walking down the stairs, the group split up to go their separate ways. But as he was close to the waiting car, Adrien stopped as he heard a small groan. Looking over, he saw an old man on the ground with his cane a few feet in front of him. He looked like he couldn't move enough to reach it.

"Adrien, we can't waste any time," Natalie tells the blond. "Your Chinese tutor is going to arrive at the mansion soon."

"Just give me a minute, Natalie," Adrien says.

Without waiting for any type of response, Adrien quickly went over to the old man. He grabbed his cane before helping him up. He gave him his cane and then opened up his school bag.

"Thank you, young man," the old man thanked him.

"One more thing, sir," Adrien says.

Adrien proved he was more than just a pretty face by taking out an extra bag strap he had stored in his school bag. With some quick and easy changes, he attached one end of the extra strap to the cane and the other was looped around the old man's wrist.

"Thank you, again, young man," the old man tells Adrien.

Adrien smiled at him. "This way, you can easily bring your cane back to you if this happens again."

"Very kind of you," the old man says.

"It's no big deal," Adrien said. "I didn't have any use for the extra strap, anyway. So, it's good that it went to a good cause."

"Adrien," Natalie's demanding voice called over. "You really need to get going."

Adrien sighed. "Get home safely, sir."

Adrien ran over to the car, getting in quickly while Natalie climbed into the passenger's seat. As the car left, the old man looked down at his shirt's pocket, where Wayzz currently was poking his little head out.

"He also would make a good holder, Master," Wayzz said.

"It seems that today's youths are a lot better than most people would think," the old man says.

"He got creative with that extra bag strap he had," Wayzz noticed. "That could mean he would also make a good match with the ladybug."

"That is true, Wayzz, but I don't think it would be the right one for him," the old man said.

"Which would you think would be good for him, then, Master," Wayzz asked.

"The black cat," the old man tells his little friend. "The look in his eyes tells me that he has a hidden side he wants to show the world, but can't. A wild side. What better way for him to show that side than as a black cat?"

"He seems very kind and gentle, Master," Wayzz says. "Are you sure he would be able to handle Plagg?"

"If Plagg can be handled by a knight, a ninja, and an ancient Mayan warrior, a teenager should do just fine," the old man said.

"I fail to see the logic in what you just said, Master," Wayzz stated.

The old man simply walked away, ignoring what the kwami had said.

*****

Meanwhile, Kim had come across one of the other boys in their class on his way home. It was Ivan. He looked nervous about something.

"I'm going to tell her... I can't tell her... I can do this... I can't do this... I have to sound like a crazy person right now," Ivan was talking to himself.

"Yes. Yes, you do," Kim said.

Ivan, despite easily being the biggest kid in their class, must have jumped five feet in the air. He had not noticed Kim approaching him, at all.

"Kim," Ivan glared at the athlete. "Don't sneak up on me!"

"I wasn't sneaking," Kim held his hands up in protest. "You were too lost in your own world to notice me, that's all."

"Whatever," Ivan scoffed.

"So, trying to talk yourself into asking out Mylene," Kim gained a giddy look on his face.

"How do you know about that," Ivan demanded to know.

"Dude, no offense, but most of the class is aware of your crush," Kim tells him. "You don't hide it very well given how flustered you get whenever she's around. And this is coming from me! I know I'm dense, so if I'm the one saying this, then you know you're being obvious."

"You're not helping," Ivan glared at him again.

"Look, man," Kim patted him on the shoulder. "You just need to take a chance. Jump right in, take a leap of faith. Mylene's a sweetheart. I'm sure nothing bad will happen."

"Easy for you to say," Ivan says. "You're easily one of the best-looking guys in class. Girls all over school are probably hoping you would ask them out."

Kim shrugged. "I'm not interested in anyone, right now. So, those girls need to get a life and look at someone else. But, this isn't about me. You're a great guy, Ivan. Mylene would be lucky to have you ask her out."

"But what if she doesn't like me like that," Ivan was still extremely nervous.

"That is possible, I'm not going to lie," Kim said. "I'm not trying to be mean, but it's the truth. But, even if that's the case, you still deserve to at least find out if it's true or not. Getting anxious and talking yourself out of even trying is only going to make you feel even worse."

"Since when are you even a relationship expert," Ivan couldn't help but ask. "No offense, Kim, but you're not exactly known for your brain power."

Kim simply rolled his eyes. He knew that he easily fit into the "dumb jock" stereotype with a little but of "class clown" mixed in as well. But, he cared about his friends and always wanted to see them happy. If it meant channeling some of the romantic junk he had seen on so many of the romcom movies his mom likes to watch, then so be it.

"Again, this isn't about me," Kim stated. "You've got to man up and ask that girl out, Ivan! If you focus too much on the 'what ifs,' then you will never get anywhere. Take it from someone who has taken too many dares to count in his entire life. If you let fear control you, then you'll never get anywhere."

Ivan stood taller after he heard Kim's words. In his own Kim-way, he did give some good advice. Even though he was now sure that some pigs were flying somewhere, since he just admitted that Kim, of all people, gave him good advice.

"I can do this," Ivan declared. "I'm going to ask out Mylene!"

"That's it, man," Kim patted him on the shoulder again. "Go out there and get your girl!"

"I can do this," Ivan was telling himself. "I can do this! I can't do this! I can do this! I CAN'T do this!"

With that last sentence, he ran away and went in the opposite direction of where they knew Mylene would be at this time.

"Ivan," Kim tried to call after him.

He ran after his friend, but Ivan was surprisingly fast for a boy his size. Eventually, because of all the people around since it was the end of the school day, Kim lost him. He would have cursed if not for how he was sure his mother would somehow find out and make him eat soap. But, Kim didn't give up and continued to search around for his friend.

*****

A large window opened up, illuminating a blank and dark room. The window had a large butterfly design that was uncovered when the metal hatch opened up to let the light in. The only thing in the room was a masked man and a whole bunch of white butterflies that also resembled moths a little.

"Ah! Today's youths are so soft-hearted," the man said. "This heart would be much better being stone cold!"

One of the white butterflies flew down and landed in the man's outstretched hand. He covered it with his other hand, letting purple and black energy consume the insect. Uncovering the bug, it revealed that it was now a purple color so dark that it was almost black while also having lighter purple veins of energy on it as well. The bug then started flying toward the window.

"Fly away, little akuma, and evilize him," the man ordered. 

The powered butterfly flew out the window.

*****

With Ivan, he had completely psyched himself out. He didn't think a girl as gentle, cute, innocent, and kind as Mylene would go for someone as big, scary, and strong as him. They were too different. They'd never work.

He didn't notice the purple butterfly flying toward him. Nor did he notice when it went into his pocket and fused with his deck, turning it black. A purple butterfly outline made of light appeared over Ivan's eyes.

"Stoneheart, I am Hawkmoth," a voice said in Ivan's head.

"What... how... I don't..." Ivan didn't know what to say.

"You want love more than anything, but don't see yourself worthy of the one you love," Hawkmoth's voice continued. "I can give you the power to be worthy of anyone you want. And also give you the power to make sure they never leave you!"

"You... can," Ivan was shellshocked.

"Yes," Hawkmoth stated. "Let's show the love of your life that having a heart of stone isn't such a bad thing."

"Yes, Hawkmoth," Ivan agreed.

Ivan stood tall again. But, this time, it was followed by a cloud of black and purple energy flowing over the teenager. And it didn't stop there. The cloud continued to get bigger, showing that whatever it was under it was going to be very big.

BOOM!