[IC] The Duel Tower: The first year students. (A Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Academy Roleplay.) [Axed]

[EviiPaladin]

Pre-Duel

Angelo smiled as he made his choice in the coin toss and saw that he won and was able to pick who went first and of course he would pick himself. "Good luck Brad. Let;s see how well this will go." Angelo said, as he pulled out his 5 cards.

"Likewise," was Brad's response, drawing his own.

"Duel!"

Outer Space Invades Air Space

Turn 1: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 5
Brad: Cards in Hand: 5

As he looked at his cards, it turned out Angelo had a good hand to put up a strong front like before however this time he will know what to do when certain cards show up. "Alright I'm going to start us off by summoning a good friend of mine, Mist Valley Falcon!" Angelo said, smiling as a portal appeared below the field and a humanoid monster with wings and a sword and shield.

Mist Valley Falcon | WIND | Level 4 | Winged Beast | 2000 ATK | 1200 DEF

"Now I'm going to set two cards facedown and end my turn from there," Angelo said as he ended his turn.

Turn 1: Brad
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 5 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 2
Brad: Cards in Hand: 6

Brad looked at his cards and stifled a groan. This was going to be rough, especially with such a big threat on his opponent's end. "I set five cards face-down an' end ma turn." Fitting that the opponent used WIND, as he could feel the storm brewing.

Turn 2: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 3 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 2
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | S/T: 5

Angelo looked at Brad genuinely surprised. Either he had no option but to try and set down a bunch of cards to try and scare Angelo or he had that many counters ready to be used. As much as Angelo wanted to take the safe option he couldn't he needed to be on offence before he screws up the duel. Angelo was never known for being cautious in a duel after all. As Angelo drew another card he saw that it wasn't very useful now but it would be later should this duel take a turn for the worst. "Well since you have no monsters on your field I think I'll summon one myself. I summon Dragunity Javelin!" Angelo said as another portal appeared and a dragon came out with a slim body and large jaws.

Dragunity Javelin | WIND | Level 2 | Dragon | Tuner | 1200 ATK | 800 DEF

"Now I'm going to attack you directly!" Angelo said as he ordered javelin to attack directly...

Perfect. "Spell card, activate: Book of Eclipse." The green card appeared before Brad before disappearing into a dark mist which flowed into Javelin and Falcon, setting them. "This card places all monsters on tha field face-down. To balance, yers flip face up at tha end of yer turn an' ya draw one card per card flipped by that effect."

Angelo gritted his teeth as he watched his monsters get forced face down but that added effect of him drawing cards will end up biting Brad in the ass when the effect of the card wears off.

"Oh an' if ya thought that tha effect would bite me in ma ass, I've got bad news. Trap card, activate: W Nebula Meteorite." The trap card shot a glowing meteor onto the field and Brad couldn't help but allow himself a small grin. "This card flips all face-down monsters into face-up Defense position. In addition, at tha end of tha turn, I can draw 1 card fer every LIGHT Reptile-type "Worm" monster I control before settin' 'em. Also, I get to summon a Level 7 LIGHT Reptile-type "Worm" from ma deck at that time." Brad was surprised with himself. That was a pretty good play.

Angelo started to grin at that apparently this was clever for him. This was odd though he could have used it later to put it into its full effect when he actually had monsters on his field was it really so bad for him to let Angelo have his two cards? Angelo sighed a little "Then I'll end my turn," Angelo said as he ended his turn and not get his two cards.

Brad let out a small breath. "In that case.." As he picked the card from his deck, he stopped for a second. Something this strong... He should have one of those 'summonin' chants' he's heard these dramatic types get into. Well, he could give it a shot... "Ruler of tha infinite swarm, I pay ya tribute!" As he said this, the glowing disappeared into a blast of pixels. "Special Summon... Lend me ya wisdom... Worm Queen!"

A massive ice white creature appeared in a burst of light. Its six legs dripped with some sort of liquid as its golden eyes, both in its head and the sharp lower body outcropping glowed with ill intent.

Worm Queen | LIGHT | Level 7 | Reptile | 2700ATK | 1100DEF

Turn 2: Brad
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 2 | Monsters: 2 | S/T: 2
Brad: Cards in Hand: 2 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

"Now I draw." With the lead, he wasn't too upset with the draw but he wasn't exactly over the moon about it. "Battle Phase. Worm Queen, destroy Javelin."

"Not happening! I activate my Trap card!" Angelo said as he flipped one of his face down cards to reveal a girl with a green circle under her. The trap card forced Angelo to get rid of his Javelin but it would get rid of that card from staying on the field. "This Trap card is known as Spiritual Wind Art Miyabi and by getting rid of Javelin I can force one of your cards to the bottom of your deck and I'm going to pick your Worm Queen!"

Brad's hand hovered over one of his set cards. He really hated to use Queen like that so soon after busting her out but... "Trap card, activate: Offerings to tha Snake Deity." There was probably some irony about having just offered tribute to bring Worm Queen out, but it was lost on Brad. "By offering ma own Reptile-type monster as tribute, I can pick two of yer cards to destroy along with it. An' I pick Falcon an' yer set card." A final white burst of light emanated from Worm Queen, along with an ear-piercing scream before it shattered.

Angelo growled as he saw that happen and it was beyond him why Brad would try so hard just to make sure Angelo couldn't get ahead by sacrificing what Angelo thinks is probably his best card just to take down two of his cards. At least with Angelo's card he would have still had it in his deck but whatever works for him.

"In tha second Main Phase, I set a card an' end ma turn." Brad could only hope that this stalling would give him an opening.

Turn 3: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 3
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | S/T: 3

Angelo sighed as he looked in his hand he needed to get a combo going and he could see one being formed but the main issue was his face down cards still on the field he had no clue if he could pull it off but he needed to try. "Alright I'm going to play a Spell card called Foolish Burial!" Angelo said as a cross over a grave appeared and when the arm came out of the grave it showed the monster he put in the grave from his deck. Angelo put to the graveyard a strong Dragunity known as Primus Pilus. Angelo had to try something though so he decided to try and do something with the cards he had in his hand. "Well I'm going to need to banish a card to summon this one out so I banish Javelin in order to summon Garuda the wind Spirit!" Angelo said as a monster appeared a bird human monster with wings looking religious with the wind moving around him.

Garuda the Wind Spirit | WIND | Level 4 | Winged Beast | 1600ATK | 1200DEF

"now I attack you directly!" Angelo said as he forced Garuda to attack directly...

Brad grit his teeth as the blow landed. He couldn't get over how they had managed to simulate actual pain and physical presence for a card game. But even though he was a bit annoyed at the pain, he was enjoying himself. This was so different from playing Noble Knights...

Brad LP: 4000 -> 2400

Angelo grinned seeing that he finally made some headway in this duel. Angelo got him down and he had a monster on the field. Now Angelo needed to make another attack with a stronger monster. Hopefully he could end this duel soon. "Now I end my turn with that."

Turn 3: Brad
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1
Brad: Cards in Hand: 2 | S/T: 3

"Draw." As soon as Brad saw the orange colouring of the card, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It wasn't... optimal. But it would have to do. "I summon Worm Apocalypse in Attack Mode."

A slimy, lanky orange creature appeard in front of Brad, doing a hypnotic dance with its noodle-like appendages.

Worm Apocalypse | LIGHT | Level 1 | Reptile | 300ATK | 200DEF

"With that, I end ma turn." He wondered what Angelo's next move would be. Would he see it as a sort of feint? Or a feint of a feint?

Turn 4: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 2 | Monsters: 1
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

Angelo covered his mouth so not to laugh at the little worm doing a funny dance. It was just funny but Angelo didn't want to seem rude or mean like that it was just funny having a worm dance. "Alright I draw!" Angelo said smiling when he saw a game changer a monster that will end this duel once and for all! "From my hand I summon Dragunity Aklys!" Angelo said as a small dragon appeared from the ground a small dragon with red scales and a pointed head.

Dragunity Aklys | WIND | Level 2 | Dragon | 1000ATK | 800DEF

"Now I'll use his special ability and summon one Dragunity monster from my hand and unfortunately for you it's a big one. I summon Dragunity Arma Leyvaten!" Angelo said with a grin as he summon a large monster with orange scale and a large sword.

Dragunity Arma Leyvaten | WIND | Level 8 | Dragon | 2600ATK | 1200DEF

"That's not all though because I special summoned him with Akyls he then becomes a Spell card!" Angelo said as Akyls then went to Arma and twisted around his sword arm like a bracelet "Now Dragunity Arma Leyvaten destroy his Worm!" Angelo said as he had Arma attack the Worm and swing his sword down to attack.

"Not quite. Trap card, activate: Lumenize." A brilliant light encapsulated both Worm Apocalypse and Arma Leyvaten before sending the latter reeling. From the light emerged a larger, more muscular Worm Apocalypse, with a dozen more wiggling arms. "Lumenize negates an attack that targets ma LIGHT monster an' gives it extra Attack equal to that of tha attacker until tha end of ma next turn."

Worm Apocalypse 300ATK -> 2900 ATK

Angelo groaned a little he had this in the bag he was so close to winning but that damn trap card stopped him in his tracks from winning on this turn at least "Then I'll have to end my turn." Angelo said ending his turn but this would be his opponents last if he didn't do something.

