"That was quick..."

*And boring. I'm pretty sure I fell asleep at one point!*

Lars narrowed his eyes at Scout, irritated that the fiend had fallen asleep instead of observing the duel as he had been instructed to duel. He let up though, because he couldn't really blame him. At least until the duelist known as Nyne began swarming the field with his machine monsters, it really had been an uneventful and slow match. Lars slightly pitied the other boy who lost. Maybe he simply didn't have a good draw.

That's when Lars noticed the white haired girl from before springing up from her spot and storming off angrily to... seemingly the same direction Ian had gone. He turned to Scout to make a comment on that, only to find the metallic creature flying off into an air vent, also in Cybell's direction. Lars shook his head, but smirked. Scout was probably curious to see what she was going to do, just like he was. As usual, he would be hiding to avoid being caught, and man was he good at that...

A little while later, Scout returned with an amused expression.

"What? What happened?"

*Basically.... white haired girl throws a fit and tries to hit the other guy.*

Scout proceeded to explain some of the other things that had happened and were said, but most of it was kind of commonplace. He did begin to wonder what purpose those two had for being here, especially after Cybell had gotten so worked up about Ian's loss.

"Well then... interesting story. Good to at least get the mind off this tournament for a while..."

Gao heard his name called and instantly felt his hands start shaking as he remembered the girl and her red eyes.
"Cybell...."he said shaking as he walked to the stage readying his duel disk. While walking up to the stage he looked to Ruby and smiled trying to dispell the worried look on her face. After taking a deep breath he calmed and stood in place awaiting the start of the duel.

Cybell walked confidently onto the stage, her anger of minutes before transmuted into the powerful air of supreme confidence that she exuded now. Looking down at the taller, dark-haired boy that stood across the duel field from her, she let out a short laugh. He looked weak. Bell looked to May to ask if she was ready, only to see her spirit partner staring with obnoxious adoration at the boy's own duel spirit: a small blue cat-like think with a red gem on its tail. Bell had a momentary flashback of Azure Sin encasing her dragons in red crystal, but she doubted this cat had the same power as that thing had. Dammit, why was she thinking of him now? Losers would be losers; she was here to win.

"You better put up more of a fight than that loser in the last round," she taunted, though it was not her opponent she was firing shots at. The sound for the duel to begin sounded, and Bell laughed again as she drew the top five cards of her deck. "My turn."

Bell didn't waste any time. "I summon Elemental Hero Prisma in face-up attack and activate its effect." A humanoid figure with wings, made entirely of clear glass appeared in front of her. "I choose to reveal Blue-Eyes White Gold Dragon to send Blue-Eyes Silver Dragon to the grave." The glass angel shattered, reforming in the shape of a great dragon. "I end," the girl said. The glass dragon shattered and reformed into the winged humanoid.

Gao drew his card and grimmaced. "I summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger in attack mode!" he said. Almost instantly a white tiger with a horn on its head and a round topaz in its neck appeared on the field. "Next I'll set one card face down and end my turn." he said feeling a bit nervous seeing the look on Cybell's duel spirit's face as she looked at Ruby.

"Boooooring," Bell groaned, drawing. "I summon Hieratic Dragon of Gebeb then activate Elemental Hero Prism's effect, revealing Blue-Eyes Electrum Dragon to send Blue-Eyes Copper Dragon to the grave." The glass angel reformed into a smaller dragon this time. "Now Gebeb, attack that pussy cat! Prisma, direct attack!" Bell caught her opponent's eye and raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Your go," she ended. Prisma reverted back to normal.

After the dust setteled a large topaz floated in Gao's spell and trap card zone and he smiled. "That was a great move I probably should have attacked Prisma when I had thought about it." he said as he drew his card. "Allright now we get to have a bit more fun." he added. "I play Terra formimg this allows me to add Ancient City Rainbow Ruins to my hand." he says before pulling the card from his deck. "Now I'll activate it!" He smiled and looked around as the field around them changed to large pillars and stones with different colored gemstones embedded within them. "Unfortunately thats all I can really do." he says smiling and scratching the back of his head. "Your move."

"Oh god, I got matched with a loser," Bell complained to her still-oblivious spirit. "May, will you quit drooling over the pretty kitty already? Honestly, it's embarassing." She drew. "Prisma, do your thing. I reveal Blue-Eyes Yellow Gold Dragon to send one Blue-Eyes Gold Dragon from my deck to the grave." Once more, the glass hero shifted into the shape of a dragon. "And both of my monsters will attack you directly," she said, pointing across the field at her enemy. "I end," she said, looking at her opponent's remaining 2800 lifepoints as a shark would a fish.

Gao got worried quickly. He only had 2800 lifepoints and he didnt have much to work with. "Okay my go then." he said as he drew his card. "Okay then. I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus in attack mode!" he said with a bit more hope in his voice as a winged white horse with sapphires embedded in its wings appeared on the field. "Thanks to its effect I can add Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth to my back row." he said as a large chunk of amber appeared next to the floating topaz. "Now go Pegasus attack Elemental HERO Prisma!" he said pointing to the crystaline monster. "With that my turn is done." he says looking at his feild and sighing.

Bell pretended to be hurt. "Oh no, not my precious monster! How could you, you brutish boy!" She broke out in a cold laugh, "Sorry, but this might sting a bit." Bell drew one card and smirked. "I'll play Dragon's Mirror, banishing Blue-Eyes Gold Dragon and Blue-Eyes Copper Dragon from my grave to summon Blue-Eyes Yellow Gold Dragon in attack position!" A sleek black dragon took to the field, its golden scales radiating cold light, and its fearsome jaw maned by many long golden barbles.

"Way to trigger my trap! Triggered Summon! Now we can both summon a level four or lower monster from our hands!" Gao said with a smile. "I choose to summon Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle in deffence mode!" he said as the small cat-like Ruby leapt forward and took on a more solid appearance. "And through Ruby's effect I can special summon as many Crystal Beasts from my back row as possible so Topaz and Amber move up in Attack mode!" he said with a glimmer in his eyes as the white tiger re-appeared next to the other two beasts and a large grey mammoth with a rounded Amber piece embedded in its forehead.

Bell checked her hand. "Too bad, I don't have any weak monsters in my hand," she said. "I guess I don't get a free summon." She didn't sound very upset about it. "No matter. I'll normal summon my Yellow Gold Dragon to gain its effect. Now, Blue-Eyes Yellow Gold Dragon, attack the kitty; the sight of it again annoys me. White Lighting Flare!" The great dragon reared back, golden flame arcing between its long barbles. An arc of white light burned from its head.

"Not so fast Amber Mammoth. Do your thing and change the dirrection to Ruby!" Gao shouted while watching the mammoth move forward and reflect the attack toward Ruby.

The white arcs formed a cage of flame around the cat. Bell yawned at her opponent's futile resistance. "Burn kitten, I have no time for you." Yellow Gold Dragon and Ruby Carbuncle both exploded into white flame. "And my dragon's also destroy a spell or trap. Thank you for oh so cenveniently leaving your field spell without its destruction immunity." White flames burned away the gem-studded ruins, returning the field to normal.

Ruby then re-appeared in Gao's back row as a floating ruby.

"Now then, Gebeb, attack the fat orange one," she added in a bored tone. The orange dragon attacked the orange mamoth, which reappeared a second later in the back row in its crystal form. "I'll set one card and end my turn," Bell said. "And oh yeah, say hello to my little friend." A pillar of white fire erupted from the center of the field, leaving Blue-Eyes Yellow Gold Dragon floating as it had been before it had destroyed itself and Carbuncle. The dragon let out a roar as it settled into its position, eagerly awaiting the next opportunity to attack.

Gao grinned and his eyes gleamed as he drew his next card. "This is turning out to be one of my favorite duels." he said as he looked at the card. "I activate the spell card Rare Value! Since there are two Crystal Beasts in my back row you pick one and send it to the grave yard then I draw two cards." He said with a hopeful look.

"Hmm, eenie meenie miney mo... I choose Carbuncle," Bell decided, mostly just to make May angry. May had been pouting ever since Carbuncle had been destroyed by Bell's dragon.

Gao's eyes widened as he drew his two cards. "Now you're in for it, I activate Polymerization! From my hand I send Elemental HERO Neos and Rainbow Dragon Allowing me to summon Rainbow Neos!" he nearly shouted as a white winged and armored humanoid decended from above floating before them. "Now I activate his effect by sending Sapphire Pegasus to my graveyard you shuffle all your monsters into your deck." he said grinning with pride. "Now Rainbow Neos attack her directly, Rainbow Barrage!" Gao shouted as the winged monster surged forward and punched Cybell his fist glowing with a multi-colored aura.

Bell recoiled, more from the gaudy lightshow than the attack. That took a chunk out of her lifepoints, that's for sure. "You'll pay for that," she said under her breath.

Gao smilled at her. "Thats my turn. I was right about this being one of my favorite duels that's the first time I've ever been able to succesfully play this big guy." he said his brown eyes gleaming with happiness.

"Good for you, now it's my turn." Bell drew one card and looked up at the radiant warrior that was in her way. "I acitvate White Lightning Fusion, sending Blue-Eyes Gold Dragon and Blue-Eyes Silver Dragon from my hand to the grave to summon Blue-Eyes White Gold Dragon onto the field in attack mode!" A huge silver dragon with four huge wings that looked more like the fins of a fish than a dragon's wings flew onto the field, still no match for the radiant knight. Not for long though. "I also normal summon it to have it gain its effect, and then I equip it with Dragon Shield." Black metallic armor covered the dragon's body, blocking any destruction effect that may come its way. "Blue-Eyes White Gold Dragon attack Topaz Tiger! White Lightning Flash!" The great dragon reared back, gathering energy in its jaws. Bell snapped her fingers, and a brillint flash lit up the stadium. When it faded, a white lightning bolt stood frozen in the air, running right through the yellow crystal beast. Then a second flash unfroze the scene, and Topaz Tiger exploded, reappering a second later in the back row as a large yellow crystal. The pale dragon roared in defiance at the radiant knight. Bell smirked, he wasn't the only one with heavy hitters, and she had more of them to chose from. "I end," she said, for once without further comment.

Gao whistled and smiled."That was a good play." he said as he drew his card. "From my hand I activate Crystal Blessing." he said as his thoughts raced. "With Ruby and Pegasus in my grave I can send them to my back row." he said as a ruby and a sapphire appeared next to the amber chunk and the topaz. Ruby now more see through floated back and meowed at Gao who smiled down at her. "Now for the fun part. I summon Neo-Spacian Grand Mole." he said as a small mole with olive green armor and silver half drills appeared on the field. "Grand Mole will attack your White Gold Dragon and by activating its effect they both return to our hand. Or in your case to the extra deck." he said beaming.

"White Gold Dragon, put that rodent in his place. Destroy it with your effect." Bell ordered her dragon like she would a servant, and it obeyed. The pale dragon's body flashed as the insolent rodent tried to send it away. Neo-Spacian Gran Mole's effect was negated, and it was destroyed and sent to the grave. "Good dragon."

Gao grinned as his mole was sent to the graveyard. "I was hoping you would do that." he said with a small laugh. "Since my Crystal Beasts are considered continuous spells while in my back row I can send one to the grave to trigger Rainbow Neos' effect." he said sending Sapphire Pegasus back to the graveyard. "Now all your spell and trap cards are shuffeled back into your deck!" he said still grinning. "And since your Dragon Shield is gone, Rainbow Neos attack her dragon!" he said pointing to the dragon in his way as the brilliant light of Rainbow Neos' attack filled the arena sending her dragon to the grave and he lifepoints plummeting downward. "Thats my turn."

"White Gold Dragon's effect activates when it's removed from the field, so I'll summon Blue-Eyes Gold Dragon in attack mode and add Dragon's Mirror to my hand. And it's my turn again." Bell chose not to add White Lightning Fusion to her hand, drawing as usual instead. "I activate Dragon Shrine, sending Blue-Eyes White Dragon and then Blue-Eyes Copper Dragon into the graveyard. And then I'll play Dragon's Mirror, removing from play Blue-Eyes Copper, Silver, and Gold Dragons to summon Blue-Eyes Electrum Dragon from my extra deck!" An enormous dragon, scales rippling from reddish copper to pale silver to brilliant gold, descended onto the field, each of its four limbs a massive wing. It matched Rainbow Neos in size, and in a moment it would match the radiant knight in power as well.

"I normal summon Electrum Dragon to have it gain its ability. By sending all of my banished cards into my grave, Electrum's attack rises to 5100. I think you know what happens now." Bell grinned wickedly, and May pretended to cover her eyes, but she peeked through her fingers. "Blue-Eyes Electrum Dragon, attack Rainbow Neos! White Lightning Storm!" The immense dragon's entire body crackled with white lightning as a giant storm cloud gathered overhead. Bell met her opponent's eyes and mouthed, "Burn." A single massive column of lightning linked the storm cloud to the glowing knight. Nothing was left of the great monster. After a moment of silence, Bell said, "I set one card and end my turn." That was her trump card right there. She was left with no cards left in her hand.

Gao wore a clearly stunned look on his face as he drew his next card, when he finally saw it Ruby meowed from his side and he smiled. "Win or lose. This is my final turn!" he called out placing the card in his hand and moving to the next card. "I activate Monster Reincarnation! By sending Crystal Beast Cobalt Eagle to the grave I can add Sapphire Pegasus to my hand." he said with a smile. "Now I summon my Sapphire Pegasus and using its effect I add Crystal Beast Amythist Cat to my back row." he said with a slight smile as he looked at his hand again he froze. He had messed up and not realized that he was one Crystal Beast short. He looked up and smiled anyway. "I'm afraid thats all I can do so I end my turn here." he said trying to sound brave he looked up and stared Cybell dead in her eyes.

Bell stared right back, knowing that what she saw was resignation. No more tricks, no more outs, no more turns. She drew, not even looking at the card, but May saw that it was Burst Stream of Destruction. "Blue-Eyes Electrum Dragon, finish him," she spoke barely louder than a whisper, knowing that the speakers throughout the arena would hear her well. The black storm cloud gathered, and great dragon roared, and the attack struck true.

As all the cards and dragons and crystals faded, Bell smiled at her opponent. "That was a good duel," she said with complete honesty, holding out her hand.

Gao smiled at her and shook her hand. "For sure that was one to remember." he said with a smile. "If we ever get the chance to duel again I'll be ready for you. Just remember that." he said brushing his hair from his face.

Lars clapped along with the cheering crowd as the duel came to an end. Those were some impressive performances on both parts, and Lars was glad to see that Gao had been able to put up a good fight despite his initial display of worry. Admittedly, he was also pleased to see that Cybell lived up to her reputation as a duelist, at least for this duel. Hopefully he would be able to duel her himself, when and if he was able to win his upcoming duel.

*Ya better be ready, cuz me and the rest are itching for some battles!*

"Ha! I wish this had come sooner. Let's just see how well we can duel against others outside our 'beloved' part of the Obsidian District!"

Lars stood as Steelswarms Scout rubbed his large eyes and then cracked his knuckles in excitement. Lars clenched his deck in his right hand, as if he was trying to channel all the luck he could into the stack of cards. His eager expression turned solemn for a few moments though.

"In memory of you two...."

His gloomy expression faded away shortly afterwards as he prepared to hear his name amd that of his opponent's be called up.

"The winner is Cybell Yvenstar," Gero's voice declared over the speakers. "Congratulations on a victory well-earned. The next duel is now due to begin. Lars Karsen and Peter Redgrave, your time at the stage is now." With the end of that mini-speech, Gao Hikari's name was crossed off on the monitors, just as that of Ian Rouse was after his duel.

---

"Dragons," Alex scoffed. More like overgrown lizards. They just run around rampaging, no strategy. Duelling that deck would be a cinch for me. Bountr Kenshin didn't seem to approve of her thoughts on the type, despite the fact that he was the very card Alex counted on most (or maybe because of it) when a big dragon started overpowering her. Still, she'd dealt with dragons before, but these ones were new to her. Dragons she'd not seen before, with plenty of power. Now more than ever, Alex wanted to win this tournament and overcome a new deck she'd never seen.

Nyne watched from the stands as the duel came to a close.
'That girls deck, powerful.. but not much else, she herself seems overconfident in her cards, as well as a bit rude.' Nyne thought to himself, this was important as the girl was his future opponent. Geargiano whirred as Nyne got up, leaving the stands to go look for anyone who wanted to duel, as the next duel wouldn't be that important to him.

"...I... see," Shana replied, confused about the girl's attitude. She didn't seem too interested that there was more card ghosts than her own. Shana had... honestly never really thought that was possible until now. She supposed it made sense; why would there be only one Spirit in the world that only she could see?
Rather awkwardly, Shana hung around, watching the non-monster card game curiously. Did this girl not care about the dueling going on at all? Come to think of it, why was there so much open space around here, anyway?

Flikkar, having ceased the pulsating, was now zipping to and fro in front of Puddingcess' face in a continued demonstration of bravado and challenge. Shana gave it a quick, reproachful command to stop bugging the poor thing, and said once more to the strange girl, "Er, well... I'm Shana! Nice to meet you! Do you duel, as well?"
Well, the answer was painfully obvious, but she had to find some way of feeling less awkward,

"Yeah; I'm in the last match in the tournament," Charlotte replied, scooping up the playing cards and carefully putting them in a pocket. Judging by the slightly put-out expression on her opponent's face, she'd won whatever game they were playing, "Why? Want to have a go? These matches are dull."

Right on cue, she'd produced a deck from another pocket and was cheerfully shuffling it with well-practised ease, ignoring Puddingcess as she attempted to grab the flame and mash it into the ground. No point trying to spoil a child's fun, really.

"Or if you don't want to duel me, my friends here will be more than happy to oblige," the redhead continued, pausing for a second before emphasising, "right?"

There was a chorus of nods.

Gao smiled and waved to the crowd as he left the stage and walked toward his seat. Ruby mowed at him and he smiled. "Yeah I know I said its all for fun but I at least wanted to get through the first round " he said taking his seat and settling down for the next duel.

"A game, huh?" Shana grinned widely as her eyes seemed to alight with a burning passion. Well, there didn't seem to be any rules about unofficial games going on, and this girl was apparently in the very last round. Since Shana herself was second-last, there would be plenty of time!
Completely missing any implications in her statement, Shana replied, "I don't think I can play everyone here before my match, but I wouldn't mind dueling you right now!"

Shana produced her own deck, "Flikkar! Come on, we're gonna duel!"
Pleased with this news, Flikkar ceased its harassment of the sweet princess and hovered over Shana's shoulder, the flame brightening considerably, "Um, I don't think I'm all that good yet, but I promise I'll do my best to win~!" she cheered brightly, extending her hand, "so, good luck!"

The hand grasping Shana's had a painfully strong grip, but she could be relieved that the shake was only brief, before Charlotte stepped back and checked that this disk was working, "How about we make a show of it? This lot are all plain boring."

By which she meant full holographic glory. Maybe the audience would be more entertained, and she certainly had the most stylish looking dragons in existence on her person right now.

With who got to play first summarily decided, Charlotte picked a nearby seat--this place was hardly packed to the rafters day one--and settled in comfortably. Then she actually started to play, familiar wall of cards appearing. A few people in the crowd nearby took note, but this was nothing truly spectacular... yet.

"I play Photon Sanctuary," the redhead stated, seeming kind of bored with the affair, but grinning as the blue, wispy... things took position, "And then sacrifice them to special summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon."

And now the watching crowd was beginning to note the duel in their midst, if only because the sudden, dramatic appearance of a star dragon was kind of hard to miss, even when it slowly gathered out of light itself. A hologram both figuratively and literally made of light, how apt.

"Not quite done, though: I set a card in face-down defence mode, and another spell and trap card. Now I'm done."

Giving her hand a quick shake after the, well, handshake, Shana prepared for the duel, her deck shuffled and placed inside her duel disk. There was just about enough space for them to play, thankfully enough, and any fears of dueling on the bleachers breaking a rule was quickly thrown out the window by her desire to duel.
Charlotte was first, and... Shana was confused by her opponent's deck. It didn't seem to fit the theme of that princess at all. And she was facing down a dragon with three-thousand attatck right of the bat?! Add onto the two cards in the backrow...

Shana was grinning widely, "Heh, I draw!"

Her hand... wasn't the best, unfortunately. Nothing could directly combat the giant dragon of light. All she could really hope to do right now was set up and survive.

"I'll start with a continuous spell! Protection From The Judgment Flame!"
As a transparent blue flame erupted around Shana, she cheerfully explained, "This'll half the effect damage I take from my flames of judgment! Gotta take all the precautions available when you play with fire~!"

She then chose the only monster she could actually summon, placing it on her field, "next, since you have monsters and I don't, I can Special Summon Judgment Flame Volat from my hand!"
Before Shana appeared a strange creature that resembled a small bomb. With eyes. The stats '50/50' flashed above the violently-shaking creature's head briefly. Shana took a moment to decide what would be the better move to make for now, and settled upon it, selecting another spell card.

"I activate Summoning Of The Judgment Flame!" Shana cried out, "This'll let me add a Judgment Flame from my deck to my hand!"

To her dismay, however, Charlotte was prepared.

"Nope, not happening: I activate Tachyon Transmogrification. Sorry 'bout that."

With that statement, her trap had been blown straight back into her deck and shuffled. That... was quite a devastating strike. Oh well!

"Fine, then! Shana declared, selecting a monster card in her hand, "I'll just tribute Volat in order to summon Judgment Flame Waarm!"
As a tall, thin figure made entirely of flame appeared, its stats displaying '2300/1700', the monster suddenly seemed to explode. Holographic fire washed over the entire field as Shana calmly explained, "Waarm's effect hits us both for a thousand points of damage when tribute summoned, then for each Judgment Flame in my graveyard, you lose another one hundred!"

Charlotte lost 1100 Life Points from the summon, while Shana only lost 500 from her spell card's protection. Not that it mattered too much, as she was going to take a lot more damage next turn. But if she could get a monster she could use...
Well, for now... "Okay! Waarm, destroy that face-down monster!" complying, the burning figure lunged for the set card. Regardless of the consequences, Shana's turn would have to end there.

---

LP: 7500
Monsters: Judgment Flame Waarm
S/T: Protection From The Judgment Flame
Hand: 2

Galaxy Wizard stood no chance against the spindly creature's flames, and quickly found its way to the graveyard. Charlotte didn't seem at all bothered by the loss of the level 4 monster--why should she? Sure, it delayed getting a Rank 8 XYZ, but it wasn't like she needed the thing to do a whole lot of damage. And, well, it wasn't a good sign for Shana when the redhead started laughing at her own draw:

"Ah, bad luck, bad luck; I sometimes regret using this stuff at all, even just for fun. So destructive, isn't it, Puddingcess?" the duellist asked, playing her freshly drawn card: "I play Photon Stream of Destruction, and Banish Waarm."

The result was predictably apocalyptic: Galaxy-Eyes reared back and let lose an incandescent torrent of light... light that melted away the flames, dissembling them piece by piece until nothing was left. And that meant less damage from graveyard effects. Painful, really.

"I summon Photon Sabre Tiger in face-up attack mode, and use its effect to add another from my deck," Charlotte continued, gesturing at the feline of light prowling around. Only 1200/300--its own effect crippled its attack power unless there were multiple. Pack tactics? Kind of odd for tigers...

"Now: Galaxy-Eyes. Sabre Tiger, attack!" the gang-leader declared, hopping off her seat, pointing at the target, and grinning as the attack... well, being headbutted by a tiger probably wasn't the worst, but the dragon's blast was nasty.

---

LP: 6900
Monsters: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, Photon Saber TIger
S/T: Nada
Hand: 2

"...Did you say 'banish'?" Shana asked meekly, before the opposing dragon obliterated her monster. To her dismay, Waarm was indeed banished, which made things a bit more difficult for her. If Waarm had went to the grave, she could have banished it using Volat's effect to try and mount a counterattack, but now...

Oh, right, she had a giant dragon a glowing tiger to run away from.

Instinctively, she brought her arms up to try and block Photon Tiger's headbutt, reducing her life points to 6300 in the process, with Galaxy Dragon's direct hit enveloping her in its blast and bumping her all the way down to 3300.

"Ah, jeez, that thing's tough," Shana sighed, her smile slowly growing as she drew her next card, "it'll make taking it down all the sweeter!"

One scan of her small hand later, and Shana stared down the opposing field with determination, "let's see... first, I'll use my second Summoning spell!"
Playing the second copy of Summoning Of The Judgment Flame, Shana added a level two Judgment Flame monster to her hand and shuffled the deck, before slamming said card onto her duel disk with a wide grin, "come forth, Judgment Flame Fflint!"

A small, large-eyed rock appeared, displaying '600/800' above it. Shana pointed dramatically once more as she cried, "his summon inflicts 200 damage to both of us!" Shana's life points only decreased by 100 thanks to her spell card, "and then I'll activate his effect, tributing him to Special Summon Teendir from the deck!"
The rock crumbled and dissipated in a cloud of black smoke, which seemed to reform and shape into a burned-out plant that constantly shed ash. '700/700' flashed above the defense-position monster as Shana continued, "that's another 400 for each of us, and a further 500 for you since Teendir was summoned by Fflint's effect!"

Again, Shana's own damage was halved, dropping her down to 3000LP total, with Charlotte still maintaining 6600. Things seemed a bit uneven for now, but...

"And finally, I'll special summon Moltt from my hand!" Shana placed the Judgment Flame Tuner monster on her field, "I can do this by Banishing up to three Judgment Flames from my graveyard, increasing its level by one for each monster banished!"
Shana removed Fflint from her graveyard, increasing Moltt's level from three to four. Seeing her upcoming advantage, Shana boastfully yelled, "Time to burn out your momentum! I synchro summon!"

The level two Teendir merged with the level 4 Moltt in a brilliant flash of light, that gave way to a burgeoning flame as Shana raised her hand to the sky, "Meet an honorary member of the Judgment Flames! Come forth, Vulcan the Divine!"
'2000/1600' was shown above the hammer-wielding giant of a man wearing tiger print. Shana continued, "when he's summoned, he targets a card on both sides of the field to return to the hand!"

Vulcan's hammer grew bright red as he slammed it onto the ground, a pillar of lava erupting beneath Charlotte's Galaxy Dragon and Shana's Protection spell, removing them from the field. Unfortunately, Shana wouldn't be able to play her Protection spell immediately; Vulcan's effect prevented that. But at least it meant Charlotte couldn't find a way to summon her dragon during Shana's own battle phase or something!

"I'll end this turn with Vulcan destroying your Photon Tiger!" Shana cried out cheerfully, believing she had dealt a crippling blow to Charlotte. There was no way she could summon that Dragon immediately like she did before, right?
Once the attack was finished and Shana's turn ended, Moltt's effect would burn her for 700, which she couldn't decrease at the moment. Additionally, since Teendir was in the graveyard, both players would be losing 100 life points during their standby phases. Her LP was dangerously low, but as long as that dragon stayed off-field...

---

Life Points: 2300
Monsters: Vulcan The Divine
Spells/Traps: N/A
Hand: 2

"Now that's more like it!" Charlotte cheered, apparently not bothered in the slightest by her loss of lifepoints in this duel, "But you made one crucial mistake: leaving me with Photon Dragon in my hand gives me even more ways to get it back. Not that I have a shortage; don't use this thing competitively for a reason. Well, a reason other than upsetting Puddingcess."

Drawing a card cheered her up all the more, which could not be good news for her opponent. In retrospect, the worst thing Shana could have done is destroy the tiger, as it let her start playing cards that would get Galaxy-Eyes' big brother back. The 100 lifepoint thing was a bit annoying, though.

"First, I play Accellight, and summon Galaxy Wizard!" the gangleader stated, summoning a 0 attack monster... in face-up attack mode, "Whose effect I activate to bump its level to level 8. This means I can now play..."

"Galaxy Expedition!" the redhead continued, playing another spell card and playing the dragon again, though coiled up and ready to defend. This, of course, didn't matter to the girl playing the cards at all: "I now overlay Galaxy-Eyes and Galaxy Wizard, and XYZ summon Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon!"

The rank 8 card was big, and far more humanoid than its predecessor. It also, alarmingly, had 4,000 attack as compared to Galaxy-Eyes' 'meagre' 3,000.

"You ready for the end? Dragon, attack Vulcan... oh, and detach Galaxy Wizard," Charlotte ordered, cheerfully discarding the fully expendable material, which sent the dragon's attack skyrocketing to 5,600. Enough that, unless Shana had an immediate way to stop the dragon or its damage, victory was assured for Team Dragon, courtesy of a punch to the face from the XYZ.

The Topaz District was hustling and bustling left and right, duelists from head to toe.

"Yikes, when they said Anima was huge and full of duelist, they weren't kidding." Zion murmured to himself, standing in the middle of all the excitement, facing towards the G-Chronus Duel Stadium. "..And I'm guessing that huge dome like building is the Duel Stadium, hosting that tournament I keep hearing about. Something about a 'G-Clock Open' or another?"

Zion played coy, but he knew all about the G-Chronus Duel Stadium, Anima City, G-Chronus Timepieces and most importantly the CEO of G-Chronus Timepieces, Gero Anima himself. Most of what he has heard about the grand Anima City is just tidbits here and there from his travels, yet one conversation between two men at a run down bar in the middle of nowhere really got him interested in Anima City.

Past - Bar in the middle of nowhere

It was a stormy night, rain pouring down as if the skys have declared war with the land. Zion found a run down shack, that was supposed to say "BAR" but in actuality said "BA" because the R signpost hung down, flickering on and off as it struggled to stay alive. It wasn't the greatest looking place, but Zion considered it was better than nothing, and decided to enter, taking a seat at the bar counter, where two other men chatted while a bar attented washed glasses.

"Hey Jack, have you heard about that there Anima City and them there fancy new Duel Disks?" mentioned one of the men in a drunken stupor.
"Why I don't right say I did Phillus" his friend, apparently named Jack, remarked. He lifted his glass to take another sip.

"I tell you what, those clean cut G-Chronies are coming up with all sorts of crazy new inventions. I heard they even make robots!" the man who went by the name of Phillus exclaimed, waving his glass back and forth "And get this, I heard from my cousins friend who lives down there, that the guy running the operation even has his G-Chronies working on making those trading card monsters come to life! Something or another about harvesting crops or one another with those there Duel Disks."

This got Zions attention. "Real monsters? That sounds impossible.." Zion thought to himself, before a little blue spirit tugged at him, his Spirit Partner, 'Time/Shifter Infinity Rookie'. "..Almost impossible, I guess." he reconsidered.

Zion almost thought about going to Amina City to investigate for himself, but he didn't really want to go out of his way to visit a place because of a rumor a drunk guy mentioned. Besides, it wasn't really in his path of travel, so it would just be too much of a bother. However later on in his travels, while working for a small store off on the coasts, Zion heard about the second annual G-Clock Open, which also just so happened to use the new Duel Disks created by the one and only Gero himself. Who would of thought that the second annual G-Clock Open would also be ran BY Gero. This had Zion recall back to the conversation in the bar, and really got him thinking. On one hand, it could just be a casual tournament, held to make the city stand out a bit more. On the other hand, if the rumor proves to be true, they could actually be using those Duel Disks for matters which just don't align with Zions moral standings. Because to Zion, anyone who wants to bring these monsters into real world must be absolutely insane or have some plans that are probably close to criminal intentions, or there is an alien attack on Earth which he hasn't heard about. So Zion decided to take the gamble, and first thing in the morning said his goodbyes as he left for a little trip to Anima City.

This brings us full circle, as Zion stands directly in front of the entrance that is G-Chronus Duel Stadium.

"It's bigger then I imagined." Zion remarks to his little floating Spirit buddy. "Figuring we're here under the assumption that this Gero guy is up to no good, it is probably best if you hide yourself for now, Rookie. It is best if we don't draw too much attention to ourselves."

Infinity Rookie had a sad expression, but decided it was for the best as he vanished back into Zions deck case among all of the other cards.

Zion went through the side entrance, only to be introduced to a huge stadium with chairs everywhere, as well as what seemed to be.. A fight taking place in the stands? He thought that dueling where people are supposed to be sitting isn't the best place to duel, but his attention did a complete 360 as he saw a large dragon that looked a awful lot like Galaxy Eyes Photon Dragon, preparing to fire an attack down on a giant wielding a hammer. That said Dragon having a huge attack power of 5,600.

"5,600 attack points! That's.. That's fantastic!" Zion shouted to himself, shuffling his way to get a closer view. He saw the duel was between two red-headed girls, the one about to be blasted was wearing a straw hat, which helped make her stand out at a distance. "How is Straw Hat going to counter this attack, I wonder? Maybe a Half Unbreak, or a Mirror force? Even a Enemy Controller would help in this situation." he considered all of the possibilities of a counter attack the girl had, hoping for a fierce turnabout. Zion managed to get right next to the duel, as he sat in a empty chair among all the other empty chairs, peaking his head from behind the chair in front of him as he sat in excitement and anticipation.

Gero saw it all. The duel, that is. It was pretty interesting, to say the least. Furthermore, if both of those girls won their respective duels, they'd get to go at it again in the second round, for the tournament instead of just for fun. Before stepping out of his little office-like room, though, Gero set his finger on the intercom button again. Insistently, he repeated "Lars Karsen. Peter Redgrave. Please make your way to the stage." That good and done, Gero left the room, making sure to grab his own deck on the way out. Not that he planned to duel; it was just good to keep around. This duel between Charlotte and Shana was one he wanted to see the finale of up close. That was pretty much the entire reason he left the room, shutting the door behind him. For the sake of reward ceremonies and whatnot, the stadium was built so that Gero could reach the stage (effectively the same room as the duel) in little time. If he power walked (he did) he could do it between the time it took for Charlotte to perform her Xyz Summon and right now.

Gero Anima now stood in the room. Whipping out a small radio, he pressed down the button and spoke into it for the person on the other side. "Bring me two G-Clock batteries as soon as possible."
"Yes, sir," a voice said over the other end. Though with how tinny it sounded, it was more like Hyezzh, zir. Even with such fine technology, the world still didn't overcome tinny radios. A few other competitors and spectators were watching as well...well, all of them were, actually. Pretty much, at least; could he blame them? It was the most interesting thing happening right now, so of course they'd want to watch. Taking a seat (or a stand, since he was still standing) on the edge of the stage closest to the duel, Gero watched with interest how this duel would conclude. Hopefully the one with the hat - Shana, not Charlotte, right? - had a counter ready. He wouldn't want this to end before those batteries arrived.

Shana's victory cheering sure didn't last long when Charlotte pointed out that she had no problems bringing the dragon back. If anything, her deck specialised in it. That would be problematic, but she had a monster with 2000 attack! Surely it would provide enough of a wall to defend her remaining Life Points!
the fiery-haired duelist watched the Galaxy Wizard suspiciously. A 0-attack monster? that seemed like a strange move- ah, there it was. The familiar dragon appeared once more, though this time in defense mode. Before Shana could thank whoever was the boss of the Judgment flames for her good fortune, the Xyz Summon occurred. Her jaw fell to the ground in disbelief when she saw its attack power.

"...That's... wow... just... amazing..." Shana gasped. Because honestly, between the thing's insane ATK, as well as its majesty, how the hell were you supposed to not appreciate such marvelous, albeit ludicrous, design?
Oh, right, it was attacking. Shana gritted her teeth. It was going to leave her with 300 LP and no legroom for a lot of her monster's effects, but she would still be in the game! Tank this hit, and then next turn, just draw something powerf- where did that extra 1600 come from.

"...Meep." Shana wasn't quite sure how to react to her Vulcan getting punched so hard that he shattered into trillions of pieces - taking the remainder of her LP along with it.
And with that, her holograms shut down and Shana sank to her knees, as if dazed. She had fought powerful opponents before (and honestly, given her win/loss record, pretty much everyone was powerful compared to her), but she had never been so handily defeated so quickly, and by a monster that strong!

Flikkar appeared above her shoulder, the flame billowing gently in its attempt at comforting her. After a moment, Shana's smile returned in full as she hopped back to her feet, approaching Charlotte with her hand outstretched, "You were amazing! I'm sorry I wasn't a worthy opponent, but I'll do my best to beat you for real in the tournament!"
For the moment, Shana took no notice of the surrounding crowd.

Shana's hand was conspicuously ignored--because she'd been caught in a bearhug that was just short of physically painful, and lifted from her feet entirely, "Hey, don't worry! This was just for fun; running something like this seriously is boring. Crushing everything with unbeatable power? Not my kind of thing."

The gang leader grinned at her, after putting the straw hat girl back down, "I'll be looking forward to it! You'd better not lose now, okay?"