Turn 1: Leander
Leander: 4000 LP, 5 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T
Amelia: 4000 LP, 5 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T

"Ok, so I'll start by discarding a Zeradias, Herald of Heaven, which has an effect that lets me add a Field Spell called "The Sanctuary in the Sky" to my hand," Leander explained, searching through his deck and showing the card to Amelia before placing it on the field. "Field Spells do cool things for both players most of the time. In this case, players who battle with Fairy-type monsters don't take battle damage." Leander then took another card from his hand and showed it to Amelia, saying, "I can also discard this "Hecatrice" card from my hand to add a Spell card called "Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen" to my hand."
Leander again searched through his deck and placed it on the field. "This card lets me Special Summon a Fairy-type monster if I don't have any other monsters on my field, so I'll go ahead and Special Summon Nova Caller in Attack Position," Leander said, placing the monster on the field. "Nova Caller has the effect to let me Special Summon a 'Parshath' monster from my deck if 'The Sanctuary in the Sky' is on the field, but that monster's ATK and DEF drop to zero." Leander searched his deck yet again and placed Airknight Parshath on the field. "Finally, I can use these two monsters to perform a Synchro Summon," Leander said. "I would normally say some sort of awesome Summoning Chant, but I'll let it go this time." Leander took the two monsters on his field and placed them in the Graveyard, then took a Rising Knight Parshath from his extra deck and placed it on the field.

Leander then realized that he was supposed to be teaching Amelia. "So, did you get all of that?" Leander asked.

"Not really... it was a lot going on really quickly, but you just used a lot of effects to bring out a really big monster, right?" Amelia said, looking a little disheartened. She didn't think she could pull something off like Leander just had.

"More or less, yeah," Leander said. "Don't worry, though, it's very easy once you get the hang of it. I'm sure you and your deck can do stuff like what I just did too. Anyway, I'll end my turn here, and you can take your time learning how to use your deck."

Turn 2: Amelia
Leander: 4000 LP, 2 cards, 1 Mon, 1 S/T,1 Field
Amelia: 4000 LP, 6 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T

"Alright. I'm second, so I draw." Amelia said, drawing her card. She glanced at her hand and frowned before looking back up at Leander and the monster he had just summoned."Other then battle, is there anyway to get that monster off the field?" She asked.

"Uhh..." Leander thought out loud as he racked his brain. "You can use card effects to destroy my monster or something. There are many cards that can do that. You could also, like, use an effect to send it back to my hand, although since this is a Synchro monster, it would go to the Extra Deck instead."

Amelia nodded before looking at her hand again. She didn't seem to have alot of options with it. So, she would have to go with what she had.
"I set one monster and two face-downs. I'll end my turn with that." She said, placing the cards on the table.

Turn 3: Leander
Leander: 4000 LP, 3 cards, 1 Mon, 1 S/T,1 Field
Amelia: 4000 LP, 3 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T

"Alrighty then," Leander said as he drew a card from his deck. "I'll have my Rising Knight Parshath attack that face-down monster of yours."

Amelia flipped the monster face-up. It was Kamui, Hope of Gusto.
"It says 'Flip', so, I guess I can use his effect now?" She asked.

Leander took a look at the monster, and confirmed that it indeed said Flip. "Yup," Leander said. "So, search your deck for a... ''Gusto' Tuner monster'."

Amelia didn't need telling twice. She looked through her deck and placed Gusto Falco on the field in Defence position before moving Kamui to the grave.

"Also, my Rising Knight Parshath monster deals piercing damage, which means that even if your monster was in Defense position, as long as the DEF was lower than my monster's ATK, you take damage," Leander explained.

"So, since Kamui's DEF is 1000, I take... 1100 points of damage?" Amelia asked.

"I.... think so. I'm not great at math," Leander confessed, chuckling. "I just let the Duel Disks do that for me."

"Oh," Amelia said before double checking the math in her head. "Yeah, it's 1100. So I'm down to 2900. Anything else for your turn?"

"Hmm..." Leander thought out loud as he stared at his hand. "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. When Rising Knight Parshath deals damage, I get to draw 1 card." Leander drew a card, then went back to examining his hand. "I'll put one monster face-down and place one card face-down. Yeah, that's it," Leander ended.

Turn 4: Amelia
Leander: 4000 LP, 2 cards, 2 Mon, 2 S/T,1 Field
Amelia: 2900 LP, 4 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T

"I draw." Amelia said, examining her hand again. She tried to recall what was being taught in class about Synchro monsters before it had been interrupted. After a few seconds, she made her move."I Summon Musto, Oracle of Gusto to my field. Then, I'll tune Falco with Musto to Synchro Summon Daigusto Sphreez." She said before taking the two cards off her field, she took the monster from her extra deck and placed it on her field in Attack Position. "When I summon Sphreez, I can take one Gusto Monster from my Graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll add Kamui back to my hand."

Glancing at the field, she measured her options. she knew face-down spells were bad, so she would have to take a slight risk.
"I activate Contact with Gusto. With this spell, I return Falco and Musto to the deck and destroy your face down spell... or trap." She said, returning the two monsters to her deck and shuffling it.

Leander picked up his face-down card and looked at it, wondering whether or not he should use it, then decided it wasn't worth the bother and placed it in the Graveyard, revealing it to be Dark Bribe. "Not a bad move, there," Leander commented. "Good thing it wasn't anything too important, though."

Amelia's face turned a bit red at the compliment.
"Thanks." she said, her tone lower then before. "Uumm... I'll have Sphreez attack your face-down monster now."

Leander picked up his face-down card and placed it in the Graveyard, revealing it to be Nova Summoner. "When Nova Summoner is destroyed and Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, I can Special Summon an Airknight Parshath from my deck," Leander said happily, taking out that monster and placing it on the field in Attack position.

"I end my turn." Amelia said.

Turn 5: Leander
Leander: 4000 LP, 2 cards, 2 Mon, 2 S/T,1 Field
Amelia: 2900 LP, 4 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T

Leander drew his next card and stared at Sphreez, thinking long and hard about how to destroy it. The more he thought, the more that something was nagging in his mind. At first, he didn't know what it was, but then the realization hit him. Leander didn't have any cards that destroyed things by card effects. Leander placed his face onto his hand and started laughing.

Amelia's expression turn to one of confusion.
"What's so funny?" She asked

Leander had to calm down a bit before he could respond. "Your Daigusto Sphreez is the one card that completely ruins my deck," Leander explains. "I don't have anything that can destroy Sphreez, so you've basically won."

"I don't understand. She can't be destroyed by battle, but you can still damage me, right?" She said. She had only placed Sphreez in attack mode because that was the higher stat and she would take less damage then.

"No no, take another look at the effect there," Leander said, pointing at the card. "If I attack, I would take the damage you would have taken."

"But she's a Daigusto, not a Gusto." Amelia said

"As long as the word 'Gusto' is in the name, even if it says 'Daigusto' or something, it's all the same," Leander explained.

"Oh. So, if you attacked her, you would take 100 points of damage instead of me. And I could attack you and use her effect until you ran out of Life Points, I guess." She said

"Yeah, that's basically what'll happen if this goes on," Leander said. "I normally don't like to do this, but I'd much rather speed things up." Leander raised his hands in the air and said, "So, I give up. You win."

"Don't you have to place your hand on top of your deck?" Amelia asked, knowing the formality.

"I think so, yeah, but I don't really care about doing that myself," Leander answered. "I think the Duel Disk senses that or something, and that's why people do it. I'm not really sure. Either way, I just give up." Leander gathered his cards back into his deck, then extended a hand to Amelia for a handshake. "Good game," Leander said.

Amelia looked at Leander's hand for a second before giving him a shy smile and shaking it.
"Thank you." She said.

Brad looked at Nathaniel, his brow furrowed. Why would they duel here and now? Especially when the thought of dueling Nathaniel filled Brad with this feeling of defeat.

The realization hit like a bolt of lightning. Against people like that lady who attacked the security, losing wouldn't be an option. Through whatever bizarre hocus pocus mumbo jumbo they used, they could hurt people through the game. If Brad was to stand a chance of surviving against someone like that, he had to get better. Practice makes progress.

"Okay," he stated, flicking on his own Duel Disk.

Turn 1: Brad
Brad: 4000 LP, 5 cards
Nathaniel: 4000 LP, 5 cards

As Brad drew his cards, he saw only one option. At least, for now. "Main Phase 1. I set one monstah an' one more card." Hardly a gamewinning play but not every play had to be a touchdown. Sometimes inching towards the first down was more reasonable. "I end ma turn."

Turn 1: Brad End
Cards in Hand: 3
Monsters: 1 Set
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 2: Nathaniel

"Draw!"

Nathaniel took a moment to analyze his hand before putting down a monster.

"Please welcome Performapal Spikeagle to the field!"

Performapal Spikeagle: Level 2, 900 ATK

A brown eagle with spiked wings and sunglasses appeared beside Nathaniel, although the Attack Points showing up on the Duel Disk indicated that it wasn't very strong. Nathaniel would be the first to admit that it probably wasn't going to do a lot by itself, but he needed something to stir the waters a bit.

"Spikeagle has a poignant ability. I can target one monster I control, and that monster can inflict piercing battle damage this turn. This, of course, includes itself. Now go, Spikeagle! Give us a show!"

Performapal Spikeagle did a loop in the air before diving down onto Brad's facedown monster, which revealed itself to be Worm Cartaros. The pink alien thing stood no chance with its defenses, and shattered under the force of Spikeagle's admittedly weak attack.

Worm Cartaros: Level 4, 500 DEF

Brad LP: 4000->3600

As the stray pixels of the deceased Worm scattered near Brad's face, he flinched. But once he realized there was no pain, he visibly relaxed. For a moment, the former footballer sort of just looked at the board before realizing there was something he was supposed to do.

"I activate tha effect of Worm Cartaros. When they are flipped, I can add one Level 4 or lowah Worm ta ma hand." As he placed his hand near his deck, one card pushed out into his grip. "I choose ta add Worm Xex ta ma hand."

Worms, eh? Don't think I've seen these guys before.

Despite his caution, Nathaniel still cannot help but feel good about his chances for some reason. He had no idea why, but he put that aside for now.

"I'll then set two cards and end my turn!" He said as the images of the card backs appeared behind Spikeagle.

Turn 2: Nathaniel End
4000 LP
Hand: 3
Monsters: Performapal Spikeagle (Level 2, 900 ATK)
S/T: 2 Set

Turn 3: Brad

"Draw." Brad quickly glanced at the newest addition to his hand. Useful later, probably, but he already knew what he was going to do this turn.

"Main Phase 1. I summon Worm Xex in Attack Mode." A bizarre circular creature rose out of the ground, covered in a bright green slime. The teeth moved rhytmically in time with the soft purring it made.

Worm Xex: Level 4, 1800 ATK

"Worm Xex has an effect that activates when I Normal Summon it. I can send any Worm monster from ma deck to ma graveyard. I choose ta send Worm Yagan." The mouth opened wide as the ghostly image of a Y-shaped rainbow-coloured creature burst into pixels.

Brad wasn't finished yet. "Next, I activate tha effect of Worm Yagan. While tha only monstah I control is Worm Xex, I can Special Summon Yagan face-down." Yagan once again appeared, this time crawling out of Xex's mouth before being hidden beneath a card back.

"Battle Phase. Worm Xex, take out Spikeagle." The alien creature seemed to dissolve into the ground only to appear beneath the dressy avian. With surprising quickness, it shot off the ground, wrapping its mouth around the feet of its prey, before devouring it whole.

Nathaniel LP: 4000 -> 3100

Nathaniel cringed as he witnessed Spikeagle's demise. These things were pretty disgusting and vicious, which was totally not what he was used to. Still, it was probably a learning experience, no matter how cringeworthy.

"Main Phase 2. I set one more card face-down an' end ma turn." Brad was beginning to feel something dangerously close to confidence in this duel. What on earth had he been fearing from the little guy? If Nathaniel's deck was anything like that funny-looking bird he had played, Brad definitely stood a chance.

Turn 3: Brad End
3600 LP
Hand: 3
Monsters: Worm Xex (Level 4, 1800 ATK), Set [Worm Yagan (Level 4, 1800 DEF)]
S/T: 2 Set

Turn 4: Nathaniel

"My turn! Draw!"

Looking over his hand, Nathaniel figured there really wasn't much he could do here. Although maybe there was one thing he could try.

"Alright, let's give a warm applause for Performapal Secondonkey!"

In a flash of light appeared on the field a little purple donkey in a top hat and a bowtie. Despite having hooves and no fingers, it reached up and raised the little hat on its head before returning to all-fours.

Performapal Secondonkey: Level 4, 1000 ATK

"Now Secondonkey gets to show us what it has in store. When it gets Normal Summoned or Special Summoned to the field, I can send one Performapal monster in my Deck to the Graveyard. I'll have Performapal Whip Snake bow out."

The image of Performapal Whip Snake appeared in the air above the field before disappearing in a puff of confetti.

"That's it for this turn."

Turn 4: Nathaniel End
3100 LP
Hand: 3
Monsters: Performapal Secondonkey (Level 4, 1000 ATK)
S/T: 2 Set

Turn 5: Brad

"Draw." Brad looked at the goofy looking monster on the opponent's side of the field. Had his intuition been that far off? After all, Nathaniel was a fellow Earth Dorm student. Taking a moment to check the effect of Whip Viper, he suddenly felt less sure of himself. That thing would play havoc with his deck, given half a chance. So, naturally, he would have to not give it that chance.

"Main Phase 1. I flip ma Worm Yagan inta face-up Attack Mode." Yagan revealed itself, in all of its slimey glory, rather than a far less creepy silhouette.

Worm Yagan: Level 4, 1000 ATK

"When Worm Yagan is flipped face-up, I pick one face-up monstah ya control an' send it back ta ya han'. I choose ya Secondonkeh." The top purple hair-like tentacles wriggled eerily at Secondonkey, who decided he didn't much care for this weird thing and returned to Nathaniel's hand.

With that out of the way, Brad found himself at a crossroads. There was a few paths to take, frought with many risks. Maybe he wouldn't put all of his eggs in one basket, but nothing wrong with putting most of them in one. "Conqueror of infinite galaxies, I pay ya tribute!" Brad's declaration grew in volume as Worm Yagan exploded into pixels. "Tribute Summon... Lend me ya strength! Worm King!"

Worm King: Level 7, 2700 ATK

As the golden behemoth let loose a roar, Brad smiled. So far, every time he had summoned Worm King, he had won shortly thereafter. Of course, that sample size being one duel wasn't what crossed his mind.

Oh boy... Nathaniel twitched a little. That was certainly a big monster. Not even Performapal Elephammer had the Attack Points to take that beast on. He was going to have to rely on some of his other Performapals if he wanted to take it out. That is, if he even manages to live that long.

"Worm King requires a tribute to ensure victoreh... I offer Worm Xex in tribute ta Worm King. By doin' so, Worm King'll destroy a card ya control. Blast away tha left-most card!" The gaping mouth looked frightened before being flatened by Worm King's fist, transforming into a pale yellow light. Feeding it to the lower mouth, a shooting beam of light shot forth towards Nathaniel's set card.

Nathaniel covered his face as his set card was blown away by Worm King's beam, revealing itself to be Jar of Avarice before shattering into pieces.

"Next, I activate ma Spell card: Mystical Space Typhoon!" The green card appeared in front of Brad, who did, in fact, appreciate the irony of this particular moment. "It lets me destroy one Spell or Trap card on tha field. I destroy ya last face-down card!"

Once again, Nathaniel had to shield himself from the force of the winds as the last of his defences revealed itself to be Counterforce before being blown away.

Looking at what he destroyed, Brad frowned. If he had simply attacked with both Xex and King, he would've won. But that was not a realistic expectation to go forward with. Any number of cards would've set him back his strongest card. No, it was better to leave Nathaniel with a smidgen of life points and keep King safe than gamble it all. "Battle Phase. Worm King, show ya strength! Conqueror's Charge!" The alien monstrosity howled before leaping forward, throwing out a hail of blows at Nathaniel.

Nathaniel gritted his teeth as Worm King charged forward. It was a survivable blow, but a small breeze would be enough to topple Nathaniel afterward. No, he had to play it safe.

"When my opponent declares a direct attack, I can activate the effect of Swift Scarecrow! By sending this card from my hand to the Graveyard, I can negate your attack and end the Battle Phase!"

As Nathaniel slid the card into the Graveyard slot of his Duel Disk, the metallic scarecrow suddenly appeared in front of Nathaniel. It stood unyielding, shielding him from Worm King's barrage before disappearing once more.

Brad almost breathed a sigh of relief. Even if the attacks weren't real, there was something that unsettled him about watching Worm King attack a classmate so viciously. "With that, I end ma turn." Brad couldn't help himself from smiling. "Now let's see ya get past ma King."

Turn 5: Brad End
3600 LP
Hand: 3
Monsters: Worm King (Level 7, 2600 ATK)
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 6: Nathaniel

"Oh don't worry. The fun's just getting started. Draw!"

Nathaniel drew his card and silently kicked himself for accidently using someone else's catch phrase. Still, things were about to get interesting. Maybe.

"I'll begin this turn by bringing Performapal Friendonkey out to the field!"

A blue donkey with white legs slowly trotted its way onto the field. Much like Secondonkey before it, it had on a small top hat and a spotted bowtie. Unlike Secondonkey however, it also had a pink box with a star strapped to its side. It also had on the biggest smug grin in possibly Duel Monster's history.

Performapal Friendonkey: Level 3, 1600 ATK

"And when it's summoned to the field, it brings with it a surprise. Let's see what we have here."

Nathaniel waved his hands in the air and the pink box strapped to Friendonkey blew open, as out popped Performapal Whip Snake amidst a shower of confetti.

Performapal Whip Snake: Level 4: 1700 ATK

"Of course, Whip Snake has its own surprise as well! Once per turn, I can target one monster on the field and switch its current Attack and Defense Points. Let's see what Worm King's hiding behind those 2700 Attack Points."

Whip Snake slid its way to the middle of the field and began to wiggle its little dance. Soon, Worm King began to slouch as its ATK was brought low.

Worm King: 2700 ATK->1100 ATK

"Now for the moment we've all been waiting for! Let's get this show on the road! Performapal Friendonkey attacks Worm King!"

Friendonkey made no hurry to charge Worm King, but instead took its leisurely time getting there before hitting its opponent with a headbutt.

Brad LP: 3600->3100

"And now Performapal Whip Snake attacks you directly"

Whip Snake quickly made its way to Brad, or at least comparatively quicker than Friendonkey, and smacked Brad with the end of its tail.

Brad LP: 3100->1400

Brad groaned, less from non-existant pain and more from very existant embarrassment. He had played straight into Nathaniel's game plan and even bragged about it. Now his opponent had control of the field, dismantling Brad's strongest card in the process. He at least took solace in the fact that he had felt this coming.

"Now I'll just set a card facedown and leave the stage to you.

Turn 6: Nathaniel End
3100 LP
Hand: 2
Monsters: Performapal Friendonkey (Level 3, 1600 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake (Level 4, 1700 ATK)
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 7: Brad

"Draw." A strong card... that meant nothing in the face of that snake. That such an adorable creature would cause so much chaos in Brad's deck filled him with annoyance. No doubt the point of that card. "Main Phase 1. I summon Des Feral Imp in Attack Mode." The scaley imp jumped up from a previously non-existant crack in the floor, a maniacal grin playing on its lipless face.

Des Feral Imp: Level 4, 1600 ATK

"Battle Phase." Brad paused for a moment to ponder if Nathaniel saw this as a bluff or an actual move. Only one way to find out. "Des Feral Imp, attack his Whip Viper."

Nathaniel could not help but grin as Brad summoned Des Feral Imp. It had a sizable 1600 ATK, but it was not getting past either of Nathaniel's monsters without destroying itself in the process. But then Brad declared an attack and Nathaniel could help but look on in cautious confusion. Brad may be an Earth Dorm student and a bit of a meathead, but his moves so far seem pretty intelligent and calculated. He had previously taken care to destroy all of Nathaniel's visible defenses before proceeding with an attack instead of trying to end the game on the spot, so such a suicidal play probably had more to it than it seemed. Still, it was the Battle Phase, which meant Whip Snake could not activate its effect. There was nothing Nathaniel could do.

Judging by the confused look on Nathaniel's face being his sole reaction to the attack declaration, Brad swung his arm out. "I activate ma face-down... Forbidden Dress!" As Des Feral Imp charged towards his slippery foe, a glittering white dress rocketed past him, to clothe Whip Viper. "Forbidden Dress makes one monstah on tha field immune to targetin' an' destruction by card effects. Howevah..." Just as Whip Viper was getting comfortable in the fabric, its eyes widened as it shrunk to fit the clothing. "It also reduces their ATK bah 600!"

Whip Viper: 1700ATK->1100ATK

Des Feral Imp leaped up before the purple snake before slamming a fist down, crushing Whip Viper.

Nathaniel LP: 3100->2600

"Main Phase 2." Brad looked at his hand, trying to start thinking ahead. He had begun turning the tables in his favour but was far from victory. "I set one card face-down an' end ma turn."

Turn 7: Brad End
1400 LP
Hand: 2
Monsters: Des Feral Imp (Level 4, 1600 ATK)
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 8: Nathaniel

Nathaniel frowned as Whip Snake was destroyed. If Nathaniel had to choose, Whip Snake was probably one of best cards. Although looking at the field, all Nathaniel needed was one final push. He has Brad on the ropes. Now he just needs to... tighten them? Swing from them? Look, he feels confident.

"My turn! Draw!"

Taking a look at the card he drew, he immediately slapped it onto his Duel Disk.

"I Normal Summon Performapal Sword Fish to the field!"

A virtual hole begin to open up from the ground as a blue fish popped out of the ground. It was wearing sunglasses and had a pompadour that was sharp as razors, hence the name. It also looked quite angry.

Performapal Sword Fish: Level 2, 600 ATK

"Now watch as Sword Fish works its magic... and makes 600 of Des Feral Imp's Attack Points disappear!"

On command, Sword Fish stabbed itself into Des Feral Imp, who leaped into the air and ran around the field as it tried to pull Sword Fish out of its butt.

Des Feral Imp: 1600->1000 ATK

"Battle Phase! Performapal Friendonkey attacks Des Feral Imp!"

Just as last time, Friendonkey slowly made its way to Des Feral Imp, and slammed its head against the monster.

Brad LP: 1400->800

"And Sword Fish then attacks you directly!"

Now freed from its previous victim, Sword Fish turned its sights on Brad. Its eyes narrowed, although it was had to see behind the shades, and it angrily charged at Brad, hair first.

Brad LP: 800->200

Nathaniel was feeling pretty smug right about now. It wasn't usually in his nature, as his self-esteem wasn't tyically very high. But something about this Duel just made Nathaniel feel very confident that he was going to win.

"I'll end my turn here. Good luck!"

Turn 8: Nathaniel End
LP: 2600
Hand: 2
Monsters: Performapal Friendonkey (Level 3, 1600 ATK), Performapal Sword Fish (Level 2, 600 ATK)
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 9: Brad

Brad took a moment to reflect. It seemed almost comical to think he had thought he had been close to victory this duel. As he looked over at Nathaniel, in all of his tiny smug glory, he had to admit it was clear that the two were in entirely different classes despite being in the same dorm.

That being said, it wasn't in Brad's nature to give up. Giving up led to stagnancy and if there was the chance that his life would be on the line in the future, he couldn't risk that. "I guess I'll have ta pull out all tha stops ta match ya, huh?" Brad chuckled. "Well, then I bettah get ta it. Draw."

Looking at the drawn card, he shook his head. Not useful right now and there wasn't much point trying to plan ahead at this point. It would be best to just give it his all now then try and wait it out, since that Swordfish would only become more and more troublesome as time goes by.

"Main Phase 1. I summon Worm Tentacles in Attack Mode." A yellow squid appeared before Brad, wiggling its namesakes in a part menacingly, part seductively manner.

Worm Tentacle: Level 4, 1700 ATK

"Worm Tentacles can banish a Worm monstah from ma graveyard to make a second attack durin' ma Battle Phase." A brief ghostly afterimage of Worm Xex appeared before being devoured by Worm Tentacles, who grew extra tentacles on its other tentacles, now more appendage than squid.

"Battle Phase. Worm Tentacles, attack Sword Fish." The creature lashed out, wrapping up the angry fish in a dozen noodly wriggling arms before devouring it.

Nathaniel LP: 2600->1500

"Time for tha feedin' frenzeh. Worm Tentacles, destroy Friendonkeh." Once more, an assault of epic wiggling proportions claimed another victim on Nathaniel's field.

Nathaniel LP: 1500->1400

Brad let a small smile grow on his lips. He was on the verge of defeat but he was pulling Nathaniel down to his level. If he could survive another turn, he might actually turn it around. "With that, I end ma turn." He couldn't help but wonder what new trick Nathaniel would pull out next. Regardless of the outcome of the duel, Brad felt like he learned something. And, truth be told, that was what he had hoped to gain from this duel.

Turn 9: Brad End
200 LP
Hand: 2
Monsters: Worm Tentacles (Level 4, 1700 ATK)
S/T: 1 Set

Turn 10: Nathaniel

Nathaniel could not help but smile. This Duel had been nothing but back-and-forth, each turn player wrestling the field advantage away from the other player before losing again the next turn. It was just like in his Duel with Megan. If the school hadn't been under attack from a bunch of hooded maniacs, Nathaniel might have genuinely enjoyed his time her. Regardless, he was going to enjoy this Duel, right down to the finish.

"My turn! Draw!"

Looking at the card he drew, Nathaniel smiled. This last turn will decide it.

"Now get ready for our show's final performance! And it begins with Performapal Sword Fish!"

A second copy of Performapal Sword Fish dug its way to the field again, this one just as angry as the last.

Performapal Sword Fish: Level 2, 600 ATK

"I'm sure we all remember Performapal Sword Fish's effect. When it gets Normal Summoned to the field, all monsters my opponent controls lose 600 Attack Points."

Sword Fish charged again at Brad's monster, this time lodging itself right in Worm Tentacle's giant yellow noggin. It flailed its tentacles in an attempt to lose the fish, to no avail.

Worm Tentacles: 1700->1100 ATK

"But this performance isn't going to be a solo. It's going to be a duo! When a Performapal monster is summoned to my side of the field, I can Special Summon Performapal Helpprincess!"

A swirl of confetti apeared on the field, and out came a girl dressed in purple with a big staff. She gave a wink to Brad before raising her hand-staff high.

Performapal Helpprincess: Level 4, 1200 ATK

"And when a Performapal is Special Summoned to my field, Sword Fish gets to decrease my opponent's monsters' attack even further!"

Helpprincess raised her staff high, and gave Sword Fish a big hand by slamming it down onto Sword Fish like a hammer to a nail, burying it in Worm Tentacle's head even further, which caused it to flail even more wildly.

Worm Tentacles: 1100->500 ATK

"Now it's time for your final bow! Performapal Helpprincess attacks Worm Tentacles!"

On Nathaniel's command, Helpprincess raised her staff high once again, and gave Worm Tentacles a great big slap across its huge yellow face.

Brad couldn't help but chuckle as the blow landed on his only remaining monster. "Hey, Nathaniel. Ya know what a turnovah is?"

Nathaniel looked at Brad quizically. "A turnover? You mean like an upset?"

Brad nodded. "In football, it's an upset but tha only way a turnovah can happen is when ya opponent makes a mistake. Like right now. Trap card activate! Lumenize!" The set card on Brad's side revealed itself. "I can negate one attack ya declare an' give a LIGHT monstah I control ATK equal ta tha ATK that I negated."

Helpprincess was knocked back as an intense light envelopped Tentacles. As it faded, the tentacles had formed a tall, humanoid body, posing menacingly as it glared at its former assailant.

Worm Tentacles: 500 ATK->1700 ATK

"Ouch... That sucks." Nathaniel had a pained look on his face as he saw that his big finish was ruined... before proceeding to turn that frown right upside down. "Just kidding! I have my own Trap Card: Seven Tools of the Bandit!"

Nathaniel's own Set card flipped itself face-up, revealing a pink card with an image of a swiss army knife.

"I can activate this card by paying 1000 Life Points. Then I can negate the activation of my opponent's Trap Card and destroy it!"

Nathaniel LP: 1400->400

The big flash of light got smaller and smaller until it was no more. When the light finally faded, Worm Tentacles was a tiny speck compared to its former self. It kept the pose but it was noticeably less menacing and, judging by its panicked expression, it was painfully aware of this.

Worm Tentacles: 1700 ATK->500 ATK

"And now, Performapal Helpprincess will wrap up our show! It's curtains!"

Helpprincess stood above Worm Tentacles, her shadow looming over its tiny form. She raised her staff high, and brought it down, squishing the little critter underneath her giant hand.

Brad LP: 200->0

VICTORY: NATHANIEL

Brad smiled and slowly shook his head. "Flag on tha play, I guess." He offered a hand to Nathaniel. "Ya certainly play ta ya deck's namesake. Quite tha performance."

"Ha! Thanks!" Nathaniel took Brad's hand in his own and shook it, all the while maintaining a big grin on his face. "You're a pretty good duelist too, Brad. You really made this little performance of ours great."

"I suppose I did help..." A thought suddenly popped into his head and Brad looked Nathaniel deep in the eyes. "Ya could call it... outta-this-world." The awful joke made the bigger boy throw his head back with laughter, partially from the sheer terribleness of it and partially because he finally stopped thinking about the earlier horrors of the day.

"Haha!" The joke was pretty terrible, but Nathaniel's can't help but laugh with him. Even with everything that happened, laughter was important. Now that he thought about it, that was kind of like an Entertainment Duelist's creed, and they achieved it with dueling. Maybe this day wasn't all that bad. Not when Nathaniel can learn something as important as this.

As prophecized, Nathaniel rises victorious against Brad, although far closer than expected. Highlights include Swift Scarecrow saving from early domination via Worm King, Whip Viper in a dress, Sword Fish stabbing reptiles in places that they don't like to be stabbed, and keikaku kombat.

Turn 1: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 5 cards
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards

"I am gonna start this off slow, Savor it a little" Vincent began. "Firstly I activate Allure of Darkness" He continued as he placed the card on the table. "It allows me to draw two at the cost of banishing a dark type monster after." Drawing the new cards Vincent looked at his hand to see what to banish, he drew a good card but he wanted to keep what he had in his hand. " I banish battle fader as a cost then I set one monster and one card and I end my turn." He said as he looked at Hayate to see how she responded

Turn 2: Hayate
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 1 monster / 1 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 6 cards

"Well ok... Drawing..." Hayate said taking a card from her deck and inspected her cards "i will set a monster and end my turn" Hayate said placing a card facedown on the table putting her cards back down on the table on her side

"Looks like everyone's having a slow start." she commented, glancing at Vincent's hand. She didn't know how long this duel would be, but she doubted it would be going this slowly for long.

Turn 3: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 4 cards 1 monster / 1 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 monster

"I draw" Vincent said as he drew his next card. "I set one card Facedown and I End my turn" Vincent said as he placed down another set card.

Turn 4: Hayate
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 1 monster / 2 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 monster

"Drawing..." Hayate said once again inspecting her new card "I summon mirage dragon" Hayate said placing her card on the table "Any traps? Hayate instantly asked politely

"Why don't you try and find out." Vincent replied quickly.

"in that case i flip summon the white stone of legend and activate dragonic tactics.., Hayate said picking up her deck and searching her deck for a dragon to summon which she opted to summon rabidragon rather than blue-eyes and took out rabidragon out of her deck "the card i have chosen is rabidragon and because i tributed the white stone i also get to add Blue-eyes to my hand!" Hayate said putting both rabidragon on the field and blue-eyes in her hand as well as placing the 3 cards into a mall pile above where she placed her deck "Turn end!" Hayate declared forgetting she can attack

Maisy looked in awe of the pretty-strong dragon with rabbit ears that Vincent had to take down, wondering if he would be able to manage despite the odds."That's a lot of attack points."

Turn 5: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 4 cards 1 monster / 2 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 monster

"I Draw" Vincent said simply as he drew his next card. "I set one card and once again I end my turn" Vincent finished

Turn 6: Hayate
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 1 monster / 3 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 monster

"drawing..." Hayate said drawing her next card "I wonder if this would hurt me more than it hurts you but... I activate A wingbeat of giant dragon and send rabidragon back to my hand to destroy all your spells and traps" Hayate pondered but declared putting rabidragon right back into her hand "and I set a monster" Hayate added putting another facedown monster on the table and a facedown card forgetting to mention to vincent that she did "and with that my turn ends"

Bottomless trap hole, MST and Skill breakthrough was put into the graveyard.

Turn 7: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 4 cards 1 monster
Hayate: 4000 LP, 4 cards 1 monster 1 S/T

"I draw" Vincent began as he looked at the card he drew. "I summon Mystery Shell dragon" Vincent continued "I attack your face down monster with My Shell dragon." He carried on.

Hayate flipped her facedown card to reveal Maiden of with eyes of blue and sighed "I suppose i shouldnt expect too much" Hayate said forgetting about something as she placed her card into the graveyard

Maiden went to the grave without so much as a hitch. "I end my turn" Vincent said as he finished.

Turn 8: Hayate
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 2 monsters
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 S/T

"Drawing another card" Hayate said and sighed "Turn end... and looked at the field oh yeah vincent i set a card last turn... I kinda forgot to mention it... i kinda forgot i put it there too..." Hayate added slightly wondering if it would have made a difference if he didnt notice.

Turn 9: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 2 monsters 1 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards 1 S/T

"I draw." Vincent said as he was getting bored of playing passively. "I set one card and I attack your life points directly with my monster!" He yelled but was quickly interrupted by the sound a card being flipped and slammed on a table "Kunai with chain activates" Hayate said your attacking monster is changed to defense postion. "That is fine" Vincent said as he turned his card on its side making a small swish sound as he did so. "I end" He finished.

Turn 10: Hayate
Vincent: 4000 LP, 3 cards 2 monsters 1 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 6 cards

Hayate silently drew her card "i summon luster dragon" picking up a card from her hand and putting it on the field "It attacks your now defenseless dragon and afterwards i will end my turn" Hayate said and quickly declaring the end of her turn. Vincent placed Mystery shell dragon into his grave before starting his next turn.

Turn 11: Vincent
Vincent: 4000 LP, 4 cards 2 monsters 1 S/T
Hayate: 4000 LP, 5 cards

"Again I draw, and now things get interesting." Vincent said as he started his turn. "How about I get a little chaotic. Since so far its been so tame. so boring." Vincent mumbled. "I Summon Thunder king Rai-Oh In attack position And I flip my face-down card, Chaos Emissary Umbra into attack position!"

Chaos Emissary, Umbra ATK 600 DEF 1900

"Their flip effect causes me to discard one card, I discard White dragon wyverburster." Vincent paused to take a breath. "Now then, I attack your Luster dragon with my Chaos Emissary Umbra!" Vincent declared as he waited for a response. Seeing as her nod with nothing, he put Umbra into the graveyard.

Vincent 4000 -> 2700

Hayate grabbed the piece of paper she just tapped Vincent with and noted his new life points after some calculations and proceeded to continue to do that as the game went on.

"Umbra. Effect activate!" Vincent said as he began searching through his deck. "I add one 'Black Luster Soldier Envoy of the Beginning' from my deck to my hand." Vincent said with a smirk appearing on his lips. "I attack your Luster dragon with my Thunder King Rai-Oh, due to equal attack they are both destroyed!" Vincent shouted quitely with truimph as he placed The Thunder king into his grave. "And before I finish up, I activate Swords of the Revealing light, and then I pass the torch to you." Gasping as he finished his last sentence Vincent smiled at his board.

"Huh? Wait...why'd you do that?" she questioned at the suicide. She didn't really get it...was the effect really worth taking that much damage?

Turn 12: Hayate
Vincent: 2700LP 2 cards 2 S/T's
Hayate: 4000 LP, 6 cards

"drawing..." Hayate uttered to herself and drew her card and quickly played the card she drew "i activate one for one, i discard blue-eyes white dragon and search for flamveil guard" Hayate declared as she searched her deck, then special summon flamveil guard "and i activate silver's cry to special summon my blue-eyes once again! and i learned this from class earlier" Hayate said slightly proud of herself "Synchro summon Azure-eyes silver dragon in defense position and with that my turn ends" Hayate smiled with her first ever synchro summon

Turn 13: Vincent
Vincent: 2700LP, 3 cards 2 S/T's
Hayate: 4000 LP, 3 cards 1 Monster

"I draw" Vincent said as he took his next card from the deck, "I activate the effect of the Chaos Emissary, Gateway in my hand to special summon it in face up defense position and now I set one monster face down and I end my turn"

Chaos Emissary Gateway, 1000 ATK 2100 DEF

Turn 14: Hayate
Vincent: 2700LP, 2 cards 2 monsters 2 S/T's
Hayate: 4000 LP, 4 cards 2 Monsters

"card draw..." Hayate said drawing her card following it up by smiling "My blue-eyes returns to the field thanks to Azure-eyes's effect" Hayate smiled as she put her blue-eyes back on the field "i summon shining angel and end my turn"

Turn 15: Vincent
Vincent: 2700LP, 3 cards 2 monsters 2 S/T's
Hayate: 4000 LP, 4 cards 3 Monsters

"Draw" Vincent said as he continued and started doing something kinda cool. "I banish 1 light and 1 dark monster to special summon Chaos Sorceror from my hand, and I am not finished." Vincent said with a primative grin. "I banish another set of a light and dark monster to special summon my TRUMP CARD! Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" Vincent yelled as he slammed both cards down on the table. "Effect of both my cards, I banish Blue eyes and Azure eyes!" Vincent said with a truimphant grin."I end my turn" was all he said

Hayate's smile instantly vanished with the shock of her favorite cards being banished without a way of getting them back and silently put them on a pile above her graveyard "blue-eyes...?" Hayate uttered and folded her hand of cards up onto a pile and placed it on the table and simply folded herself up

Turn 16: Hayate
Vincent: 2700LP, 3 cards 4 monsters 2 S/T's FINAL TURN Swords
Hayate: 4000 LP, 4 cards 1 Monsters

Hayate looked picked up a card from her deck and put it on top of her hand pile and uttered "turn end..."

Maisy suddenly raised her hand. "HOLD ON JUST A SECOND THERE!" she said suddenly before pointing at Hayate. "Are you just giving up now, or do you really have nothing left to play?"

"I mean god damn." Vincent interjected. "The cards aren't permantly gone, only for this battle. Your disgracing the legacy of the blue-eyes if you stop fighting, Can you live with yourself if you give up, So Fight Hayate. Fight with tooth and nail and try with all your soul to win. Otherwise. Then your truely a loser." Vincent quickly ended his sentence thinking maybe he went a bit far.

Maisy looked back to Vincent. "Uh..wait he said, but way less rude."

"Sorry... there is just nothing else i have that can beat this except burst stream of destruction... but..." Hayate simply said "at least i had some fun... you win... i lose... there is always next time" Hayate clambered up with her usual smile "i just love my card that much..."

"That Right, there is always next time" Vincent said with a slight smile even though he was kinda sad it ended that way, he didn't really get to satisfy his lust for a fight at all.

WINNER: VINCENT!

Turn 1: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 4000, 5 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T
Hayate: LP: 4000, 5 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T

Maisy drew her starting hand and hummed to herself, looking over her options. Picking one card out by itself, she declared: "First, I'll summon Infernity Knight in Attack mode...aaaand that's it." she says, slapping the card down dead center in the Monster Card Zones.

Infernity Knight: ATK: 1400, DEF: 400

Turn 2: Hayate
Maisy: LP: 4000, 4 cards in Hand, 1 Monster(s), 0 S/T
Hayate: LP: 4000, 6 cards in Hand, 0 Monster(s), 0 S/T

Hayate drew the top card of her deck and inspected her hand "I summon luster dragon in attack position and set a card facedown" Hayate placed her cards on the field and started her battle phase immediately "I will attack your monster" Hayate declared quickly

Maisy LP: 4000>3500

Hayate looked at her hand once again and thought for a moment "I end my turn" Hayate called out declaring the end of the turn deciding against the card she was considering

Turn 3: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 3500, 5 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T
Hayate: LP: 4000, 4 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T

Maisy drew her next card and mulled over her options once more, before she says: "I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your face-down card." as she placed the card face-up on her S/T zone.

Hayate flipped her facedown card revealing Champion's vigilance and placed it into the graveyard

Maisy continued her main phase by declaring: "Then I'll use the effect of my Fabled Nozoochee from my hand to discard a Fabled to Special summon it, and since I'm discarding The Fabled Catsith, I can destroy your luster dragon." she explains, plopping the cat in the grave and special summoning the weird little lizard in attack mode.

The Fabled Nozoochee: ATK: 1200, DEF: 800

"And now, since that was just a special summon, I can still Normal Summon my Fabled Kokkator." she says before slapping down the weird little magic chicken next to Nozoochee.

The Fabled Kokkator: ATK: 1700, DEF: 1500

Moving into her battle phase, Maisy says: "Now, I'll attack with both Kokkator and Nozoochee for a total of 2900."

Hayate LP: 4000>1100

"I'll end with that." she says, letting Hayate take her turn.

After that turn Vincent was impressed, Fabled was a archetype after his own heart with the discarding and the destroying of things. My my, He was growing some respect for the wind girl sitting beside him. Now to see how it ends considering the hand difference.

Turn 4: Hayate
Maisy: LP: 3500, 1 cards in Hand, 2 Monsters, 0 S/T
Hayate: LP: 1100, 5 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Hayate drew her card and sighed when she looked at it and moved her hand to a different card which was once again one for all "i activate one for all and discard herald of creation and special summon Maiden with Eyes of Blue Hayate said putting the herald of creation in her graveyard and searched her deck for the card she called out and put it on the table "and with that my turn ends" Hayate folded her cards back into a simple stack holding it up

Turn 5: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 3500, 2 cards in Hand, 2 Monsters, 0 S/T
Hayate: LP: 1100, 3 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Maisy smiled confidently as she drew her card, completely unaware of the Maiden's effect. Immediately, Maisy said: "I'll activate my spell card, Pride of the Weak. So when I have no cards in my hand, and I destroy a monster of yours with a Level 2 Monster, I can draw two cards. Now I'll set a monster, and attack your Maiden with Nozoochee."

Hayate shook her head in response "You just targetted her which means her effect activates!" Hayate said searching her deck for blue eyes "When maiden is targetted for a attack... the battle will be negated and i can summon blue-eyes from my deck or hand Hayate continued placing her powerfull dragon on the field "and the battle is negated and her position is switched from attack to defense, sadly she is now vulnerable"

Maisy stared blankly in disbelief. She just screwed herself over SO HARD, and there wasn't anything she had that could beat three thousand attack points. The least she could do was get rid of Maiden..."I-I'll attack with my Kokkator against your maiden." she says, dissapointed that she just made things infinitely harder for herself.

Hayate placed her maiden into the graveyard zone

"That's it for me..." she says, worried since now she was literally drawing blindly in the hopes of getting a card that could save her.

Turn 6: Hayate
Maisy: LP: 3500, 0 cards in Hand, 3 Monsters, 1 S/T
Hayate: LP: 1100, 4 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Hayate drew her card and looked at it and sighed "i suppose i can summon Shining Angel" Hayate said placing it on the field and moved to her battle phase "I use my Shining angel to attack nozoochee and my blue-eyes attacks kokkator" Hayate declared tapping on her targets once clarifying who is attacking who...

Maisy moved Kokkator and Nozoochee to the grave, taking her lumps.

Maisy LP: 3500>2200>2000

"and i set the rest of my cards facedown and end my turn Hayate said placing her last 3 cards on the S/T zone

Turn 7: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 2000, 1 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Hayate: LP: 1100, 0 cards in Hand, 2 Monsters, 3 S/T

Maisy gulped and drew her card, before saying: "I'll summon another Fabled Kokkator in Attack Mode, and flip over my Fabled Nozoochee." as she flipped the werid little snake over into attack position beside the new Kokkator. A comeback from this was unlikely, but it all depended on if she could last long enough to get a strong enough level 2.

Moving to her battle phase, Maisy says: "I'll have my Kokkator attack your Shining Angel."

Hayate LP: 1100>800

"Angel's effect activates i can summon another light monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck and i will summon another shining angel" Hayate declared and searched her deck for shining angel and replaced the other one

Maisy nodded and said: "Alright...I'll end my turn there.", dreading the realization that she might have screwed herself again.

Turn 8: Hayate

Maisy: LP: 2000, 0 cards in Hand, 2 Monsters, 1 S/T
Hayate: LP: 800, 0 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Hayate drew her card and smiled "This is the last turn then..." Hayate declared and placed a spellcard on the field "I activate Burst stream of destruction! Blue-eyes destroys all your monsters!" Hayate said adding a fake roar the end of her sentence though rather than menacing it was rather cute for the joke of it

Maisy put her monsters into the grave and gulped. If this were an action duel...she'd probably get blown away by that kind of power. And then Hayate roared. Dawww.

Hayate continued her turn moving to battle phase "My monsters attack your life points directly Go Blue-eyes! Burst stream- no no this would be more fun in one of those duel disks duels..." Hayate declared but stopped herself from getting too excited

"HOLD IT" Vincent shouted out before the duel could continue any further. Besides Hayate being cute she was also making a newbie mistake of not reading the card properly. "You can't attack the turn you annihalated the field with blue-eyes, you know that right?" Vincent questioned the girl opposite the table from him. "It explains so in burst streams effect but you would know that if you took time to read a little and plan before hand."

"ah... right... sorry sorry... Shining angel attacks directly... i don't get to use that card often against Hayato..."

Maisy smiled slightly. She wasn't getting creamed this turn, it seemed. Still, ouch, angel punchies.

Maisy LP: 2000>600

"Well in that case my turn ends..." Hayate said moving her used cards to he grave

Turn 9: Maisy

Maisy: LP: 400, 0 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 1 S/T
Hayate: LP: 800, 0 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Maisy drew her next card and sighed, before smiling warmly at Hayate. "Welp. I lose." she says before summoning The Fabled Cerburrel in attack mode. "That's my turn."

Maisy: LP: 400, 0 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 1 S/T
Hayate: LP: 800, 0 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 0 S/T

Hayate drew her card and didnt even look at it and moved to the battle phase and attacked the cerburrel with her blue-eyes "Blue-eyes attack that monster and finish this battle Hayate declared tapping cards and smiled a little

Maisy 400>0

WINNER : HAYATE

Turn 1: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 4000, 5 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000, 5 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T

"I'll start first-Oh, there you are Hayate!." Maisy declared before drawing her five cards, and then acknowledging Hayate. Humming, she picked one out of her fanned-five and picked one out. "I'll start by summoning my Infernity Knight in attack mode, and setting one card face-down. That's all I have for now." she says before setting her cards in their respective zones.Truth be told, she was a little nervous about playing Vincent. He seemed...really good. Better than her at least.

Turn 2: Vincent
Maisy: LP: 4000, 3 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000, 6 cards in Hand, 0 Monsters, 0 S/T

Vincent whom had already drawn his original five cards looked at the Infernity knight across the table. It was better to not take any risks. Though it might be a fun idea to try something new or just crush all resistance. which ever was coolier. "I summon Summoner monk in ATK position, however its effect forces it to Defence. That is not all I activate its effect by discarding my Book of Moon to the graveyard! It allows me to special summon one level 4 monster from my deck but it cannot attack this turn, The monster I choose is!" Vincent paused to let it gain tension "Chaos Emissary, Lux!" He finished as he took the card from his deck placed it on the table and shuffled his deck. "And now I probably overlay them like this right?" Vincent said as he nervously placed the two cards over eachother. "I guess I Xyz summon! Chaos Emissary, Lady nox. Treat her with respect please." Vincent finished as he placed the black card over the top of his other cards, so did the materials effects activate or. Probably not Vincent didn't see Ruki do it so maybe it didn't happen. "I end" Vincent finished"

Turn 3: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 4000, 4 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000, 4 cards in hand 4 monster 0 S/T

Maisy stared blankly at the extremely quick XYZ summon. This was...already taking a turn for the worst for her. Drawing her next card, she mulled over her options before sighing.

"I'll summon Fabled Urostos in Attack Mode, and ctivate my Constellar Belt. With that, no light monster's effect can be nageted while its on the field. And, since I only have two cards in my hand now, Urostos gives every other Fabled Monster an extra 400 Attack Points. I'll end it there." she explains, figuring that she was safe for now, since Nox had really low attack points for an Xyz Monster.

Turn 4: Vincent
Maisy: LP: 4000, 2 cards in Hand, 2 Monsters, 2 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000,5 cards in hand 1 monster 0 S/T

"My turn, I draw!" Vincent drew his next card as he looked through his hand, still not a single chaos summon in sight, though he had other options. "I activate my Mystical space typhoon'" Vincent said as he placed the spell card on the table "I target your face down card" he said tapping the card in question.

Maisy flipped it over after he tapped it, saying: "I activate my Side Effects? Trap card. You can choose a number from one to three, and draw that many, and for each card you draw I get 2000 Life points." as an explanation. Thank goodness it wasn't Constellar Belt that got hit.

"I draw 1 card" Vincent said as he drew the top card of his deck. 'This Changes everything' He thought to himself as he added it to his hand.

Maisy LP: 4000>6000

"I am not done though so don't count me out yet" Vincent said as he placed down a monster. "I summon Thunder king rai-oh in attack position and attack your fabled monster!"

Thunder king rai-oh, 1900 ATK

"Anything in response?" Vincent questioned as he waited for a response.

Maisy shook her head. "No, but...Urostos has just as much attack, so they'll both be destroyed." she explained, confused on why he wouldn't attack Infernity instead.

"Now then after that lovely battle phase." Vincent said slightly sarcastic, he didn't like having to ram his monsters to their own deaths yet he was doing it way more then avarage with this deck. "I banish Thunder king rai-oh from my graveyard. To special summon Black Dragon Collarserpent in Defence Position" Vincent said as he placed Thunder king rai-oh above his graveyard and placed down the little black dragon. "I end"

Turn 5: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 6000, 3 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000,3 cards in hand 2 monster 0 S/T

Maisy drew her next card and thought about what she could do for a moment...this was getting tricky. Collapserpent had more attack and she didn't have a good way to counter that until she had more Fables...

"I'll place one card face down and end my turn." she says, unable to do much of anything.

Turn 6: Vincent,
Maisy: LP: 6000, 2 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 2 S/T
Vincent: LP: 4000,4 cards in hand 2 monster 0 S/T

"I draw" Vincent said as he drew his next card "I activate D.D.R Different Dimension Reincarnation." Vincent said as he discarded Chaos Emissary, Gateway from his hand. "Now that D.D.R's cost is payed I can special summon one of my banished monsters of course I am choosing Thunder King Rai-Oh." Vincent said as he placed the king of lightning back onto his side of the field. "The army is ready and the battle is forthcoming! Charge forth!" I change Black dragon Collarserpent to attack postion and I attack your Infernity knight!" Vincent said with a cry as he tapped the card he was attacking in question.

Maisy didn't have a response, and as such, placed Infernity in the grave. "When Infernity Knight is destroyed, I can discard two cards to special summon him back onto the field." she explained, moving him back onto the field.

Maisy LP: 6000>5600

"Thunder king Rai-oh Charges in on Infernity knight!" Vincent declared as he once again tapped the revived knight.

Maisy flipped her face-down card over, revealing Forbidden Lance. "I activate Forbidden Lance and target your Thunder-King, bringing him down to 1100 Attack Points."

Vincent smiled seemed like this wasn't going to be a complete landslide after all.

Vincent 4000 > 3700

"well i guess thats it for me" Vincent said "I end my turn"

Turn 7: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 5600, 1 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Vincent: LP: 3700,2 cards in hand 2 monster 0 S/T

Maisy stared blankly at the card she just drew before switching Infernity Knight to defense mode. "...Welll...uhhh...that's it for me." she says, visibly dissapointed with her hand.

Turn 7: Maisy
Maisy: LP: 5600, 1 cards in Hand, 1 Monsters, 1 S/T
Vincent: LP: 3700,3 cards in hand 2 monster 0 S/T

"I draw" Vincent said as he drew his next card, "Alright then I guess I summon Freed the Brave wonderer in attack position!" Vincent said as he placed the fraughty knight on the table. "But of course" Vincent said as his face took on a more serious tone. "Did you honestly think that was it!" Vincent cried as he began moving Chaos Emissary, Gateway and Thunder king rai-oh to the banish zone. "By banishing one light and one dark monster I special summon My Strongest monster! 'Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning'." Vincent roared with truimph as the card was not placed but Slammed down on the table like it was a meteor.

Maisy stared blankly. "At this point, no. I didn't." she says, looking like someone just spat in her ice cream. This hand was...abyssmal.

"Well I guess I'll make it simple, My Envoys is charging in on Infernity knight!" Vincent said tapping the little monster. "And after your monster goes my Envoy can attack again with my dragon and my freed, and that is game!" Vincent declared

The knight stood no chance and just got plopped into the grave. Maybe Maisy could survive a turn...nope. That was too many attack points.

Maisy LP: 5600>0
Maisy slumped forward onto the table and buried her face in her hat. That was...terrible.

WINNER : Vincent

"So how was that?" Vincent asked after he had won the match and was starting to shuffle his cards away.

Hayate had, at some point, left without a word. Her good deed done, she

Maisy slowly looked up. "My deck didn't give me anything..." she lamented. She didn't mind losing if it was slightly even, or she at least got more than two monsters out, but that was just...frustrating. Her deck LITERALLY just didn't give her anything useful at all. Gathering her cards up, she started putting them away. "Buuuut it did help me learn a little about how to play this deck better. So, thanks for that."

Turn 1: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 5 cards in hand

Haas drew his first five cards with gusto, pretty clearly announcing "It's my turn!" a few moments after. He scanned over the cards in his hand and had to grimace. No good plays, not during this turn anyway. Now the question was, what'd he do with it? "Looks like I'll be startin' it off a little slowly, so I set one monster and another card facedown. That'll be it!" Haas exclaimed, one horizontal and one vertical card appearing on his field in a T-shaped form.

Turn 2: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 Set monster, 1 S/T
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 6 cards in hand

Tsukiko also drew five cards into her hand and since it was her turn after Haas ended his turn she first analyzed the field. She took notice to one set monster and a card in the Spell/Trap Zone which was most likely a Trap Card. "I draw." She said as she flung her hand across her duel disk where the deck sat and shot a card out from the top of her deck then caught it into her hand. She wanted to use a certain card she drew, but another card she also drew prevented her from doing so making her rethink her strategy. "I summon Eclipse Wyvern in attack position." She said as she laid the card on her duel disk in face up position where a silver dragon with red lining appeared.

Eclipse Wyvern: 1600 ATK 1000 DEF Level 4 LIGHT Dragon

"If that's a Trap Card, I might want to save this card since I could use it later if he doesn't activate it." She said toward herself as she tried to retain her focus while staring at her cards carefully. Despite her condition making a very hard to keep her eyes mainly on Haas, she was able to select probably the best option at the moment for her and summon it to the field.

"Battle, Eclipse Wyvern attack Haas face down card." She commanded the silver dragon as it shot a blast right at Haas face down monster. She was curious if he was going to activate his face down Trap Card.

Haas didn't try anything as the face-down monster get shred to pieces, revealing a cartoonish Hyena blasting into a hundred little pixels. "Ngh...! When Hyena is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon a second copy of it from my deck!" Haas exclaimed with excitement, a card jutting out of his disk. He grabbed it, spun it around and slammed it straight down onto his Duel Disk horizontally. From a vortex a gray little Hyena rose... That looked like it was asleep. Cheeky bugger.

Hyena: 1000 ATK 300 DEF Level 3 EARTH Beast

"Not bad." Tsukiko said as she ended her Battle Phase then set one card face down. She wanted to wait and activate the other card in her hand until later. She may need to use it for another purpose and if she used it now it might just be a wasted move especially since she knew it would work in conjunction with her face down card. "I set one card and I end my turn." She said as she took her hand away from her duel disk after laying the card face down in the Spell/Trap Zone.

Turn 3: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 4 cards in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 4 cards in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T

Haas started to feel a little wound up himself, his blood boiling with energy at the possibilities of this turn. "Alright then, My turn! Draw!" he announced, swiping a card from the top and looking at what it was. His face showed some obvious disappointment, but it was a minor setback. "Hey, Tsukiko? You wanted to see what my deck was capable of, right? Well, I'll show you!" he declared, putting the freshly drawn card into the hand and picking out a different one. "First, I'd like a warm welcome for my little friend: The cute little Wind-up Snail!" Haas announced, and for a little while nothing happened. Then a few sounds of something rotating came from behind him, and soon enough, a little pink toy that somewhat resembled a snail with a magnet on its head rolled out from behind Haas. It had a gold key sticking out from the back of its shell.

Wind-up Snail: 100 ATK 2000 DEF Level 2 WATER Aqua

"And when a Wind-up monster is summoned to my field, a new toy comes along to greet you alongside them! I special summon Wind-up Shark, in Defense mode!" Haas continued his turn, and a whirlpool of water suddenly opened up in the middle of the field. Out of it sprang a toy shark, painted blue and white, with the same key sticking out of its fin.

Wind-up Shark: 1500 ATK 1300 DEF Level 4 WATER Fish

"Interesting..." Tsukiko said since this was something new she hadn't seen before. At least it wasn't those old Chaos Monsters would have made her yawn constantly since she had seen a vast majority of them aside from maybe the new Chaos Emissary ones which knew by name only. "I take it you enjoy toys then?" Tsukiko questioned toward Haas as she did find his deck rather interesting though a bit unorthodox.

Haas blushed a little at the question, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with their free hand. "Ehehe... Guess you've found me out. I used to make a lot of toys like these at home." he admitted, but his grin didn't lower. "But you've not seen anything yet! The strength of these toys lie in their effects! Wind-up Snail's effect activates, which allows me to return your Set card to the hand!" Haas explained, with the little key on the pink toy's back starting to slowly rotate. The toy itself started to really rev up the wheels with which it crawled around. Once the spinning key stopped, and promptly fell from its back, the snail suddenly burst forward and drove circles around the card, creating a gust to lift it up from the floor.

Tsukiko didn't do anything as she allowed the card to return to her hand. She closed her eyes for a moment and realized she had made a wise move not to play the other card from her hand. It was a slight setback to have the card returned to her hand, but she could still use it so it wasn't that big of a deal. "..." She didn't say anything as she caught the card with her hand and returned it to the rest of cards that were fanned out.

Yes! Everything was going to plan right now. Wind-up Snail returned back to its position on the field, but looked extremely tired and lifeless now that that key had fallen out of it's back. Haas' last piece of the combo now wouldn't get interrupted for sure! "From my hand I activate the Spell card: Weights Zenmaisures!" Haas spoke, and a crane appeared behind the two toys. "I select two of my Wind-up monsters, and you choose one of them. The monster you don't choose will have its level become equal to the one you do, but, by choosing the lower level I get to draw one card. So, choose!" the boy invited Tsukiko, looking content with himself at being able to pull this off.

"I choose..." Tsukiko said as she analyzed the cards closely. It was hard to process these two cards and try to remained focus toward her own strategy. "I'll choose the monster you first summoned this turn." She said as she pointed at Wind-Up Snail.

The crane let two ropes drop from it and picked up both Snail and Shark, before throwing them onto a weighing scale behind Haas. It violently rocked side to side, and Shark seemed to look a little sick whilst it was doing so. When it came to an end, Snail rolled off fine whilst Shark just kind of... Flopped back. "Because you picked the lower level, I get to draw a card!"

Wind-up Shark: Level 4 > 2

Haas picked up his card, frowning a bit as it's again something the boy can't use. But it was good enough. "Now the real fun is going to begin! I activate my Wind-up Shark's effect, allowing me to raise its level by one!" Haas declared, and the key on Shark's back started to rotate as well now. The fish toy became a lot more energetic, even whilst they were still dizzy, and jumped onto its tail to stare Tsukiko down.

Wind-up Shark: Level 2 > 3

"I now overlay my level three Hyena with my Level three Wind-up Shark!" came out of the boy's mouth, and a swirly black hole opened up in the middle of the arena. It whipped up a strong gust, Hyena and Wind-up Shark turning into swirly brown and blue lines respectively. At the same time, they jumped into that hole and started to mix together before a bright flash of light erupted. "Your fixing of machines never ceases, so lend me your aid! Xyz Summon, Rank 3! Mechquipped Angineer!!" Haas yelled. Out of the hole in the floor rose a blue, odd looking fellow. They were completely covered head-to-toe in armor and didn't seem to have any legs, with all arms and legs being wings of sorts. A red vizor covered their face, which was staring down at Tsukiko while two yellow orbs were floating around it.

Mechquipped Angineer: 1800 ATK 1000 DEF Rank 3 LIGHT Fairy / OL 2

"Xyz Summoning, huh? Haven't seen someone perform one of those ever since my brother did so when I traveled with him. It's nice to see more people using the extra deck as I see it has a lot of potential and I learned that from my brother." Tsukiko said after she had questioned the fact Xyz Summoned which did catch her attention. It had been the first time in almost a year she had seen an Xyz Summon. She recalled though during the Entrance Exams which she didn't have to partake in due to her brother's status that she saw Haas, Venwyn, Ethel, Ben and Akemi all Xyz Summon. Though she wondered what happened to Akemi since she hadn't seen her since then. She also didn't see Venwny around anymore too long after since he suddenly disappeared too. But perhaps that was the code of the ninja. A silly thought to be honest. Though it wasn't that important to her since Ben and Haas were still around. The only difference this time was she got to see them closer up just like that time when her brother did it. "Y'know, ever since the Entrance Exams it had been over a year that I've seen Xyz Summoning. But this time I get to see it closer up. This is actually the closest I've been to see one so I'm actually amazed by your abilities, Haas. The first thing my brother learned to master was Xyz Summoning before he was introduced to Fusion Summoning." Tsukiko said as she for a moment cracked a vivid smile, but it was immediately erased within seconds. She wanted to smile, but everything that overwhelmed her soul continued to pull her down into her abyss of unhappiness and despair.

Haas always felt proud of himself when he could get a big, imposing monster out on his field with just a snap of his finger. He looked at the glorious monster with the biggest dumb grin, before noticing Tsukiko started talking and instead paying attention that. He kind of blushed a little at the compliments, putting is free hand on his neck again and scratching. "Aw, c'mon, stop... You're making me blush." he admitted, but regained his composure soon enough. It wasn't anything special, his friends and him all learned to do it on their own after enough mock duels. "Anyway, my turn isn't over yet! Battle Phase! Mechquipped Angineer, attack Eclipse Wyvern!" Haas declared, and the Xyz monster responded by flying up and then divebombing the monster.

Eclipse Wyvern was shattered and Tsukiko's lifepoints dropped minimally, but Haas soon declared "Wind-up Snail, Attack her directly!" to follow. The little pink-colored, fake insect rolled up and just kind off... Bopped its head against Tsukiko's ankle, for the grand total of 100 extra damage.

Tsukiko's LP 4000 > 3700

"And THAT, is my turn! I now end it and move the game back to you." Haas announced, looking more confident than he did at the start of the duel.

Turn 4: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 6 cards in hand

"I draw." Tsukiko said as she drew another card into her hand. Wasn't the card she wanted, but it was something she could use when she saw it. she moved her hand over then grabbed one of her cards from her then flipped toward Haas as soon as she gripped it in between her thumb and index finger. "I activate the Spell Card Different Dimension Capsule. I'm sure you are well aware of what I can do with this card? But anyway, I can choose one card in my deck and banish it. During my second Standby Phase I can add that selected card to my hand." She said as she was about to search her deck for a card and then soon banish it unless Haas had a counter card, but noticed he didn't activate his Trap Card though she was curious what it was.

"I then place one monster down in face-down position and I set one card ending my turn." She announced as she placed one monster face-down in defense position then set another card right across from her Spell Card. She then took her hand away from her deck as she was ready to see what Haas next move was.

Turn 5: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 Set monster, 2 S/T

"My turn, then! Draw!" Haas cried out, swiping another card from his deck. No good. He didn't have much choice now... "Alright then, Battle! Mechquipped Angineer attacks your face-down Monster!" Haas declared, and the Xyz monster rose up high into the sky. It dashed down again, but before it made contact with the card the Angineer got bounced back by some kind of forcefield. The card flipped up, revealing a demonic looking fellow with red skin and a green dragon coiled around them.

Dragonic Guard: 1500 ATK 1800 DEF Level 4 FIRE Dragon

Haas clicked his tongue, knowing he was unable to do much of anything against it. "I'll switch my Wind-up Snail to defense, and then Set a card to end my turn." he finished, with the snail curling up into its shell.

Turn 6: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 4 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T

"My turn, I draw!" She said as she drew another card from her deck. Wasn't entirely the card she wanted though she kept her poker face despite this. Tsukiko knew she would have to wait one more turn before she could retrieve her card. When she saw a monster of hers remained on the field and the card she looked at shocked her finger. She wanted to hesitate playing it, but decided she needed to get more use to it. "I tribute Dragonic Guard to summon Void Dragon from my hand! Arise, dragon of black chaos, reign down terror in your wake!" She exclaimed as she had a hard time resisting the urge to become even more aggressive after summoning the monster. A dark sleek metallic dragon descended from above onto the field right beside her as she could feel the dark surge of it in her body.

Void Dragon: 2200 ATK 1900 DEF Level 6 DARK Machine

"Allow me to show you what Void Dragon does. By discarding one card, depending on the card type I choose, it can destroy one face up card on your side of the field. I'll send Exploder Dragon to my graveyard and I think you know what that means." Tsukiko said as she grabbed Exploder Dragon and deposited it into her graveyard. The dark metallic dragon swung around its tail releasing a shockwave at Haas Xyz Monster. "Black Chaos Strike!"

Haas looked amazed at the dragon when it descended down upon the field, as it was the same one he'd seen earlier. "Aw man, that's such a cool card!" he congratulated the girl, but it didn't seem like she paid much mind. Tsukiko wanted to activate an effect, but Haas couldn't let that go through. "Sorry, but by activation my Angineer's effect, I can detach one Overlay Unit to switch it to Defense position and prevent it from being destroyed!" Haas explained, one of the yellow orbs splashing open on Angineer's chest as it crossed their four wings in front of them. A barrier formed around the monster, which stopped the tail dead in its tracks.

Mechquipped Angineer OL 2 > 1

"Rather an interesting move. I'm impressed you managed to stop my non-extra deck ace card though it isn't my best." She said calmly as she tried her hardest to resist the crazes to smirk evilly. In the current condition she was in, it probably wasn't the best idea to summon that monster. She was just barely manage to resist its urge that usually made her go insane. "Despite how weak it really looks, your deck has a lot to offer. Looks can be deceiving indeed." Tsukiko remarked as she complimented Haas on the way his deck was setup. "Turn end."

Turn 7: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T

Haas blinked twice when Tsukiko brought up his deck, grinning like an idiot again. "Heh, I know right? Wind-ups don't look like much, but they're really good when you know how to use 'em!" was his response to the whole thing. Then he realized it was his turn. "Oh, right! My turn, Draw!" he cried out once more, then looked at what he actually drew. This was a little risky, but... "I'll summon my Wind-up Hunter!" Haas declared, and a toy-like centaur rose up from the ground. It had a green-and-white paintjob, as well as having a crossbow built on its left arm. Their left eye was also covered with some kind of visor, and a black cape fluttered in the wind.

Wind-up Hunter: 1600 ATK 500 DEF Level 3 DARK Beast-Warrior

"By tributing one Wind-up monster, I can make you discard one random card. I tribute my Wind-up Snail!" Haas explained the effect, with Snail turning into an arrow of light that mounted itself on Hunter's crossbow. It then fired, striking the left card in Tsukiko's hand.

Tsukiko grabbed the card he chose and sent it to her graveyard, but her poker face still remained as her confidence wasn't shaken. She wouldn't miss her Spell Card since she didn't have any use for it and good thing she already played her most important one earlier.

Okay, gamble time. "I set one card, then end my turn."

Turn 8: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 1 card in hand, 2 monsters, 3 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T

"I draw!" She said as she drew another card. She also just remembered it had been two turns since she activated Different Dimension Capsule so now she could add the card she banished to her hand. "Since it has been two turns since I activated Different Dimension Capsule, I am now allowed to add the card I banished to my hand." She said as the capsule dissipated and out of the banish zone came the card which she added to her hand.

"I summon Cyber Phoenix from my hand in attack position." She said as a metallic phoenix looking bird appeared right beside her Void Dragon. She remembered the effect of his Xyz Monster and didn't want to dig herself a hole by gambling on its effect again.

Cyber Phoenix: 1200 ATK 1600 DEF Level 4 FIRE Machine

This was the best day of Haas' life. "I activate my face-down trap card, Attention!" Haas declared, as the Goblin Attack Force was shown and blew up from all sides. "I target one monster on your side of the field that is level five or lower, and destroy all cards with a different level!" he explained, having a smug grin. Surely this wouldn't backfire?

"I'm afraid that won't work. When a Trap or Spell Card activates that would target one of my Machine-Type monsters Cyber Phoenix's effect activates. It negates the effect of that card." She said as Cyber Phoenix let off a burst of flames from its shockwave to block his attack.

Haas grimaced as he saw his 'Attention!' go up in flames, realizing his plan might not have been as well thought out as he initially figured. This was probably the reason he was in Earth...

"Battle then. Void Dragon attack Wind-Up Hunter with Black Chaos Stream!" Tsukiko as she commanded her dragon to take out Haas Wind-Up Hunter. The dragon charged up its energy as it surged through its body then let off a massive column of dark light in his card's direction.

"I activate Angineer's effect, which switches it to Defense position and prevents its destruction!" Haas explained again, the last remaining Overlay Unit splashing open and creating a barrier around Hunter.

Mechquipped Angineer: OL 1 > 0

"All right, Cyber Phoenix. Destroy Angineer." Tsukiko said as she commanded her fiery metal phoenix to strike at Angineer. She though remembered that other face-down card he had and wondered if it would activate.

Haas held up his arms in front of him to shield himself from the pixels that got carried with Angineer's destruction, disappointed that one of his Xyz monsters is gone.

"I have to admit your monsters do have useful effects and I'm quite amazed by how well your deck synchronizes with itself. My brother always told me its the quality of the deck not the quantity. Unlike my other duels which had people using old cards I've seen before this one is proving to me quite a test for my prowess." Tsukiko said as she took her hand away from her deck then ended her turn allowing Haas to make his next move. She wondered if he could gain some momentum after he lost it earlier.

Turn 9: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T

Tsukiko's opponent nervously laughed at her compliments, but was too focused on the duel to make any specific remarks on them. "Ergh... My turn, draw!" Haas declared, turning his eyes only slightly to check the card he just drew. No use. Dammit, nothing was going his way these last few turns... "I summon my Wind-up Bat!" the boy announced, and something small poked its head from behind Haas' shoulder. It was a small, black toy in the shape of a bat with little eyes but rather large fangs. It also sort of stayed on that shoulder, not bothering to move to the field.

Wind-up Bat: 300 ATK 350 DEF Level 1 WIND Machine

"Its effect allows me to switch it to defense, then add one Wind-up monster from my graveyard to my hand. Bat, use Winding Echolocation!" Haas commanded, and the toy responded by having its key turned and letting out a cry aimed at the floor. It created a small, black hole which had a flash of light hop into Haas' hands. A brief image of Wind-up Shark was on the field before Bat got tired and decided to take a nap on Haas' shoulder.

"I... End my turn."

Turn 10: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T

"I draw!" Tsukiko said as she drew a card into her hand. She then took a look at the card and wondered if she should summon it or use Void Dragon's effect. She didn't want to be second guessing herself or making a mistake. So as long as Cyber Phoenix remained on the field she remembered her Machine-Type monsters were safeguarded from Spell and Trap Cards. Closing her eyes she pondered whether to summon the monster she just drew or not.

"I tribute Cyber Phoenix to summon Blowback Dragon from my hand." She said as she grabbed Blowback Dragon's card and summoned the blue and red metallic warrior like dragon from her hand. She also didn't forget that Blowback Dragon had quite a unique effect which she could use. She then opened her eyes and gazed upon Haas trying to remain like she was and not pushing herself over the edge into her more aggressive side. You could notice a slight hesitation from her eyes and take note that she looked somewhat troubled even if she tried to hide it under her poker face.

Blowback Dragon: 2300 ATK 1200 DEF Level 6 DARK Machine

"I activate Blowback Dragon's effect. Once per turn, I can target one card on your side of the field, if two of the results are Heads I can destroy that target." She flipped the first coin and it landed Tails. A disappointed look overshadowed her face and a sigh came out of her mouth when the second result was Tails. Shaking her head in disappointment that was not the greatest coin toss for her. "Looks like lady luck is on your side this time." She mused as she decided it was time to move into the Battle Phase.

Haas's face scrunched up when he heard about Blowback Dragon's effect, getting the feeling that if it went through, this was going to get very ugly. The first coin toss took ages for him, but when it landed on the floor a huge wave of relief washed over the guy. And then the second followed, which Haas also looked at with fear. But who would've guessed they were also tails? "Booyah!" He cried out in relief, fistpumping the air. "But, I don't plan on winning my duel by luck. Show me what you've got, Tsukiko!" he challenged, his eyes shining with confidence.

"Be careful what you ask for." Tsukiko warned as she decided to stop resisting her urge to become more aggressive. Tsukiko's eyes turned very serious and there was somewhat a cold smile on her face. "Battle!" She declared as she was ready to move into her Battle Phase now. Her tone changed and didn't seem as polite or nice as it was before and her eyes became a little more sinister. "Blowback Dragon deliver pain onto his monster Wind-Up Hunter and obliterate it!" Blowback Dragon fired a blaze of darkness at Wind-Up Hunter where it was swallowed into its darkness dragged into the gates of oblivion.

"Now, Void Dragon." Tsukiko said as she started to grin feeling a refreshed after knowing she delivered pain onto her foe. The same pain which tormented her and plagued her which she wanted everyone to feel, because it was one reason she hated entire society. A dark aura enveloped her when she commanded Void Dragon to attack Haas' other monster. "Black Chaos Stream! Rip through and burn to ashes!"

Wind-up Bat woke up at around the same time Tsukiko announced her attack, slowly flickering open its eyelids. Then it saw a big scary dragon charging up a breath attack and felt the most awake it's ever been, frantically flapping its wings and moving off of Haas' shoulder. It flew around in circles in front of the boy, before eventually getting obliterated by the powerful burst attack. Haas held up his Duel Disk to shield himself from the smoke, but at least his lifepoints were safe.

"Turn end." Tsukiko said as she didn't have cards to set down on her duel disk. She moved her hands away from her deck as she would allow Haas to take his next turn.

Turn 11: Haas
Haas: 4000 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3700 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 monsters, 1 S/T

Haas had no monsters on his field, and Tsukiko was staring him down with two big ones... Man, if there was ever a stupid grin, Haas would have it on his face right now. He's been having a lot of fun with this duel so far. "Heh... Thanks, Tsukiko. I'm kinda glad I dueled you now, you're great!" he complimented her, then looked down at his deck and placed his hand over it. "I'll admit, right now, I don't have anything to deal with your field. So... I guess this is sort of like a 'Destiny Draw', right?" he asked, closing his eyes and placing two fingertips on the top most card. "It's my turn! DRAW!" he shouted, swiping the next card with gusto. When he opened his eyes again to look at what it was, the grin only got more intense. "ALRIGHT! Here we GO!" he yelled, slamming it down onto the Duel Disk instantly.

"I normal summon Wind-up Juggler!" Haas begun, with a green toy in a dress rising up from the floor. It had an hourglass shape, with the dress ending in a spring and a golden key on its back. "And then, I can Special Summon my Wind-up Shark!" he went on, and an image of the same shark from before soon showed itself next to juggler.

Wind-up Juggler: 1700 ATK 1000 DEF Level 4 WIND Psychic

Wind-up Shark: 1500 ATK 1300 DEF Level 4 WATER Fish

Alright... Haas now had two level 4 monsters on his field. It was time to show Tsukiko his OWN ace! "I overlay my Level 4 Wind-up Juggler with my Level 4 Wind-up Shark!!" Haas announced his Xyz summon again, and the same vortex from before opened up with a similar gust. Juggler became a green swirl and Shark a blue one, which both jumped inside and mixed together much like before. "Creator and overseer of the toys, enter upon the battlefield and demonstrate your might!" Haas chanted, with a flash of light erupting from the vortex. Xyz Summon! Rank 4, Wind-up Zenmaister! he finished, and from the Xyz vortex rose another green contraption. Well, green white and purple. Four rockets kept it floating in the air, all connected to an upside-down pyramid. From the middle of that pyramid jutted some golden gears, connecting to a small upper body. Two gigantic arms hung from its side, and the head was comparatively tiny to the rest of the body.

Wind-up Zenmaister: 1900 ATK 1500 DEF Rank 4 EARTH Machine / OL 2

"..." Tsukiko didn't really have anything to say to his monster. She kept her focus on it though. Due to the fact she had become more aggressive she concentrated more on herself rather than her opponent.

Haas didn't expect Tsukiko to really get it just yet, but smirked anyway. "Wind-up Zenmaister's effect! It gains 300 ATK for each Overlay Unit attached to it!" Haas explained, as the two orbs floating around Zenmaister rotated more intensely. With this powerup, neither of Tsukiko's monsters would be able to withstand the attack!

Wind-up Zenmaister: ATK 1900 > 2500

"Heh, you know what that means right? Battle! Wind-up Zenmaister, attack Void Dragon with Rotation Smash!" the boy called his attack, with the left arm or Zenmaister detaching itself. A rocket from its rear end flared up, and the fist launched itself right at Void Dragon, intending to punch it straight into the ground. It was spinning whilst flying also, acting like some kind of drill on impact.

Tsukiko eyes narrowed a little bit when she saw her own monster about to be destroyed. A shockwave was through her body as the dark aura around her body continued to pulse around her. "Urgh..." She said as she looked like she was in a lot of pain from the destruction of her own dragon, but the look in her eyes was one full of emptiness.

Tsukiko LP: 3700 > 3400

Haas was screaming in celebration, at least on the inside. On the outside, the boy pretended to be completely calm and collected. "Heh, I'm glad I at least got to show off my ace this duel. Turn end!"

Turn 12: Tsukiko
Haas: 4000 LP, 1 card in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3400 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T

Tsukiko didn't say a word as she drew another card from her deck. The loss of her dragon almost felt like the same when she lost her mother. The empty look in her eyes continued to look on at Haas. She didn't even take a look at the card she drew. "Activate Blowback Dragon's effect." She said as she activated the effect of the card then pointed at Haas' Wind-up Zenmaister. The first result was tails. The second result was heads. The last result she was hoping was heads, but it spun around for awhile then landed tails.

"Battle, from my hand I activate Limiter Removal. The attack of my Machine monsters doubles when I use this card." She said as she commanded Blowback Dragon to attack and destroy his monster. Though she also remembered she would have an empty field at the end of her turn, because of the card though she had a plan.

Blowback Dragon: ATK 2300 > 4600

Haas LP: 4000 > 1900

Haas held up his disk again, trying to shield himself from the incoming impact. Zenmaister had a huge hole in his chest from Blowback Dragon's blast, crouching down on his knees and slowly fading into nothing. The smoke from Blowback Dragon still made quite the mess, though.

"I tribute Blowback Dragon to summon a second Void Dragon from my hand." She said as she tributes her Blowback Dragon to summon a second Void Dragon from her hand which saved her from the negative effect of the card at the end of her turn giving her a monster to defend her Life Points with. Still she had empty eyes like she had been through tremendous suffering and had almost lost faith in everything as she ended her turn.

Void Dragon: 2200 ATK 1900 DEF Level 6 DARK Machine

Turn 13: Haas
Haas: 1900 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 3400 LP, 1 card in hand, 1 monster, 1 S/T

Haas whistled at the second Void Dragon, knowing full well he's in trouble now. That thing had a deadly effect, and even more deadly ATK points. That last turn had been a destiny draw, but now it was more important than ever. Though, he did notice something a little off about Tsukiko. These last few turns, she'd been a lot less talkative and expressionless. What was up with that? "Guess I already used up my Destiny draw, huh? It's my turn!" he announced, picking up the next card from his deck. And it was a card that felt familiar to him, as what he was about to do was exactly to same at the entrance duels. Though... He'd lost that, didn't he? Was this really the wisest move?

"I..." Haas hesitated a little. He was holding up his card, having it float just above the Duel Disk. "...Augh, whatever! I summon my Wind-up Kitten!" he announced, placing the card down onto the Disk. From the ground rose a small, orange little toy that was sleeping on its side... Which looked odd, considering it used wheels to drive around.

Wind-up Kitten: 800 ATK 500 DEF Level 2 EARTH Beast

"Wind-up Kitten lets me return your Void Dragon to the hand!" Haas activated his effect, with Wind-up Kitten yawning as it woke up. A tuft of air hit Void Dragon, which seemed to get tired itself (even though it is a machine) and slammed straight into the floor whilst it napped. Naturally, the dragon then bounced back into Tsukiko's hand.

Tsukiko took her dragon back into her hand though she had really no reaction. She had become rather quiet for some reason which was unknown at the time. She slid the card back into her hand with her other card.

"Alright!" Haas celebrated, glad this could go through. "Wind-up Kitten attacks you directly!" Haas announced, and the lazy cat got back on its side. It rushed forward, bonking its head against Tsukiko's leg and managing to somehow land on its back from it. Haas awkwardly scratched his head, looking at how Kitten struggled to get up. Eventually, though, they did and returned to their spot on the field... To take another nap.

Tsukiko LP: 3400 > 2600

"Not bad." Tsukiko said as she took the attack head on without really flinching any. It felt like she was being a bit forced back, but she had stood her ground and was able to come out of it nearly unfazed. Perhaps all that torture she went through with her father was finding some actual use.

Okay. This was somewhat good, Haas figured. He'd gotten rid of Tsukiko's ace again, and now had to hold out until he drew another Wind-up to strengthen his field. "Alright, turn end!"

Turn 14: Tsukiko
Haas: 1900 LP, 1 card in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 2600 LP, 3 cards in hand, 1 S/T

Tsukiko again didn't say a word as she drew her next card. A disappointing look on her face appeared as it wasn't the card she wanted, but it wasn't absolutely useless either. She could still use the card even though all it would really do was give more time. "I set one card and end my turn." Tsukiko said as she slid the card into her Spell/Trap Zone right beside her other card which she hadn't had a chance to activate yet.

Turn 15: Haas
Haas: 1900 LP, 2 cards in hand, 1 monster, 2 S/T
Tsukiko: 2600 LP, 2 cards in hand, 2 S/T

"My turn, then! Draw!" Haas cried out, disappointing again with what he actually drew. "I'll attack you with my Wind-up Kitten!" the boy called out, pointing his Kitten forward. This time it was smart, rolling up next to Tsukiko and clawing at her leg instead of bonking their head against it.

Tsukiko LP: 2600 > 1800

"I'll set a card, and then end my turn." Haas finished, a holographic image of a cardback appearing in between the two already on the field. At least he had the lifepoint advantage now?

Turn 16: Tsukiko
Haas: 1900 LP, 1 card in hand, 1 monster, 3 S/T
Tsukiko: 1800 LP, 3 cards in hand, 2 S/T

Tsukiko drew her next card and it was the exactly the card she wanted though it would be very risky to do what she was about to do. With 1800 Life Points it could end up a game ender if it backfired on her. "All right then." Tsukiko said as she showed Haas the Power Bond card then her two Void Dragons. It was time for him to see what exactly those Void Dragons were for. She couldn't summon her most powerful Void End Dragon since she didn't have her other dragon, but still she could summon the LV8 Void Twin Dragon which she used on Vincent though she summoned two of them with Polymerization + Overload Fusion. "This is one of my most powerful monsters in my deck. I am a Fusion Summoner and now allow me to show you the might of the Princess of Darkness. This is the embodiment of my soul Shower forth, my greatest creation Void Twin Dragon!"

A giant red and black metallic two headed dragon emerged from a gigantic black and purple vortex that spun around above. The monster descended right beside her which was even bigger than she was. It was so big that the room was almost too small to house it. "This is my ace, Void Twin Dragon. Not the best card I have to offer, but it is close to that." She said toward Haas as she grinned introducing him to her enormous two-headed dragon. "Because I used Power Bond, Void Twin's Dragon's attack is double its original."

Void Twin Dragon: 2500 ATK 2200 DEF Level 8 DARK Machine

Void Twin Dragon: ATK 2500 > 5000

Haas looked on as Tsukiko activated the Power Bond spell card, at first confused. He'd heard about Fusion Summoning from that class they'd all gotten, but didn't quite understand it fully yet. But then Tsukiko merged two of the dragons in her hand, opening up a vortex sort of similar to the one used when Xyz summoning. Descending on the field was... Something amazing. A two-headed behemoth of a monster, with the same sleek black armor as Void Dragon and an even more menacing look. Not only that, but it had 5000 ATK points?!

Haas grinned. Such... Such an amazing monster! "Wow, Tsukiko... You really are amazing!" he complimented. The sheer power that monster emanated was intense. But the card Haas had set... Just that turn earlier... Now was the time! "I.. Almost feel bad for doing this. Trap card, activate! Void Trap Hole!" he called, with a card flipping over that showed the three Dragons of the Ice Barriers getting blown to bits. "When my opponent Special Summon a monster with 2000 or more ATK, I can negate its effect and destroy it!" Haas explained, as the entire room shifted. Colors got inverted, time slowed down. Void Twin Dragon let out an almost demonic cry due to the distortion, and started to... Implode. Once Twin Dragon had completely inverted itself, the room turned to normal as a gigantic, holographic explosion rocked it.

Tsukiko thought about placing her hand over deck then decided she wouldn't. Haas wouldn't get another turn, because her own card effect would defeat her. "Unfortunately, I am defeated by my own card effect. You see when I activate Power Bond I take damage equal to the original attack of that card. Since Void Twin Dragon's attack is 2500 you won't be getting another turn." Tsukiko said as she ended her turn and when she did that her Life Points were reduced to zero due to the effect of Power Bond ending the duel. She retracted her duel disk back knowing without a card like Cyber Kirin the duel would end on Turn 16. She flipped over the card she would have drawn next and decided maybe it was better this way. She didn't have a disappointed look on her face when she flipped the card over then returned it to her deck, but she also wouldn't reveal what that card would have been.

Tsukiko LP: 1800 > 0

Haas wheezed as the field dissipated into nothing, falling onto his behind after such a tiring duel. The last card in his hand, Level Lifter, unfortunately didn't get to see much use. But man! That was intense. "Heh... Thanks for the duel, Tsukiko, I had fun!" he laughed, moving his head to be able to look her in the eyes. "We had a promise, though, right? I won." Haas grinned, closing his eyes innocently.

"Tch..." She sighed as she had made a promise though she wasn't satisfied, because she lost due to her own card. As much as she didn't like the result about her defeating herself, because it tasted bitter in her mouth she had no choice to oblige. "Fine." Were her words as she was about to walk away then handed Haas a note which was her registration number that would allow to register her as a friend. She hadn't even given that kind of information to Ben. "You earned it. It's my registration number so you can add me to your friend list." Were her final words as she walked off to her dorm and closed the door. She had a very disappointed look on her face when she entered her room. Losing to a technicality did not sit well with her which she would have to revisit when she felt like she wasn't so confused. She knew full and well her brother wouldn't call her loss a win for the other person since he was very critical when it came to winning. You either win by your own power or you'd never be respected by him. It was a reality Tsukiko had to face which she knew she wouldn't ever be able to change. She was concerned that her loss with Haas might affect her relationship with her brother which was kind of shaky still. Like the duel, she would have to revisit that when she woke up in the morning.

The boy was a little confused when Tsukiko gave that note to him, wondering what the code was for. He was also very confused as to when she actually jotted that down. Though, Tsukiko explained what it was before long. "Oh, thank y-" Haas was about to speak, but Tsukiko was already going out of view. The boy sat there for a little while, letting it sink in. Wait. Did he just get a girl's number? He started becoming a little red in the face, awkwardly laughing to himself. Oh man, what the hell had he gotten himself into?

Tsukiko went over to her bed and lied down on it. She reflected on the duel she had a moment ago. "..." The girl didn't have any words after the sight of losing her powerful Fusion monster not only once but twice. A hatred for Haas grew on one side of her. The side she had met earlier when she was in the Card Shop sorting out her deck. "You're worthless. You really know that? Hahahah! You are as worthless as your cards are. Your brother probably thinks you're a joke by now. To lose like you did. You don't deserve to even own those rare cards you have." Tsukiko heard the voice speak in her mind. She couldn't stand its hysterical laughing and the fact it made fun of her. "SHUT UP!" She screamed as she grabbed her three Void Dragons and threw them at the wall. She then threw her two Void Twin Dragons and Void End Dragons at the wall too. She didn't say a word when she did this and she didn't even get up to go retrieve them.

"Your mother died like a dog and so did your monster. What are you going to do? Cry? It's the only thing you know how to do, pathetic Tsukiko." The voice again said in her mind trying to arouse her anger once again. Tsukiko noticed that getting rid of her cards didn't help get rid of that annoying voice she had to deal with earlier. Now it was making fun of, because of her loss to Haas. It was becoming harder and harder for her to accept the result of what just happened a moment ago. Part of her called Haas win a fluke. Thought he won because she let him win. The same side which tormented her mind by making fun of how she lost to him in such a pathetic way too. "When I was in control, you didn't have to go through this. Just let me take over. You won't ever have to suffer again. We will show what true pain is to the entire world. What do you say?" The voice said toward her trying to get Tsukiko to surrender to it. It was the same side of her that took her over when she was with Angelo. Though Angelo made her so angry that it was hard not to resist it. "No..." She refused the request as she tried to close her eyes and fall asleep. But the urge was very persistent and wouldn't leave her alone.

"Without me, you would have been crushed by that foolish child Vincent. You're nothing without me. Just a helpless girl who is so depressed that she doesn't want to do anything other than be worthless." The voice reminded her trying to get a reaction out of her with that insult. Tsukiko ignored what they said since she didn't want to listen to it. There was truth the words it was speaking. She was starting to lose faith in her cards thinking how worthless her cards really were. Maybe Shiyura was right, that it was better not to use such a worthless Pandora's Box. She had lost twice due to a Trap Card, but the second time her Power Bond card's recklessness cost her the duel which made it hard to accept Haas really won. What if they were right? That Haas won because of a mere technicality and that his win really wasn't a win. She thought in her mind as she pondered the words they spoke and questioned the validation behind them. "I'm done with Void Dragon... I'm tired of being reminded of the death of my mother. To hell with that card and its Fusions." She said with emptiness in her eyes in voice deciding she might just stop using those cards forever. If she did that, what new strategy would she use?

She loved her brother's cards, because they weren't only used by him. They were also used by her mother before him who gave them to her brother when he wanted to start dueling at the age of five. But when she thought about that it reminded her of her mother which caused to hate Void Dragon even more. Her dark aura erupted around her body as she lied in bed still enveloped in anger over what the voice said to her. "I don't give a damn about you stupid dragon. Just leave me alone. I want nothing to do with you anymore!" She screamed at it while her eyes were closed but the aura around her body grew even more intense. Despite her having such a strong hatred for her cards now they resonated with her even more. "Why don't you just die? All you do is bring me pain! All you do is bring me nightmares and hateful memories! I wish you would just perish and never return! To hell with this entire world!" She said as the pain from all the loss she had experienced was starting to overwhelm her mind. Even though she hated the dragon its essence and influence over her remained.

"I hope I never wake up... I'd rather die than have to face my brother after that disgrace. I might as well toss away my family name. I am such a disgrace to our family. Mother must hate me right now. Losing like that, there is no honor in it. There is only shame. It would have been no different had I surrendered. I am not going to class tomorrow. I can't stand it have those people look down on me and have my brother look at me like he doesn't even know me anymore. If I talked to him now, he would act like I don't even exist." She paused for a moment as she was still very upset about her loss to Haas. She just couldn't accept the result no matter how much she processed it. She also saw visions of her brother laughing at her and calling her weak and pathetic. "You're disgrace to this family, Tsukiko. I hereby now disown you. Anyone that loses like that allowing someone to win without showing their true power has no affiliation with me. You can go down in flames on your own. I will retain my reputation." She imagined he would say as his words were painful to her heart. Hearing those words almost made her cry, but she wasn't going to cry. it wouldn't solve anything even if she did.

"I HATE THIS!!! I HATE THIS WORLD!!! I HATE EVERYTHING!!!" Were her last words as she finally fell asleep after how much she threw a tantrum about losing. Finally she was at ease after all that jerking around in bed and pounding her fist on the side of her bed. Her eyes were bloodshot and her eyes were so empty that there was no emotion to her face anymore. The dark aura that erupted around her body didn't leave her while she was asleep. No matter how much she urged it to leave her alone it didn't. There was much mystery behind the Void Dragon cards and the connection they had to Tsukiko and her brother. Many that were still have yet to be solved.