Turn 4: Brad
Angelo: Monsters: 2 | S/T: 1
Brad: Cards in Hand: 2 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 2

"Draw." Brad wasn't sure if this new card was a good pull or not but it definitely wasn't the worst it could be. "Battle Phase. Worm Apocalypse, take out Garuda." The creature vibrated loudly before shooting dozens of flicking tentacles at the airborne opponent.

Angelo couldn't stop it from happening as he covered his eyes groaning as he took a huge hit leaving him with only a little more than half his life points so this needed to end fast.

Angelo's LP: 4000 -> 2700

I need to end this fast... As Brad grabbed the single remaining card from his first time, he figured he'd give that summoning chant thing another shot. "Conqueror of infinite galaxies, I pay ya tribute!" As his voice raised at the end, Worm Apocalypse exploded into pixels. "Tribute Summon... Lend me ya strength! Worm King!"

An enormous creature roared as it blinked into existence, standing even taller than the Queen had. The roar continued, eminating from a mouth located in the same place as the Queen's second head had been. Pounding its fists, its golden form gleamed.

Worm King | LIGHT | Level 7 | Reptile | 2700ATK | 1100DEF

Brad was feeling a bizarre rush... One he hadn't felt since his footballing days. "I set one more card facedown an' end ma turn."

Turn 5: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 1
Brad: Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

Angelo smiled as he saw the new monster come in, it was even worse then that queen he had a while. This was getting fun and this meant that the duel was about to end, it was when the duel got electric like this that Angelo felt alive. Angelo then pulled out a card from his deck and sighed a little seeing that it wouldn't help at all but it would still give him a sense of defense should he choose not to attack his Arma. "I set this card face down to end my turn" Angelo said as he ended his turn.

Turn 5: Brad
Angelo: Monsters: 2 | S/T: 1
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

"Draw." The card he drew was almost comical. But it didn't matter now; he had Angelo on the ropes. Was he about to get his first win here?

"Worm King, attack his Arma Leyvaten." It was only 100 damage, but he needed every bit. He wouldn't miss victory this time.

Angelo sighed as he took the 100 points but that meant that the Worm was officially gone! "Bad move Brad! Goodbye Worm King! Thanks to Akyls's special ability when he is destroyed while equipped to a monster I can choose one card to be destroyed and I'm looking at it!" Angelo said pointing to the king.

Brad realized that he really needed to look into what other decks could do. He was about to resign yet another of his big hitters to its demise when he remembered another card from his first turn. "Wait! Spell card, activate: Forbidden Dress!" As Akyls rocketed towards Worm King, the two collided in a huge explosion. But as the smoke cleared, Worm King still stood, but was now cloaked in a beautiful, shimmering white dress. "At tha cost of 600 ATK until tha end of tha turn, I can make a monster immune to targetin' or destruction by card effects until tha end of tha turn." Worm King did an awkward spin, to illustrate both the fact it was not destroyed and that it had a wonderful outfit on now.

"Other than that, I set a card facedown an' end ma turn." That was closer than Brad was happy to admit. But if there was one thing he was happy about, it was the duel in general. His first one had been a complete washout but this? This was close. And fun.

Worm King was not as happy, as its new dress disappeared.

Turn 6: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1
Brad: Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

Angelo was grinning widely this was so damn close and exciting! This was the kind of duel Angelo loved to be a part of and even if he lost this would be the start of a good friendship. "I draw!" Angelo said and he sighed softly in annoyance he couldn't get back in the game if he let that damn worm stay on the field. "I set this card face down and I end my turn," Angelo said sadly since he couldn't pull off a game changer.

Turn 6: Brad
Angelo: Monsters: 2
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1 | S/T: 3

"Draw." Brad wondered if perhaps the shuffler was broken on his Duel Disk as he looked at yet another card that was not a monster. "Battle Phase. Worm King, attack tha left face-down." With a deep bellow, the golden monstrosity leapt at the card. A small pink dragon appeared for a moment before being hit by four rapid punches by the alien royalty.

"I set one card an' end ma turn." The card would help end the duel, one way or the other.

Turn 7: Angelo
Angelo: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 1
Brad: Monsters: 1 | S/T: 4

Angelo knew he didnt have much to play so he needed something to help him win this duel. He drew another card and it was another monster and yet it wasn't one that would turn the tide in this duel. At the very least this would help bring up his defence a little more and stall for time until something did come. "I set this card face down and end my turn." At this point it was starting to get stagnant and they both knew they were just stalling until one of them could end it.

"Not quite." Brad was almost entirely sure he'd regret this but if he pushed now, he could seal the deal. "Trap card, activate: Burst Rebirth." It felt like an electrical current blasted through him as the card revealed itself. "By payin' 2000 Life Points, I can Special Summon a monster from ma grave, face-down."

Brad's LP: 2400 -> 400

Turn 7: Brad
Angelo: Monsters: 2
Brad: Cards in Hand: 1 | Monsters: 2 | S/T: 3

It was now or never to make the final push. "Draw!" Brad's eyes went wide. This was what he needed. "I summon Worm Solid in Attack Position."

A strange blue creature trapped in a triangular prism appeared, crying out in anguish.

Worm Solid | LIGHT | Level 4 | Reptile | 1000ATK 1700DEF

"Next, I flip ma Worm Queen face-up." Brad's voice rose in volume and excitement as the huge pale white being reappeared at his side.

Worm Queen | LIGHT | Level 7 | Reptile | 2700ATK | 1100DEF

"But I won't be using them to attack. Worm King's effect activates. By tributing a LIGHT Reptile "Worm", I can destroy a card on tha field. I tribute Queen and Solid to destroy yer two monsters!"

Worm King roared, causing the two other Worms to form into glowing golden orbs. Devouring them, the conqueror of infinite galaxies bellowed, two brilliant beams blasting from his lower mouth at the two monsters on Angelo's side.

Angelo sighed as he saw his last line of defence get destroyed but he smiled as he simply waited for the end of it all. This was a fun duel and even if it wasnt a win for him it was still a hard fought duel that he should be proud of.

"Worm King!" Brad's voice reached a fevered pitch, his hands shaking in anticipation. "Conqueror's Charge!!" With one final screech, the monster lurched forward, throwing out multiple punches at the opposing duelist.

Angelo's LP: 2600 -> 0

BRAD WINS!

Post Match

Angelo groaned loudly as he covered his eyes and stood his ground he was not doing to drop to his knees. That is one thing that he promised to himself no matter what no matter how bad he may loose he will never drop to his knees from the ending. As his lifepoints dropped to 0 that was the end of it and he just lost once more but it was a really close duel with only a few lifepoints left on his opponent. "I think its safe to say that we work well together. So I say we help each other out while were here." Angelo said as he went over to him holding out his hand for a shake with a smile.

Brad had to calm himself down for a moment. He had won... And a hard fought victory at that. Man, he wondered if the disks recorded duels. Maybe he could find a way to show his lil brother and sister...

Suddenly, he noticed Angelo standing in front of him. "Oh, yeah. That was close." He took the hand firmly and smiled. "Say, what kind of packs have those Synchros yer lookin' for in them? Ya deserve somethin' fer that match."

TL;DR

After a repeated back and forth, Brad narrowly rises triumphantly. Also, Worm King seriously considers the possibility of hiring a tailor.

[Eklispe]

Megan flinched a little at Camyrn's harsh rebuttal, a bit surprised. The other girl was right of course. And the word choice reminded Megan that she was still Earth, nothing special. Not that Nate seemed to mind the staring and looking again Megan wouldn't have minded staring a little longer, only this time at him. "Ah, erm. Sorry, lost in thought. Performapals normally use pendulums right? I'm a little curious to see your deck in action. Though I don't know if Snipes is allowing any more action duels so you might have to settle for standard. Ah but only two of us can duel, Camryn would you like to give Nate a chance to show off his deck or shall I?" Megan needed to take notes on her last duel anyway since it had gone better, and she wouldn't mind taking notes on another duel as well. The idea had only occurred to her partway through the duel. Though of course with the thrill of the last duel still running through her she felt like she couldn't wait for another one. Still Camryn had lost and was wind dorm, so it was her right to decide who dueled Nate. Either way Megan would be content.

[The Red Seelie]

Vincent Gulfus

Vincent had been looking for a place to open this haul of cards in his hand and pockets, his eyes glancing around for a place to open them with such anticipation of what he would pull from them. Neither the less he still needed to find a place to sit to actually preform the act of opening his packs. Either way Vincent just wanted a place to sit down. Then his train of thought was suddenly ground to a halt by someone bumping into him. Causing him to fumble with the packs in his hands in a effort not drop them on the floor. After a few moments of the fumbling he turned and faced the person whom had bumped into his back.

It was some girl whom he had never met before either that or he didn't remember their entrance exams because he was distracted. Either way he noticed that she had dropped a few packs and was apologising to him for bumping into him before she went and picked them up. Of course 90% of Vincent felt guilty for the inconvenience, the rest was laughing at the clumsiness of the girl. "I should be the one apologising for being in the way" Vincent said with a honest look on his face. "I haven't seen you around much before, so what's your name?" Vincent asked pausing for a moment before continuing "And do you want to open packs with me? maybe we could judge what each other got, and maybe trade? I mean I don't know what deck you play but I play Chaos, as such being The Chaos Ambassador has kinda grown on me." Vincent said with a grin of invitation.

Meanwhile in the depths of Vincent's mind the perverted side was commenting on how well endowed the girl was.

[Xeiyenreisha]

"Huh" Tsukiko questioned overwhelmed by complete surprise as she saw Hayato had entered the room. Her tears had dried up by then though she was a bit embarrassed to see Hayato was there and she was clinging to Ben for comfort. She immediately let go of Ben and told him that she was thankful for his assistance in helping her feel better. She noticed Hayato was exhausted, but when she put her hand on her upper part of her chest where her neck was located she noticed the shiny object that hung around it had gone missing.

"Oh no!" Tsukiko exclaimed when she had just realized that her locket was gone. She immediately fell into a panic since that was given to her by her own mother when she was born which included a special key inside of it. She didn't know what that key was for, but her mother did tell her when the time was right that she was to use it. She never told her what it was for though so she would most likely have to find out on her own or inquire about it through her brother; however, how her brother was acting as of current might not be very useful toward finding out its purpose.

She turned toward Hayato has she stepped away from Ben giving her and Ben a few feet of breathing space where she nodded at him, "Thank you for comforting me, Ben. I really do appreciate all that you have said to me. I won't give up finding the answers I seek and I'm sure one day I will find an answer to all the problems that trouble me so." She concluded abruptly smiling toward him before she turned her suspicion toward Hayato who had just came in unannounced. She sighed as she tried to be polite toward Hayato despite being a bit irritated with him for seeing her like she was a moment ago. She hoped he didn't hear everything the two discussed as she walked by him, "I'm going to find my locket. Hopefully if I retrace my steps it will be easy to find." Tsukiko replied as she excused herself from the room which would leave only Ben and Hayato there unless one of them were to try to stop her from leaving.

"Why did you catch me...?" Hayate asked in a soft slightly scared voice. Shinrei noticed that she was a little frightened by his company when she asked her question. She asked him 'why did he catch her' which wasn't a question that he could answer easily. He remembered she overheard him talking to Ethel about how he might be cold, but he wasn't dirty. It would have been bad for his image if he had just let her hit the floor and only recover himself. He knew Ethel was disappointed she didn't get her laughs and the people in the arena seemed a bit disappointment that he was a killjoy. Personally, he didn't really care, because they could have what ever opinions they wanted of him. He then decided he would tell her the truth since she did bring him back to his senses and prevented him from going into his dangerous state. "Because you resemble someone I once knew." He answered in a polite and rather casual tone though there was still a chill behind the voice though it sounded a bit more friendly than his usual voice.

Shinrei listened to Hayato's story though he didn't seem to be really interest in it. Not that he was trying to be selfish, but it wasn't really any of his business. Despite that, he decided to listen to her all the way through rather than ignore her completely like he did with Ethel. When she started off asking if he was going to scold her he shook his head. "It wasn't your fault and even I know that. I know exactly what happened so there is no reason for me to say anything vulgar toward you." Shinrei reminded her with a reassuring warm nod even though his eyes never did change some of the features on his face showed some more light. Seemed the man wasn't completely a cold-hearted bastard even though he did usually always come off as one.

When Hayate mentioned the name 'Natsuki' it hit him that name was very familiar. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he remembered that name or why it rang a bell inside his mind. All he remembered it was someone that a person close to him knew. He wanted to believe it was his mother, but his memories were so clouded that he just couldn't remember at all. Whenever he tried to remember his thoughts were overtaken by a thick fog which veiled over everything making it impossible to see the memories he had inside his mind. He didn't really know why he couldn't remember, but he did recall that his sister Tsukiko suffered from the same problem. Somehow both of them became amnesiacs though they didn't really know how it transpired. He was guessing it had to do something with that accident with Tsukiko a long time ago and the darker side of himself.

"You said Natsuki was your mother though not your biological mother? That name I recognize but I don't know how I remember it." Shinrei said as he stood up from his seat and came to the bed and knelt down beside Hayate. He thought to himself as he looked at the photograph in his hand and her face. She did resemble his mother though not completely since she did have different colored hair and eyes. She couldn't be related toward his side of the family because most of them had blue or red eyes. Shinrei had red eyes just like his sister Tsukiko which were a trait from their father. Their mother had blue eyes, but they did get her silver hair. He remembered it was in front of a shimmering water lake that his mother got Tsukiko's name while enjoying the moonlight gaze upon the silver shine of the lake at night. It was also at the moment that he saw another woman with silver hair, but this couldn't be one of his memories. He wasn't born at the time this happened. The woman said to her, "Such a beautiful Moon Lake." His mother agreed and the memory vanished where he returned to where he was at Hayate's side. He wondered if Hayate just saw the same vision he saw just a moment ago. "Another woman with silver hair?" Shinrei mumbled to himself as he slipped the picture back into his wallet which he pulled it out of. Who is this other silver haired woman? Why was she standing with my mother in front of a lake in the moonlight glimmer? Did this girl beside me see that same vision? He questioned toward himself as he stood up to listen to what Hayate had to say as he could sense she was about to say something to him.

She informed him that she had a bad dream where he remembered he had a dream that was causing him sleep deprivation problems too. That's when he wondered if her dream and the one he had were somewhat related. He noticed she was a still on edge after waking up which was understandable, because she probably had no idea where she was right now. "I wouldn't worry about that dream you had. All you saw was a side of myself from the past that has long died." He kept his reply toward the matter blunt since he didn't really want to go into details about that side of him. It was a part of his part that haunted him like a shadow which he wanted to put behind him and move on. After all, it was that own reckless nature which brought harm to his sister and he was sure as hell not going to allow it to happen again. He would do everything to prevent that tragedy from repeating itself.

"I'll always be alone won't I...?" Hayate asked Shinrei not knowing what to think of her dream. Shinrei looked at her as he closed his eyes after she said that. He really didn't have an answer for her when she asked him that and he didn't really want to talk about the subject since it deeply related to him and his past experiences. He would at least try to enlighten her a bit to try to ease the worry that plagued her mind. "You'll never be alone unless you choose to be Hayate. If you do not want to be like me then never choose to be alone. Choose to be with other people and remain true to yourself and your resolve. If you do that, eventually you will find the answers you've been looking for."

"D-do... you want to play a game with me...? all you need is two mini solid vision projectors... i got a spare one after all... it will keep things off my mind... Hayato came up with this game when we first got it..." Hayate asked explaining how it always calms her mind when she plays it. Shinrei opened his eyes as he noticed she wanted to play a game. "Here." He said handing her his set of cards which he pulled out giving her the chance to sort them out for the fact this was her game, but he did not carry on him his a duel disk it appeared. Why he didn't have it was unknown though it seems he knew where to go to class even though he did not carry it.

Personally, he preferred his black and dark purple duel disk which was custom built for him that was very special toward him. Where that duel disk was only he knew and he wouldn't even reveal if it was with him or not. It was that special that he would keep it a complete secret toward only himself. The duel disk he had to use was quite primitive which made him not like it at all. It was nothing like the one he valued so much since it wasn't custom made with the features he valued the most. It didn't even have cloaking mode which hid it completely out of sight. He decided to leave it in his room since he had no intention of dueling anyone on the first day though he did carry his cards around. Besides, if he carried his personal one he used people might be able to connect the dots and figure out who he was. Guess I'll have to use the one they provided. Not my style, but I cannot have people finding out who I am. Keeping my identity secret is of the utmost importance. They say, a duel disk represents one's status. My status within my company is still very much a secret. I intend to keep it that way too. Using a custom duel disk would let people know that I am from the a professional caliber. I guess I'll just have to make do with what resources I can use for my own personal benefit.

[vancexentan]

Ben left the room as quickly as he could soon after not out of a need to get rid of Tsukiko or get away from her or Hayato but because he needed to sit down. He needed to take a freaking shower and breath in and bask in the glory that only being by himself could bring to him. For once in his life so far Ben had enough of people talking to him. And knowing HIS luck that wasn't going to happen so he quickly hustled towards the shower in the Wind dorm and he didn't even bother getting new clothes. He quickly jumped into it and got to work it was a better feeling than he knew. Maybe it was because of the extra work he put in today with his work out or the recent incident with Tsukiko but it let him chill out and find 'The Ben Zone' where he could just think about himself for a couple minutes. Wow did he really just think about 'The Ben Zone'? His brother Andre was right he really was a tool.

Regardless Ben quickly got done his shower and put on his clothes, which made him shiver because they were quite the opposite of his body now cold, sweaty, and wet. It was like he had been out in the rain. Ben quickly decided to throw his clothes in the laundry after a quick visit too his room for his casual clothes so he could wear those while his uniform was in the wash. So far Ben felt a whole lot better now. The relative quiet as few of his dormies were around the dorm meant he could be left in peace to his own thoughts; and he didn't need to worry about Andre because he could take care of himself at his own dorm. Besides who would want to bother Andre? The dude was the most inhospitable person he could think of. He'd be lucky if Andre could find himself an acquaintance here let alone a girlfriend or a real buddy.

[Ammokkx]

"...Eh?" Haas got cut off in the middle of his second sentence against Cassie, whom had simply turned to face him once she took notice someone approached her. And all that, just to immediately challenge him to a duel. And she's a wind. I have a feeling this is a terrible idea... Haas mulled over inside his head, now having a very confused expression plastered across his face. The boy figured she was bored, but come on, not this bored! "E-Erm... Sure! What's the worst that could happen?" Haas replied cheerfully, even if he knew the answer to that question full well.

There didn't seem to be very many students around the audience seats anymore, and it'd be pretty silly to go outside just to duel... Hell, why not do it right here? Haas took a step back, then flung the backpack hanging on his shoulder to his front. Searching around in it for a bit brought forth and empty academy disk, before securing it on his wrist. The boy took a few steps back, staring at Cammie with an excited grin.

---

Ethel groaned as she had to make her way back through the desert to get to the main building. As much as she didn't like to show it, the heat was insane. A few drops of sweat finally started to gather on the top of the girl's silky skin, though it still looked flawless for the rest. No seriously, how was she doing that?! After what felt like an agonizing stroll through hell, Ethel felt relieved to feel cool air around her again. She honestly didn't quite know why she decided to come back, but staying around the Action Duel arena after the humiliation with Andre wasn't exactly an option either. She walked over to a part of the wall to lean against, pondering over what to do now. Conveniently, Ignia was next to Ethel. Not so conveniently is that she didn't notice her. So the boredom remained.

[Scarifar]

Vincent Gulfus & Michelle Kine

"I haven't seen you around much before, so what's your name?" Vincent asked. Michelle had a blank look on her face as she thought about how to introduce herself. She wanted to create a good first impression, but she wasn't sure how to properly introduce herself. A few seconds passed, with her playing out different scenarios in her mind, before she finally said, "Michelle." Vincent also invited her to open their card packs together, and it took a few more seconds for her to say, "Sure. I use a Lightsworn deck." For the entirely of this exchange, Michelle had not made eye contact, instead looking off to the side, on account of her shyness. She cleared her throat, then asked, "So... where should we go?"

"Honestly, I have no clue," Vincent said in response to Michelle's question of where to actually go and open packs, maybe they could go find a table or something on this floor, Vincent honestly had no real clue. What intrigued him about the girl was that one, she played Lightsworn, an archetype known for being heavy on the whole Light aspect as well as self-milling, and two, she was shy. The latter part making him chuckle a little inside, but looks can also be very deceptive. Honestly though, Vincent thought he should make friends with the girl, she was in Wind, so that was something they could both relate to. "So Michelle, is your deck pure LIGHT or are you running any other Attributes?" Vincent asked almost as a offhand question.

Michelle gave the question a few seconds of thought, then replied, "There are a few DARK monsters in my deck. They look like they're best used when they're in the Graveyard, which does help a bit with how Lightsworns are used."

"Ah so you're running a little bit of DARK on the side, reminds me off my own deck," Vincent said as he tapped his deck which was in his pocket. "Chaos is all about filling the graveyard for their stronger monsters," Vincent said with a grin. Chaos had been proving to be a fun archetype for Vincent; nevertheless, Lightsworn seemed pretty cool as well. "We still really need to find a empty table" Vincent said as he peered outwards towards the rest of the room, his eyes scanning like he would scan the female form, accurately, he had a childhood friend to thank for that abilty.

Michelle looked around the room as well, then said to Vincent, "There's one in the far corner." She then walked over to it and sat down at one of the inside spots for the table.

Vincent followed his companion and sat down at the spot opposite to her, his eyes glancing at her face every so often while he put his massive amount of packs onto the table. "So why did you come to this academy?" Vincent asked her quizzically.

Michelle looked in surprise to see such a large amount of card packs, compared to her two meager packs. She then thought about how to answer the question Vincent asked while absentmindedly opening her packs. Eventually, Michelle responded with, "Well, it seemed fun, and, um, my parents encouraged me to." After a short pause, Michelle continued, "What about you?"

Vincent paused for a moment not entirely sure of how to answer the counter question. "Er, I came here because I like this card game and I thought it was a good idea," Vincent said muttering something under his breath. "So about we both dig into these packs we brought and compare and contrast, eh?" Vincent said with a grin as he picked up a 'Time's Running Low' pack from his pile of boosters.

Michelle completely opened up her packs and examined each card from them. Very few cards were actually useful to her deck, and some were completely unrelated. Michelle figured that that would be the case, considering how many other archetypes were in the pack she chose. "Hmm..." Michelle thought out loud.

Vincent tore into his trove of packs, not looking at any of the cards until he was done. Placing them on the table he looked at each one with a look of glee on his face as his mind filled with the decks he could make with the cards. Of course the crowning glory of his pull was the Legendary 'Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning'. Vincent also noticed he had pulled a Lightsworn card. "Here," Vincent said as he gave 'Celestia, Lightsworn Angel' to his newfound compatriot.

Michelle looked up from her collection of cards to see Vincent offering her a card. "Oh, um, thank you," Michelle said as she took the card. Celestia, Lightsworn Angel, Michelle thought as she read the card name. She placed the card in her collection, then wondered what he had. "Hey, um...." Michelle started off. "Do you, have anything else to trade for?"

"Eh not really. I mean I could give you this, free of charge," Vincent said as he handed her a Chaos Emissary, Lux. "Just know that if you take that card you're swearing allegiance to the Chaos Embassy, and by extension its Ambassador, me." Vincent said with a grin.

Michelle gave the offer some thought. It was a "free" card, and Michelle was pretty sure Vincent was joking. On the other hand, Lux wasn't very useful in her deck right now. Unlike Vincent, she didn't have Chaos monsters to summon, and by extension, nothing that could be consistently recovered from the banished pile. "Thanks, but no thanks," Michelle said, turning down the offer. "I'll earn it when I'm ready."

Vincent was obviously hurt by the rejection of his offer. Most of him felt like crying; part of him wanted to kill the girl. Shaking it off, Vincent placed his deck on the table showing every single card as he began to get to work adding or removing some.

Michelle couldn't help but look at Vincent's deck; she was too curious not to. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise upon spotting a Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning among his collection, but she decided not to comment on it. Taking out and looking over her own deck, she wondered what could be done to improve her deck with what little additions she had now. Eventually, though, she determined that there wasn't much that could be improved on for now. Returning her cards to her deck slot in her Duel Disk, Michelle got up from the table, saying, "Well, I should get going. Thanks again for Celestia."

Vincent was getting sad to see the endowed female leave. His mind quickly formulated a idea. Vincent grabbed Michelle's arm to stop her from going any further before he asked, "How about we add each other in the D-Cievers?" Vincent asked her.

Michelle looked back when Vincent grabbed her arm. "Oh, uh, sure," Michelle said, taking out her D-Ceiver. A few button clicks later, and the two were added to each other's friend lists. "There we go," Michelle said. "So, I'll, uh, see you again soon. Bye." With that said, she began to walk away.

Vincent just sat at the table thinking of what the hell he would do next.

[Jangel13]

@EviiPaladin
"Actually I'm looking for the dragunity knights. They are the best forms of my deck after all." Angelo said smiling taking his hands back. This guy was able to give Angelo a real run for his money and it was really close. Still it was a little sad that Angelo hasn't been able to win a single duel here yet but it was still so fun just to duel this hard. He never got to duel with people back home since he was in the country side after all.

[The Red Seelie]

Ignia Nosfera

Ignia was in the middle of her brooding when someone decided to lean beside her of course Ignia looked at the person whom had sat so close. Ignia began her analyse of the blue haired female wearing the revealing rabbit costume. Fair silky skin, Always a bonus for guys, revealing skin again points for the guys, a look of indifference definitely a turn on for some, blue hair and blue eyes points in that category, defined mammaries on the lower scale again more appealing to the pervert nature of boys, The sweat also helped alleviate the girls charm as weird as it sounded, Ignia could think of a dozen ways this girls picture could be used as a bargaining chip. This girl was definitely a worthwhile target now the final factor would be what underwear she liked to wear otherwise, she was a 9/10 would pervert again.

Ignia continued to view the girl with a glint of perverted malice in her eyes, drooling slightly at the prospect of what she could do with this girls image. Ignia wiped away the drool before she decided to make herself known to the stranger. "Why hello there 9/10 what brings you here today" Ignia said with a grin as see continued looking at the girl. "Say, are you all right, I mean you seem a little sweaty which just helps to alleviate your charm meaning more guys are probably pour on you any minute." Ignia said not even flinching at what she said. "I mean a light dorm girl like you must get a lot of attention." Ignia said trying to be friendly. "Though I must say though that outfit really does suit you." She continued complimenting the blue haired girls choice of clothing. Ignia paused for a few moments before deciding to introduce herself. "The name is Ignia, I am just a lowly wind girl pleased to make your acquaintance" Ignia said as she awaited a response

[Tojin]

Camryn pondered a bit. "Hmm... How 'bout we flip a coin, and whoever calls it right gets to duel Nate? That seems fair to me. As for whether or not the Colonel's allowing more Action Duels, since ours was allowed, I think he'll allow another one. It's free time right now, anyway."

"Ooh, wait! We could grab someone else and have a Tag Duel with them! ...Are Tag Action Duels a thing?"

[SillyPhilly]

Cassie smirks.

"Alright. No gab, just business. I like your style kid, though the stuttering is a bit of a disappointment."

She walks back through the stands a bit then turns around and puts her own duel disk on.

"The name's Cassie, Cassie Kuma .Sorry if I seem hasty. I got an itch and quite frankly you're the only one that seems to want to scratch it. Who do I have the pleasure of trouncin' today?"

She gives her deck a quick shuffle then slots it into her disk.

[Eklispe]

Megan grinned, "That sounds fair, hold on a sec." Megan said as she reached into her pockets for a coin, something any aspiring duelist should carry on them. "I call heads." she annouced and flicked the coin into the air, easily catching it and slapping it onto her arm. "And it isss... heads! Nice, alright Nate get your deck ready to go, I'm gonna see it in person." Megan crowed excitedly and ran over to Snipes again, calming down as she got close to him. "Colonel, can you please open up another action field so Nate and I can duel?"[/color] she asked very politely.

[Satoshi Kyou]

Hayato was about to open his packs Hayato heard Tsukiko mention a pendant and he remembered he had picked something up after his duel and got up and walked to up to Tsukiko "I'm guessing this is yours then..." Hayato said taking everything out his usually empty left pocket and handed it over and walked back to his packs and sat down at the desk he put them and pulled out his deck just in case "Now shoo... I don't feel like talking anymore" Hayato said ignoring everything Tsukiko would say in response and started opening his packs, as he started opening his packs while skimming through his new cards he spotted 8 cards he wanted in his deck straight away though some of them are duplicates. This way, it makes his deck a little more duel worthy where he smiled as he added 2 new samurai into his deck as well as adding 3 new spells he could use despite them not being too strong. He got up slid his deck back into his duel disk whereupon he left to go back downstairs. Opening those packs finally lightened up his mood where he decided it was a good time to finish up on a few loose ends he had in his room. He decided to make his way to the elevator kind of hoping he'd run into Leander again. He kind of wanted redemption after losing his other duels moreover he wanted to repay Leander for his rudeness earlier.

Hayate smiled at Shinrei's answer and started explaining the rather simple rules, it was a game they played when they first got the projector after all "Rules are pretty simple... how do I explain this... you see this button here? this button reveals the card on top of the stack of cards on the projector, before you press the button me and my brother would declare Defense or Attack, highest number wins... first person to get 5 cards wins... I like playing it because you get to talk while you see the monsters fight or defend... it may be a little boring but its a fun way to kill time..." Hayate explained as best as she could "I don't know why... but these monsters still follow orders even though they are not in a duel and can tell when there is another nearby... it was designed as a display so it was a little weird when we first discovered the feature..." Hayate explained as she shuffled her own monsters into a neat stack and started to talk a little more mom comes up with great prototypes... but they are always rejected like the solid vision binder... she is always told people wouldn't want that... or the pack opener... well i guess Hayato would call it a card shooter" Hayate said finally done shuffling the deck and set it on the table beside her mini projector "So... you have any fun memories? unless... you don't have any... i would be a bit sad to hear that... everyone has a good memory or two... it is never good to let go of the past no matter how much it hurts... "Family should never be forgotten. moreover old memories with family that should never be forgotten either." is what Hayato would say... but i think he is being weird... papa is just on vacation after all... he said he'll be back..." Hayate said mentioning family and memories unsure if Shinrei would be mad at her for mentioning her brother this many times

[Xeiyenreisha]

"I'm guessing this is yours then..." Hayato said taking everything out his usually empty left pocket and handed it over. Tsukiko immediately turned her attention toward Hayato then noticed he was holding a chain which resembled her locket. When she got a closer look at it, she noticed that it was in the shape of the moon and that glance is when it hit her. It was indeed her where she took it from him wanting to thank him for finding, but then she noticed he wanted to be alone. Tsukiko decided to return to her room where she would change her clothes since she was tired of wearing her uniform.

She went back to the Earth Dorm where she stripped out of her shirt and skirt laying them on her bed so they could be put in the dirty laundry later. She then pulled out of one of her fancy looking dressers with a mirror on it shaped like a moon the clothes she was going to wear for the rest of the day. She stuck with her choice of panties which were striped just like the ones she wore earlier and so was the bra. "Hopefully, I don't have to deal with any perverts today." As she refrained from wearing some of other pairs of underwear which were a little more provoking than her usual striped ones.

She also pulled out a dark red blouse along with a pair of dark black denim shorts. She slipped on a pair of thigh highs and then put on her tennis shoes. She decided to also put a new pair of fingerless gloves which she slipped onto her hands. After she was done putting her new set of casual clothes that she would wear for the remainder of the day, she neatly stacked her cards together before slipping them into her duel disk card holder. Afterwards, she slipped the duel disk onto her wrist that way in case someone wanted to challenge her they could. Before she left she noticed that the lighter shirt choice allowed people to get a better view of her bust size which she didn't entirely like, but if she hid it from people they'd just continue to harass her until they knew how big they were. "The way this shirt shows off my breasts..." She complained as she wasn't sure if the clothing choice was the right one, but if she spent too much time trying to find a set of clothes to wear the day would be over. Hopefully she wouldn't get too many unsuspecting eyes and get too much attention like she drew yesterday when she went to supper with Haas. Well, she didn't hang out with him but she did accompany him after the two bumped into each other.

Tsukiko walked out of her room then locked the door as she made her way toward one of the lower floors. There was no reason she needed to return to the Fusion Room nor was their any reason for her to confront Hayato about his troubles. It wouldn't help either of them and she had troubles of her own that she had to deal with. One being her brother who has been nearly completely ignoring her all day. The only time she saw him was during classes and during the time she went to eat breakfast where she thought she saw him watching over her. Other than that, he hasn't been around to keep her company and she was a little bored. She also noticed that he left somewhere with Hayato's sister which did strike her as surprising. Being that her brother hasn't done anything like that before in the past except with her. Something about that Hayate girl must have triggered something in her brother. it was the only explanation she had. She would ask him about that later. For now, she would try to enjoy the rest of the day and try to follow Ben's example of not letting herself get so down. It was challenging because the emotional problems that she faced overwhelmed her by staggering odds where it was heard to keep her composure. I wonder how brother is handling the painful memories that are carved by blood into his soul. He won't talk to anyone about his past. I don't know how he lives with himself looking like a dead ghost for almost the entire day.

Tsukiko took the elevator all the way down toward Floor 7 after a voice told her to go there where she would also check out this new card trading device she had heard about. Hopefully, she hoped that this person who told her about didn't give her bad information. When the door's to the elevator opened bringing light to the scene in the room she noticed there were a few students already there. There wasn't really any students on that floor that she recalled from the classes which were held earlier. The top card in her deck which was 'Void Dragon' glowed for a brief moment which struck her as strange. Was the card trying to tell her something? She wasn't sure why it glowed like it did for a moment then just went dim and dormant. Hopefully nobody in the room just saw what just happened, because not even Tsukiko had the words nor the answer for what just happened a moment ago. She grabbed the card off the top of the deck then flashed it in her direction toward her eyes where she mumbled hoping no one else was paying any attention to her. She didn't know if her eyes were playing tricks on her mind or if that card really did just glow a moment ago. "Void Dragon... Did you bring me to this floor? If so, why would you bring me here? What is it that you want me to learn here or see here?"

Tsukiko decided to take the card she held in her hand to a table where she would sit down and analyze it more. She was hoping that what she just saw was just her imagination. She thought it was just a mere exaggeration of thought, but if other people it saw it they might ask questions about what just happened. She looked around while she set the card on the surface of the table she took a seat at and noticed the rest of the students were acting normally. Didn't look like any of them saw what just happened. "I really need to get more sleep. I'm starting to see silly things like cards glowing." She sighed in relief since she didn't have to go and explain to anyone in the room what just happened, because she really didn't have an answer for what happened. She did remember someone earlier she met as before she went to sleep had informed her that certain cards choose their owners and those cards are stronger in the hands of those owners than anyone else. Was that actually true? Did cards actually have minds of their own? Tsukiko found that ridiculous since they were just inanimate objects. All they are were objects that projected images from the face.

"Huh, this isn't where the card trading machine is? This area looks like..." She paused for a moment as she surveyed her surroundings noticing some students were wearing their bathing suits. She gave off a long deep sigh, because one someone had given her a bad piece of information and secondly that voice sounded like it just wanted to deceive her which she just heard a moment ago. "This area looks like where there's an indoor pool." She said disappointed as she remembered she had left her swimsuit in her room. She had a variety of them to choose from, but had she known that Floor 7 was where the indoor pool was located she would have at least brought it. Besides the clothes she wore right now were normal for anyone going to the pool.

"Looks like I need a new travel adviser. That last one ripped me off." She said shaking her head in complete discouragement which gripped her tight like a hand-crushing blow from a giant being such as a golem or titan. It certainly was a delivering defeat toward her trying to enjoy the day as she had just went to a room by mistake. She decided she would hang around for awhile anyway as she continued to sit at the table she sat at. "Well, at least I'm wearing clothes that are suitable for someone that is going to the pool so I doubt anyone would notice my mistake. Just by coincidence too..." She mused as she would try to blend in with the other students while she made her next plans. One of them was finding where this card trading machine was actually located. It'd be a bit awkward if it were on the same floor as the pool area, that's for sure. It had to be on some other floor she hadn't been to yet she assured herself.

Shinrei once again closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts before opening them again as he collected his thoughts of what he just saw earlier while Hayate explained the game to him. He listened to her rules as she sorted out his deck handing him back just the monster cards in his deck. He noticed the girl was a bit troubled judging by the expression on her face. Still plagued by loneliness, huh? He thought to himself since she was the same way he was despite he would never actually admit that himself.

"So basically, we draw a card call out ATK or DEF and the person who draws the higher number wins? Simple enough, correct?" Shinrei answered as he thought he had just put her rules into words that were more simple to understand. He could have been wrong by how interpreted them, but judging by the way she explained the rules it sounded like his observation was spot on. He then noticed she showed some hesitation as he realized she was resisting to answer, because she felt a little afraid. "If you're afraid that your words bother me then just cease thinking that way. I will let you know when you say something which I do not approve of." Shinrei said in a reassuring voice though it was still cold, but it certainly was more friendly than how he approached other people. He would call this his casual tone since he spoke to Tsukiko in the same exact tone usually.

Shinrei heard Hayate say that her father was on vacation which made him sigh deeply and it was a very long sigh. He didn't want to alarm the girl from what he knew since the document he had was about the World Circuit duels since there is something he was investigating himself. He wouldn't say what it was he was investigating, but it was obvious that it had to do something with her father. That boy hasn't told her yet, has he? It's not my place to do so either. It might be cold, but this is something she is better discovering on her own. He said as he shook his head in disappointment when he thought about the fact Hayato just outright lied to his sister about her father. It was cruel for him to keep the truth from her, but like Tsukiko he didn't think she had the heart to handle the truth and it might affect her in a negative way which might drive her into the same madness that pushed him nearly into the void of nothingness. I don't know why I care so much about this girl, but something inside me doesn't want her to experience what I had to go through. It's probably better that way too. He to himself as he shuffled his cards then put them on the table when he had finished. It was ready to start this game she wanted to play with him though he found it rather peculiar that she didn't just leave or at least complain that he brought her there against her will which was the epitome of kidnapping. The girl wasn't upset at all and looked to be more dazed and confused than anything. Hopefully keeping her company would brighten her day like he did with Tsukiko.

[Scarifar]

As Michelle waited for the elevator to arrive, Michelle looked at her D-Ceiver, pondering the fact that she could call up Vincent at any time. She didn't know how she should feel about it. Even back home, she had no friends' numbers on her phone when she was younger. As the elevator arrived, Michelle walked in and absentmindedly pressed the button for Floor 7. It wasn't until she got out and the elevator doors closed did she realize what it was she was doing. Michelle facepalmed, mentally chiding herself for doing something so stupid. I'm such an idiot, Michelle thought, then she decided to make the best out of it by sticking around for a while before moving on.

Looking around, Michelle noticed that there weren't that many students in the room they were in. It seems that the main attraction of this floor was an indoor pool. Quite nice, but not something Michelle was all that interested in. Plus, she was still wearing her Wind uniform; not something meant for going into a pool. Lost in thought, Michelle wondered how she was going to spend the rest of the day. Michelle thought about Dueling someone to gain more points, but the thought made her hesitate on actually doing so. Maybe another day, Michelle thought.

[Ammokkx]

Colonel approved of the way the second duel between the two girls went down. He'd not seen any foul play, though the hardness of the solid vision was... A little concerning. It should not have been able to create wounds of that magnitude, and especially not lasting ones... While the duel ended and the two of them returned back to the audience, Snipes started giving out commandos through his Microphone. "SYELL! Reduce the Solid Range from 86 to 78!" Some typing was heard from the other side of his eyepiece, right around the time Megan dashed back up the stairs. They wanted another Action Duel, huh... "ALRIGHT! I'll allow it, but this will be your last one. I want others to experience the thrill of an Action duel as well." they instructed Megan, then motioned them to go to the field.

When both Megan and Nathan were in place, the speakers flared up with Snipes' voice again. "Action field, ON! Acrobatic Circus!" As Colonel announced it, what materialized on the field was, as the title suggested, a circus. Various balloons floated in the air alongside two ladders on opposite ends of the room, connecting to a long tightrope. Various trapezium's were around as well, and a few nets scattered around for in case the actors fall.

---

An annoying buzz sounded from next to Ethel, whom looked out of curiosity where it came from. Out of nowhere there was a rather... energetic girl who tried to bug her. Ugh. She had enough of these types, honestly. Hell, the first sentence annoyed Ethel already. Her name wasn't 'Nine-out-of-Ten'. She's not some kind of number on a wall, so what was this girl thinking by addressing her like she was one? It got even worse, honestly. Ethel pulled away her body from Ignia when she commented on her sweat of all things, finding it creepy on how Ignia compliments her for being dirty. What was her problem? And what was with the comments about guys pouring on her?! What did Ethel care, she wanted people to leave her alone for crying out loud! "Stop being so creepy!" the girl nearly yelled at Ignia, having an expression of genuine fear on her face.

Though it didn't stop the little ball of energy, who proceeded to introduce herself as 'Ignia'. What a weird name. Well, considering they told Ethel their name, she might as well say hers... "...I'm Ethel. And stop staring at me." the girl quickly blurted out, regaining her composure a little. The mechanical look came back in her eyes as she scanned Ignia herself. Average in every way, probably just some common street girl. "What do you want, anyway?" she asked, raising a single eyebrow and crossing her arms. Now that Ethel thought about it, she was actually a lot taller than this girl... The other one seemed to only reach her neck if they stared straight forward, though this was probably due to the boots Ethel was wearing. Heightened soles did wonders like that.

[The Red Seelie]

Ignia Nosfera

9/10 in the heightened shoes (the height annoyed Ignia a little but no matter.) finally gave themselves a name. Ethel was what 9/10 referred themselves as and as such Ignia thought it in her best interest to refer them as the same. Never the less with her excitement slowly decreasing after the initial meeting. Ignia stilled ignored the girls request to stop staring but she obliged to lower down the comments on 9/10's form. She had scared the girl after all and that was never her intention. "Sorry for scaring you, I just get a little excited at meeting new people, they give me a sense of bemusement that you might now experience in the same way." Ignia said. Her face changing to reflect a more intellectual personality before she continued. "The reason I am currently here at this academy is to learn, like any respectable person would be if they choose to come here. To learn the game we come to refer to as duel monsters" Ignia finished as her face switched back to its happy go pervy self.

"So Ethel, hows the light dorm, you must be strong very strong to be in such a placement" Ignia said happily in a sing-song voice her green eyes never leaving the blue haired girl. "You had asked me what I want and what i wanted was someone to talk to you see, I don't have any friends here and you looked like someone I could approach" Ignia told Ethel, her voice lowered in volume. "And to be honest I think halve of the guys here don't have their brain in the right place." Ignia whispered as her voiced rose back to standard levels. "who am I to be so intrusive though, you looked in thought and I kinda broke that with my excitement so... I guess I am sorry for what I did" Ignia said. In her mind she was only apologising for the interruption not for the creepyness, but Ethel didn't need to know that. "So come on Ethel my icy friend, you don't look you have many actual friends either so... Do you want to be friends?" Ignia asked looking at Ethel with a honest human look in her eyes, none of that over happiness or coldness. Just a honest look for a honest question.

[Tojin]

While Megan went to ask the Colonel about their duel, Camryn said "I'm gonna go grab a seat. See you after the duel, Nate!" She ran excitedly to the bleachers and took a front-row seat to the Action Duel field. This is gonna be so cool! I'm not sure who to root for, though... On one hand, Megan beat me, and with my own Solidarity no less, but she's also the first friend I've made here. But on the other hand, Nate seems like a nice guy, and I'd love to see his Performapals in action. Eh, I guess whoever wins, I'll be happy for them. I just hope it isn't over too soon! she thought, as the Colonel set up the Action Field. Aloud, she shouted "Heeey! Good luck, you two! Have a good duel!"

[Scarifar]

Duel between Michelle and Tsukiko

The Beginning

Tsukiko decided to get up for a moment to walk over toward one of the vending machines to at least get something to drink. She was rather thirsty and this was as good time as any to quench one's thirst. She hadn't had anything to drink for the most of the day other than the times she ate. All that walking around would make one thirsty too. Especially having to walk from the arena all the way to Floor 44 to retrieve a card she left in the Fusion Room then back to her room where she decided she was going to change her clothes since she didn't want to wear her uniform all day taking personal preference to the clothes she wore when she was not in school. One thing hit Tsukiko when she went over to choose what beverage she was going to drink, which was that she never knew how crowded public teaching institutions were.

Unlike most students, Tsukiko lived a sheltered life where she was isolated from the public at the request of her father so she never got to make any friends or know what being around others was like aside from her journeys with her brother when he dueled in the tournaments. She had been home schooled, which meant she had little to no outside contact with the rest of the world so she never had any of the luxuries that these students had such as vending machines and other gadgets such as card trading machines since her father's multi-billion dollar company provided her without almost everything she ever needed. She was the same as her brother even though she knew he didn't really care about the luxuries inside society since he was an isolationist almost his entire life. There was a time where he tried to make friends, but that time was short lived. At least these students get to live a life outside of being secluded from society, because that is what my father thought was best. She thought to herself as she made her choice then picked up the beverage that was deposited from the dispensor below as she walked back to her seat and popped the can open to enjoy the refreshing sweet taste of citrus flavor touch her tongue, giving her an invigorating feeling as if it gave her life again.

"Much better." She said to herself as she was completely restored from the cooling refreshing taste of the orange soda she picked. It was actually also one of her favorites even though she prefered to mix it with alcohol, but that certainly wasn't allowed in the academy. She knew that was for sure as most public areas were alcohol and drug free zones. You couldn't just bring a pack of cigarettes or an alcoholic beverage if you wanted to. "Huh?" She questioned as she noticed someone else was sitting where she was. She certainly didn't take notice earlier since she was enjoying herself a moment ago where she had lost track of who was in the area. She noticed a black haired girl had taken a seat right across from where she sat. She knew that black haired girl wasn't sitting there earlier, because the table was completely vacant when she got there to take a seat from her exhausting journey around the academy.

"Rough day, I take it?" Tsukiko questioned toward the girl as she set her drink down on the table to relax once again. Hopefully she didn't have to walk around anymore than she had, because her feet were just killing her. Thank god she didn't wear high heels or her feet would be littered with blisters.

Michelle had been staring off into space at the direction of the pool, lost in thought like usual. She thought about her first few days here at the academy, thinking how interesting they have been so far. Suddenly, someone came and broke her out of her thoughts. "Rough day, I take it?" Michelle turned away from the pool to look at a silver-haired girl with a drink in hand. She was quite pretty too, although Michelle thought she looked familiar for some reason. She didn't know why; she certainly never met someone like her before. Putting the thought side for now, Michelle decided to say something friendly. "It's, um, it's been alright," Michelle replied. "How about you?"

Tsukiko took another drink first before she decided to answer her question, though how to do so when she had been through so much today. She wasn't going to say anything about what happened in the Fusion Room, because that would be completely embarrassing. She let a boy get close to her, which would have made the other boys very jealous had they saw Ben hug her like he did. "Umm well..." Tsukiko said with hesitation as she didn't know what to say. The parts before the Action Duel were fine aside from having to get up at the crack of dawn just to get in a warm shower. She placed her finger at her lip to contemplate what was necessary to say and what should just be left out. It was hard to find any place to start since most of the interesting things she would take interest in were not matters that Tsukiko really wanted to talk about at all. Well, maybe the showers, but other than that the rest were off-limits to anyone else's minds. Especially what happened with Ben. No way she was going tell her about that.

She then decided to not saying anything about those events as she took out the chain that Hayato handed her earlier which was her locket. She had not even realized she dropped it on the ground earlier so she was fortunate and grateful that he had picked it up for her. "I guess, you could say my day has been okay." Tsukiko paused for a moment as you could notice some of the stress inside the tone of her voice. She extended her hand out toward the black haired girl who thought she could trust by her aura where she opened the claws of the hand to reveal her chain that was supposed to be around her neck. "Think you could help me get this back around my neck? Somehow it fell off earlier?" She asked politely toward the girl since it would be hard to get the thing back around her neck by herself without eyes in the back of her head where she would only have to rely on her instinct rather than her eyesight.

Michelle certainly wasn't expecting a request for help. Michelle pondered what to do. Of course, it'd be rude to say no, but some inner instant made Michelle hesitate to say yes. Michelle mentally combated her inner turmoil intellectually, thinking, It's just a locket. It's not going to bite or anything. After a couple seconds, Michelle responded, "Sure." and got up to help. Taking the locket, Michelle walked behind Tsukiko and began to loop the chain around Tsukiko's neck. After a few short moments of Michelle fumbling with the chain, she eventually managed to get the chain connected. "There we go," Michelle said, walking back around. Now that she looked at the locket, though, she noticed the two dragons on it. Michelle couldn't help asking Tsukiko, "Hey, um, uh, this is, uh, a bit of an odd question, but... are you... do you know who, um, Shinrei Ikushirou is? You kinda remind me of him."

"Thank you." Was Tsukiko's immediate response though the tone was a little lighter than usual so it was hard for other people to hear. It was just loud enough to catch the black haired girl's ears. She was relieved to have her locket back around her neck where it belonged since she didn't go anywhere without it. She was going to say something else until her thoughts were interrupted by the mention of her brother's name? Tsukiko looked at the girl in surprised when she mentioned her brother, because nobody really knew who he was aside from those who have met him in actual person. She thought to herself as she was trainwrecked in thought over the surprise over the mere mention of her brother's name. How does she know about my brother? Unless... She thought to herself, pausing her thoughts at unless until she got a broader view of why this girl actually knew her brother or just heard of him from someone.

"That's my brother. I'm Tsukiko Ikushirou, his twin sister. The person you spoke of is my brother, though why do you ask about him? Other than the tournaments, not too many people know who he is anymore and he was... well..." She wanted to speak of how skilled he was, but she knew her brother was working hard at concealing his own identity for reasons of his own. She couldn't just carelessly say something about her brother since it would go against what he was trying to do even though she did want him to go back to how he used to be where he wasn't as cold in nature as he was now. It was like he didn't want anything to do with anyone and why in that classroom earlier was he looking at Hayato and what possessed him to take Hayate away who fainted in his hands. These were strange things that Tsukiko would have to sort out later in her mind.

"Well..." Michelle began, her hands fidgeting. "I, uh, really like Dueling, and, um, I used to look up old Duels to watch them. Shinrei, your brother, he was in the World Circuit, wasn't he? When I was watching his Duels, I noticed the one for his Finals match was missing. Every place I tried to find it was either deleted or cut off. The news didn't announce his victory or defeat, either. I guess that's why I remember him so well out of all the other Duels I watched." Michelle wasn't sure what else to say now. She had said all that she remembered. Then Michelle asked Tsukiko, "So, do you know what happened?"

There was a finals match, but the media she knew covered the whole incident up. The accident that happened during his duel and then the unfortunate event that happened in the finals. Shinrei had made it to the finals, she knew that, but he withdrew where she knew the reason why. She had a flashback of what happened during that semifinal duel where she saw her brother had lost control of himself and had slipped into a great despair. She saw he not only struck down his opponent in a brutal flash of dark light, but also was prompted by some urge inside him as you could see the sadistic look on his face and the cold smile and demon's eyes gazing at the crowd wishing for them all to die. Tsukiko remembered that some girl stood in the way of that blast shielding the crowd from her brother's onslaught. When she saw who that girl was she remembered. That girl... it was... She thought to herself as she paused for a moment catching the downed girl who had silver hair.

She surveyed the surroundings where she noticed that same cold smile on her brother's face just as they were still downed where the dust slowly lifted from the impact of that explosion. It was me... She thought to herself when the black haired girl with glasses brought up the semifinal duel. She didn't know how to put what happened in words, because she had been in a coma for almost three months just like his opponent. All she could think is how could her brother do something so heartless and cruel like that. That side of him she saw she didn't think was him at all. When Michelle asked her what happened, just as she was experiencing the trauma when she spoke of it, Tsukiko didn't look like she really wanted to answer that question as you could see the shameful look on her face and the disappointment within the serious toned nature of her voice. "Well... it's really hard to explain. From what I saw happened so fast and when I came to realize what just happened I was waking up in the hospital after recovering from a comatose state." Tsukiko looked away down toward the ground with a gloomy look on face, because talking about it certainly troubled her.

"I'll tell you what, if you can defeat me in a duel; I'll tell you what I know." Tsukiko stated as she tried to shrug off the horrors of what she just experienced just a moment ago. It was like she went through some horror movie where she just didn't want to talk about the events of the past. Especially since she was sworn to secrecy. She loved her brother and didn't really want to say anything that would cause him to distrust her or anything that he didn't like other people to hear. When it came to her brother, she knew he hid everything that bothered him from everyone keeping them bottled up inside. She knew he didn't trust anyone with what was going on in his mind which is why she never questioned his logic.

Michelle noticed how quickly things had escalated after she had asked that question. Things felt awkward for a while as Tsukiko talked. Before Michelle could offer an apology, Tsukiko offered a Duel to settle the issue. Michelle certainly wasn't expecting that development. After a few short moments, though, Michelle recovered from her surprise and responded, "Uh, ok." Well, that's one way to start a Duel, Michelle thought. Looking around, Michelle wondered if there was enough space for a Duel with their Duel Disks. "You brought your Duel Disk, with you, right?" Michelle asked.

Tsukiko was asked if she brought her duel disk with her and on the side that was at her side was her Duel Disk which was attached to her wrist. She suddenly stood up from her chair and decided to stand at an opposite end of the room so there was a good separation between her and Michelle before they engaged in their duel."I didn't catch your name." Tsukiko replied as she activated her duel disk where the part where the cards were slotted onto finally fanned out. Her duel disk also shuffled her deck for her for where she pulled out the cards and offered to allow Michelle to break the cards if she wanted to.

Michelle pulled out her Duel Disk as well, attaching the device to her arm and unfolding the blade. She also moved back a bit to ensure there was enough distance between them for the Duel. When Tsukiko asked for her name, Michelle replied, "My name's Michelle Kine." When Tsukiko offered her cards to Michelle, Michelle held up a hand to decline, trusting that the Duel Disks' auto-shuffling feature would be enough. At last, the Duel would begin.

As the Duel Disks readied up and the space between Michelle and Tsukiko emptied out, Michelle and Tsukiko cried out, "Duel!"

DUEL!

Turn 1: Michelle
Michelle: 4000 LP, 5 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 5 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T

"I'll go first," Michelle said, drawing her first five cards. Looking over them, Michelle pondered her options for a moment, then made her decision. "I Summon Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner in Attack Position!" Michelle declared, the mage appearing on her field.

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner - Level 3, ATK 1000

"I also play the Field Spell: Realm of Light, and the Continuous Spell: Lightsworn Sanctuary!" Michelle continued, the area around them transforming. "Lastly, I play one card facedown, and enter the End Phase, where I mill 3 cards from my deck due to Lumina's effect," Michelle ended, sending Minerva, Breakthrough Skill, and a Realm of Light to the Graveyard. "One of the cards I sent was Minerva, Lightsworn Maiden, which means I send 1 more card to the Graveyard," Michelle explained, sending Ehren, Lightsworn Monk to the Graveyard.

"Due to the effects of Lumina and Minerva, Realm of Light and Lightsworn Sanctuary get 2 Shine Counters each," Michelle explained further. "For each counter on Realm of Light, my Lightsworn monsters gain 100 ATK!"

Realm of Light - C2

Lightsworn Sanctuary - C2

Lumina, Lightsworn Summoner - ATK 1000 --> ATK 1200

"Turn End," Michelle ended.

Turn 2: Tsukiko
Michelle: 4000 LP, 1 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 6 cards, 0 Mon, 0 S/T

"My turn then," Tsukiko replied as Michelle ended her turn, drawing five cards into her hand. She didn't entirely like the draw she just got, though some of the cards were actually quite useful. Unfortunately, it wasn't the draw she wanted since only one Monster Card was present in her hand.

"Okay, here I go. I draw!" Tsukiko exclaimed as she drew a sixth card into her hand not taking a look at it for a moment as she viewed her other ones. She noticed it was a Monster Card though not one that would help her so she slid it into her hand. She grabbed the fifth card on her far left which was a Monster Card but more useful than the other one she drew. She grabbed it in between her two fingers as she laid it down in attack position. She was about to play when heard her brother's voice telling her to be careful. "Don't forget about the face-down card. You have two cards of your own that can give you an edge, but don't go recklessly playing a card until you analyze the entire field. The card could be Lightsworn Barrier. Though you're fine since she only has one card." Tsukiko stopped herself from playing Drillago then turned her eyes back onto the other Monster Card she drew.

Tsukiko thought to herself that her brother could be right though she wasn't sure what this Lightsworn Barrier card did. He didn't explain either, but if he was warning her about it must mean he's trying to warn her about Trap Cards. Should I play this card or not? She questioned toward herself as she just heeded her brother's voices words as she rethought her entire strategy. He had a point, holding onto Drillago would be a good idea though if she didn't find out what that face-down was, it could lead her to digging herself a hole. All right, brother. I understand what you're saying, but if that's a Trap Card, then probably best I find out what it can do. Can't just delay attacking and dig myself a hole. "All right, thank you for the warning, brother. Here I go with what I'm going to do. I'll go with the same move I was going to do. Which is this." She said as she moved the card that was in between her two fingers and set it on the field in face-up attack position. "I summon Drillago in attack position.". She declared as she made her first move of the duel leaving her five cards still in her hand. She heard the voice once again tell her. "Don't use all your Trap Cards in just one turn. Set only two of them and hold onto which ever one you feel will benefit you later on or set it on your next turn. Always try to keep as many cards in your hand as you can. It makes the opponent think differently when you have more cards in your hand since more options are available to you. Remember that."

Drillago - Level 4 - ATK 1600

"Drillago has more attack than the monster on the other side of the field. Be careful though, that monster could have an effect, so always be prepared in case it does have one." Her brother's voice warned her just as it was about to become her Battle Phase. It seemed he wanted her to learn most of what cards can do on her own without influencing the situation too much though she didn't understand why she could hear his voice or why it seemed like they were so connected. "Battle, Drillago attack Lumina!" Tsukiko said as she was prepared to launch her attack on Lumina moving into her Battle Phase.

Michelle allowed the attack to connect, and Lumina was destroyed. Michelle found it sad, but not out of control. She could easily recover from this.

Michelle - 4000 LP --> 3600 LP

"Now set those two cards. Save that other card, because you cannot use it right now." He informed her as Tsukiko then placed two cards face down in her Trap/Spell zone. She sure hoped that his advice was going to be any of use toward her since this was her first actualy official duel. He reminded her she was doing good, but not to get full of herself and focus on the duel. Not to let herself get distracted at all. "This is my first actual duel though I don't think I'm doing too bad right now," Tsukiko stated as she tried to encourage herself as her brother's voice would try to assist her as much as he could without actually getting too involved. It was Tsukiko's job to win the duel, but he would at least give her tips and hints which was completely up to her if she wanted to listen or not. She did great by ignoring his suggestion of playing her other Monster Card instead of Drillago. It was a decent move and he was a bit impressed with it since it worked out for her in the end, but as he reminded the duel was far from over and that she should not let herself get too engrossed into winning and focus on what she needed to do which was to defeat her opponent.

"I will end my turn there, your turn, Michelle," She nodded with a smile as she was actually enjoying herself and was able to forget about the dark looming thoughts which haunted her mind like a hallowed ghost. She thought to herself as she waited for Michelle to start her turn. I cannot afford to lose if I want to remain silent about my past.

Turn 3: Michelle
Michelle: 3600 LP, 1 cards, 0 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 4000 LP, 3 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T

"Draw!" Michelle said, drawing her next card. Not a bad card; it gave her more options to pick from to use this turn. Problem was, there were only so many she could use. Plus, there was also the possible threat of Tsukiko's face-downs. It was alright, though, she had defenses of her own.

"I activate the effect of my Lightsworn Sanctuary!" Michelle declared. "By sending a Lightsworn monster from my hand to my Graveyard, I can add another Lightsworn card from my Graveyard to my hand." Michelle sent Gragonith, Lightsworn Dragon to the Graveyard, then returned Ehren, Lightsworn Monk to her hand. "Now I Summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk in Attack Position!" Michelle continued, the warrioress assuming a fighting position as she appeared.

Ehren, Lightsworn Monk - Level 4, ATK 1600 --> 1800

"Battle! Ehren, attack Drillago!" Michelle commanded, Ehren running towards the drill beast monstrosity without fear.

"Go face-down card, Mirror Force, activate. If a monster declares an attack when I activate this Trap Card, all monsters attacking are destroyed." Tsukiko said as she flipped Mirror Force face up to show her face-down card was a trap.

Fortunately, Michelle had anticipated a Trap card like that would be used. "I activate the other effect of my Lightsworn Sanctuary," Michelle countered. "If a Lightsworn card I control would be destroyed by a card effect, I can remove 2 Shine Counters for each card that would be destroyed instead." Ehren gained a glowing yellow aura, allowing her to break through the force field and continue the attack.

"Don't lose focus, you still have that Spell Card, so don't worry about your Trap Card being negated." Tsukiko heard the voice say as she was disappointed her Trap Card failed, but the Spell Card her brother was talking about was one that could become very useful toward her if she used it at the right time. "You see what I meant by using your cards too soon. You need to carefully plan every one of your moves. You could have used your Mirror Force Trap Card later, because you were holding another card which would have been more useful." The voice said to her trying to get her to regain her confidence and not let herself get discouraged from the mistake she made a moment ago. She was sure her brother's voice didn't say anything, because he wanted her to experience for herself the errors of her own way and learn how to remedy them in case she made them. "I knew it..." The voice thought to itself as it had predicted that Trap Card was exactly what he anticipated it to be.

Tsukiko was impressed that her brother knew what it was. Then again, he dueled more than she ever did so he was far more experienced to the point where he could read certain card movements. Tsukiko thought to herself as she looked at the three cards she still held, her brother had a point. She wasn't out of it just yet and it was too early to just give up. Even her brother would see things through to the end and she would too. Tsukiko covered her face as she took damage from the attack and her monster was destroyed and sent to the graveyard. Luckily, it was only a small amount, being 200 points.

Tsukiko - 4000 LP --> 3800 LP

Michelle wondered what else was in store for her. From the way Tsukiko was playing, she seemed to be a beginner, yet Michelle noticed a few times she made smarter moves than most beginners would have made. In any case, Michelle reasoned that Tsukiko was not an opponent to be underestimated.

"At the End Phase, I mill 3 cards as per Ehren's effect, and my Realm of Light and Lightsworn Sanctuary gain 1 counter each," Michelle explained, milling Vylon Prism, Necro Gardna, and Jain, Lightsworn Paladin.

Realm of Light - C3

Lightsworn Sanctuary - C1

Ehren, Lightsworn Monk - ATK 1800 --> 1900

"Turn End," Michelle said.

Turn 4: Tsukiko
Michelle: 3600 LP, 1 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 3800 LP, 4 cards, 0 Mon, 1 S/T

"I draw," Tsukiko said as she drew the card facing it away from her for a moment, noticing something different. When she fanned the card toward her she noticed it was the same card that brought her to Floor 7. How did I draw this card... even though it's not very useful right now. She better think more clearly about this next move she was about to make. There was only one Monster Card she could use since the other one was too high level to summon without a tribute. She knew had Drillago survived one more turn, she could have used the card, but if she got two other cards along with it she could probably use it later on. "Use that card's effect to destroy both your card and Ehren. Even if it is destroyed, you get something out of it, so take that risk." The voice said as he wanted her to take a look at the effect of the card and take a gamble with it. It would leave her wide open for an direct attack, but at least she could clear the field and prevent Michelle from building up an offensive.

Normally, aggressive reckless moves are what her brother would do since Tsukiko preferred to be a bit more balance, though he did have a point. Staying on the defensive too long would allow her opposition to build a wall of offense that she should have saved her Mirror Force for, but ended up wasting it too early. "Let's see, here. If I use this card like he said I should be able to give myself time. I don't want to use this card yet though." She stated as she tried to regain her confidence pointing at the Spell Card in her hand which she would save until later. She couldn't let that card go to waste or she would limit herself down to very scarce options. Knowing she had to be careful because the card's effect also meant sending cards from the top of her deck to the graveyard. Hopefully none of those cards were what she needed to bring out her ace monster. "I summon Card Trooper in attack position. