From Singer to Student

Luka stood at the steps of the main building of the Academy, bags in hand. Her parents had already left, saying their final goodbyes utnil the next holiday. "Well...here we are!" She beamed as she looked at the main building and all the students walking around. She wore her hair down, draped over her crisp new blazer of the Slifer dorm. She hadn't tested very well...but that was to be expected. After her major loss on tv...she hadn't really planned to do well here. But she also didn't care. This was her chance to be normal for a while. She only hoped no one would recognize her.

She made her way to the courtyard and sat down on a bench. Today there was no school, so she decided to kick back and relax. Her eyes darted to all the students coming and going: some in red blazers, some in yellow, and others in blue. She spotted a pair of duelists dueling each other...one seemed to be running machines, while the other was running dinos. She couldn't really tell who was winning, but it looked intense. She only hoped that someday she could duel that intensely for all her fans....if they ever took her back.

Chuku entered the school and went to the assembly room. Right now it was empty. The students were not having class today. But the principal didn't want their day to be totally free. So he had hired Chuku to come in and give a little inspirational speech. He only hoped that he could find what he was looking for afterwards. He suddenly heard the principal on the loudspeakers tell the students to go to the assembly room. Soon he would have to give his presentation.

Luka didn't have to wait long before some action came her way. Or rather, the announcement over the intercom met her ears. It was the principal....and he was calling all the students to an assembly in the assembly center.

"Already? Geez...that's odd." She shrugged and jumped to her feet, pulling her bag over her shoulder. She hoped it was like a pep rally...something with cheers and games and music...that would be awesome!

She shuffled in with the other students, finding a row in the middle section with all the other Slifer students. She felt out of place, but she didn't care. She spotted a man standing on the stage, waiting patiently for the students to arrive. She silently watched him, wondering if he was the principal.

*Looks like we got quite a crowd. Well it is duel academy after all.* He was looking around the room when he noticed a Slifer Red girl that looked oddly familiar. It took him a few seconds to recognize her, but then it it him. *Is that Luka Megurine? The singer that got challenged to a duel and lost? Well this should be interesting.* After all the students entered, started up his speech.

"Hello, as you've probably already suspected, I'm a guest speaker here today. My name is Chuku Hanareni, and I'm a pro duelist. I know this is your day off, so I will make this as quick as possible." He then proceed to talk about dueling strategies, including when to play certain cards, reading your opponents moves a bit, and some other tips.

Well, so much for the hope of this being a pep rally. Luka tried not to look bored as the guest speaker called Chuku dragged on about boring tactics and tips. This was supposed to be a day off, right? It felt more like she was in class. She hoped all her teachers and classes were not like this.

She let out a yawn and stretched her arms forward a little, trying to get rid of the weariness that was trying to take hold of her. She looked at the clock on the wall. It'd been 20 minutes already. Was even close to being done?

Chuku noted that the students were bored, including Luna. That was fine by him; he didn't come here to make a boring speach anyway. Besides, this next part out to wake at least one of them up.

"Well, that's all I have to say about that subject. One last thing before I dismiss you. I've decided that I'm going to pick one of you to do a private duel with me. I've already reserved one of the duel arenas that are located inside the school, and no one will watch it. I would invite people to watch it, but I'm a little, picky when it comes to duels outside of the pro leagues. Now then, I choose, you! Chuku pointed at Luna, although he made sure to make it look like that he choose her at random. "Meet me at dueling arena 3 as soon as you can. It's the closest one to here; just follow the hallway past the door I'm about to go through. You can't miss it." Chuku turned back to the rest of the students. "The rest of you can go back to dueling, or whatever it is you do on your days off." Chuku went through the door and headed to the duel arena.

The students clapped, some booed, obviously hoping for their chance to prove themselves. Luka yelped, as if she'd just been smacked, as he pointed directly at her. "Uh.....uh.....ehe.....a-alright." She looked confused and nervous as she made her way to the designated arena. Her last duel had resulted in public shame and denouncement from the stage. Here, she was at school...and immediately she was being called on to test her skills. One couldn't blame her for being nervous.

"H-hello?" She called as she opened the door to the private arena. Could he have gotten here before her? It was possible....he didn't have to fight a crowd of students from the stage probably. "Hello? Mr. Hanareni?"

Chuku was waiting for her on the duel arena. "Take your place at the other end, Ms. Megurine, and we can begin." Chuku raised his disk.

"Y-yes sir!" Luka ran to the other side of the arena, nearly tripping on her own feet. She nervously walked into the dueling circle and pulled her deck out of her deck box. "Umm....I don't know why you selected me out of all those students...but i'm not exactly the best in my league." She set the deck inside her new duel disk and activated it, looking up at Chuku. "I'm ready."

"You had a different look the others had about them. Duel start!"

(Life Points 8000)

"I'll start off things with my allure of darkness, drawing two cards, and removing gorz in my hand. I set one monster and 4 spells and traps, and I end my turn."

*I wander if she's as passive about dueling as the rumors said she is.*

She looked puzzled, but nevertheless, she didn't ask any further. Time to focus on this duel. Maybe if she impressed him....just maybe....he might want her for some kind of cool project! That would be awesome! Best to try to impress him then!

"I draw....and i'll activate Bait Doll right off the bat!" She watched as a small makeshift doll appeared and hovered before her. "I choose...that one! This nifty little baby forces you to activate a face down spell or trap of my choice! If the timing is wrong...it gets destroyed!" She pointed at the trap she wanted gone and the doll rested up on it then disappeared, forcing the card to flip. It was Dark Illusion...a counter trap....and Luka was pleased to see that it was in the wrong timing, so nothing happened. "On top of that, my card goes back to my deck instead of the grave, so i can reuse it later on!"

She smiled as she shuffled it back into her deck, then looked back at her hand. This could be of some use to her if it worked. At the very least, her life points should be safe. "I'll set two cards face down, and summon little Kuribon to my defense!" A little furball with a tail appeared and bounced before her making a small "kuri!" sound. It was so cute and cuddly that Luka couldn't understand why anyone would want to attack it. But she knew people would, especially if they knew her effect. Which was what she was going to exploit if allowed!

"You're turn, sir!"

"I draw." Chuku looked at the Kuribon. *Is she assuming I don't know about that thing's effect? It's probably a trap. Even so, I'll take the bait eventually.* "I set one monster and end my turn."

Luka drew her next card. Great! one piece of the puzzle already in her hand! "I'll set one monster face down. That's all I can do for now." The horizontal rectangle appeared next to Kuribon and she signaled the end of her turn. She silently wondered what his face downs were, and she smiled at him. "You're move."

"My turn, I draw." "First I flip up Vulgivagus Animus, the Lost Raven, and with it's flip effect I remove from play your facedown monster. Then it returns to my hand, and next turn I can special summon it from my hand." [color=red] the hologram of the monster disappeared. "Next I flip up my facedown, Mystic tomato, and have it attack Kuribon. If you choose to activate your monsters effect, I gain life equal to my monsters attack points, although you won't take any damage this turn."

"I activate bad reaction to simochi! Whenever you would gain life, you lose that much life instead!" (Chuku, 6600)

"I'll end my turn with that." *This has "long duel" written all over it.*

Luka drew her next card. He'd fallen for her trap...but that was probably the last time she'd get him to fall for Kuribon's anti effect again. She summoned Kuribon once more, just to keep him from attacking if nothing else.

The next ten turns were filled with nothing happening. Her anti-Kuribon tactic was keeping her alive, but it also wasn't taking him down anymore. For a while, they just sat there, drawing cards and ending turns. It wasn't exactly productive, and she could sense he was getting very annoyed with her. But she wasn't much of a competitive duelist....what could anyone expect from her and a deck of cute monsters?

Finally, she placed something on the field, a face down card in her backrow. "With that, I'll end my turn."

She had a feeling he wouldn't stand for this much longer...and she prayed her deck would save her from any kind of severe beating.

"It's my move." *Perfect.* "I flip summon another Vulgivagus, then I summon Peius Gelamen, Cursed Flocking Raven from my hand. That summons another one from my deck. I increase the level of one of them by one with another of it's effects. I tune them all together to summon Dark End Dragon. Since I have 3 Darks in my grave, I summon Dark armed dragon. I destroy your back row by removing all of my monsters in my grave from play."

"I activate flute of summoning kuriboh. This allows me to summon a winged kuriboh from my deck. I summon it in defense mode."

"Very well. I attack Kuribon with Dark Armed Dragon. And since you activate Kuribon's effect, I gain life equal to the attack of my monster, since your bad reaction to Simochi is gone." (Life =9400) "I attack your Winged Kuriboh with Dark End Dragon, and then I end my turn."

Dark End Dragon was roaring in protest the entire time. The spirit of Dark End Dragon used to protect Chuku, and Chuku used to respect and love that card but ever since Chuku fell to the Shadow Realm, he had been treating everything with no respect.

Luka was beginning to realize that unless she came up with something fast, she wasn't going to win this at all. She stalled for a few more turns, stopping him with Battle Fader and another Winged Kuriboh. In another turn she wasted two kuribohs against his ever growing and powerful arsenal. But now she was out of options, and his attacks began cutting through.

She drew her next card. "I activate, Pot of avarice...sending 5 monsters back to my deck from my grave, then i can draw two cards." She looked at her hand after drawing. Not what she needed. She really only needed one card to win this for her, but it hadn't come. Now she was left to stall again. She sighed and set two cards and ended her turn. If she was lucky.....she might get another chance at hope. If she was lucky.

"I draw. Dark armed dragon, attack her directly."

"I activate magic cylinder! This negates your attack and does 2800 points of damage to you!" (6300 life)

"I attack with Dark End dragon."

"I activate the effect of Kuriboh. By sending it from my hand to the graveyard, I take no damage."

"Black rose dragon attacks you directly"

"I activate magic cylinder, negating your attack and inflicting damage equal to your monsters attack to you." (4200)

"I attack Directly with Dark End Dragon. Game over."

*She has potential. She only needs to improve that deck in certain ways and she would be a formidable duelist.*

She had tried her best. Luka slumped to the ground as her life points hit zero and the holograms faded. She felt just as ashamed as when she lost her last duel. The biggest difference was that this duel was done privately. Her last duel had been televised across the nation. "I...lost.....again." She sighed, scared to even look at the man named Chuku. Why did he have to single her out anyways? What had she ever done to deserve such humiliation?

She lifted her disk and shook a finger at the deck. "If you'd only come when i needed you...i might have won." Next to her Winged Kuriboh LV10 purred apologetically. Luka sighed once more. "No, I'm not really mad....not at you."

"It's alright. Anger is a natural reaction to losing. It's something I know all too well." Chuku paused. "You actually have potential. You can see duel monster spirits, andyou were able to hold me off for a large amount of time, something not easily achieved. You only need to learn how to balance offensively and defensively. Too much offense blinds you to counterattacks. Too much defense leaves you at the mercy of your foes."


"Luka Megurine, I didn't pick you randomly. I know who you are, or rather, were. It's such a shame that your career had to end the way it did. I know you can get back on top again, if you would only allow me to help you." Chuku gave her two cards.

"The card on the left is my personal number. The card on the right is the number for Wicken Academy. It is a school I went to when one of the branches of Duel Academy.... didnt work out for me. It's a great school. It specializes in making players into really good duelists. About 70% of the graduates end up on the pro Dueling League circuit, myself included. Call that number if you're interested in transferring there. Normally things would take awhile due to certain processes. However, I can easily take care of the parts that make the process take longer, just for you. Well, do you want to get back on top and make your dreams come true? Or do you want to spend the rest of your life in the shadows? Call me when you make a decision." Chuku quickly walked across the room, and left.

"Eh?!" Luka's expression was one of shock and confusion, mixed with a bit of awe. "Y-You know who I am?" She accepted the two cards, looking over both of them as he explained his intentions. He was giving her an opportunity to better herself...to come out on top for once....and the it sounded, he didn't just mean in dueling either.

"Well, do you want to get back on top and make your dreams come true? Or do you want to spend the rest of your life in the shadows?"

Luka blinked and she stared at him, bewildered. Did he really have the power to make her dreams come true? She wanted nothing more than to become the greatest pop star in the history of the world, and perhaps become a great duelist too, seeing how that tied into her fame for some reason.

He suddenly turned away, and was gone. She knelt there on her knees, staring at the place where he used to be. Could this even be happening? Was her luck about to change? She looked at the cards, turning them over and over in her fingers. "What do you think?" LV10 just purred noncomittently. "Oh, thanks...you're a big help!" She sighed. What would her decision be?

Chuku walked out of the room. He should be searching for the Sacred Beasts now, but he doubted they were here; this wasn't the original duel academy. He was mainly here to see if he could arrange a school duel between Wicken Academy and Duel Academy. It would take place on that island, and then he would be able to find the Sacred Beasts, and replace them with fake cards. The switch wouldn't be noticed; after all, the vault itself was barely visited. He was much more interested in Luna.

*I've been thinking about taking someone up as a apprentice. And she did damage me a bit with just defense. If she learned offense, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Maybe I can arrange a few things.*

***3 hours later***


Luka had spent the last couple hours exploring the campus a little, learning where all the essential rooms were, as well as taking a look in the card shop for giggles and grins. She ate lunch in the dorm cafeteria, trying to make friends with fellow classmates. She had fun chatting with some of the girls, but didn't really get far enough to consider anyone a 'friend' just yet. After lunch, she had a couple practice duels (without disks), and even made a few trades. Overall, the day was eventful.

However, the entire time, she could not stop thinking about Chuku's proposition. Now she sat on her bed in her dorm, holding the cards once more. She wondered if this could be true....she hoped it could be true. She could gain her reputation back and more if she proved herself an amazing duelist in front of national television....perhaps she could call for a rematch from the same guy who beat her. If she beat him, then she would be back on top for sure! Or at least in the running. But Chuku had promised the top!

Luka pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number, but paused just before hitting TALK. Could one phone call really solve all her problems?


She pressed TALK.

Chuku was still on the campus. He had FINALLY gotten the arrangements to make the duel between Wicken And Duel Academy. He made it happen a week before the huge tournament that he was going to be in. It had a lot of interesting people in it; a young girl call Allison Wonderland was one of the better young duelists. He hoped that the duelist he wanted to fight so badly would be in that tournament. Suddenly, he got a call on his cell phone.

"Who is it?"

Her soft voice sounded from the receiver. "Umm...h-hello? It's Luka. I'm calling in regards to your offer you gave me."

She paused for a second, as if making sure she wanted to do this before continuing. Her parents had sent her here....what would they think if she just up and moved to a different school? But the idea of growing to the top kept entering her mind, and she made it up.

"I'd like to accept your offer to join Wicken Academy."