Brent didn't even have a chance to reply to the girl and give her the thumbs up before she sat down. He wasn't going to argue anyway. Then he recognized her as Michelle, the one who had just won against Saze. "Um . . . " Brent hesitated, not sure on how to reply to her sudden introduction. "We were talking about strategies I could've used to turn things around in my Duel with Amelia. And since I'm going to have a rematch, I've got to stay on top of my game. Congrats on the win, by the way. I was expecting you to just stick with a plain 'Winged Kuriboh'. It alone would have saved you any more damage, right? But hey, I guess unexpected moves like that are what make Dueling exciting," he smiled.

---

Gale was looking for her brother in the stands, and found him sitting beside two others: The first was Joshua, a friend of Brent's whom Gale knew well, but the other was a girl Gale had only seen once, and that was only minutes ago down on the court. "Hey, Brent!" she called.

"Uh oh," was Brent's only response. Gale always found him after his Duels, no matter how hard he tried to hide. She'd either congratulate him on his win, or chastise him about a loss. She was perhaps his biggest critic. And she wasn't even a great Duelist.

"What happened out there?" Gale asked. "I thought you were gonna win today!"

"Uhm, just a slight miscalculation on my part," he grimaced.

"I'd say. You've gotta get your act together," she attacked.

"Don't you have some friends to play with?" Brent said. He was protective, but that didn't mean his sister didn't drive him insane sometimes.

"Actually, I think I'll stay and talk to Michelle, who actually won her Duel, unlike you."

Brent had to take a deep breath. She wore his patience thin sometimes. And of course she would get the last word in. Always. Or she'd whine for ages. He hated hearing her whine.

"Hey, Michelle, can I see your Deck? Those monsters are just soooooooo cute!" Gale said, and Brent just shook his head and turned back to Joshua.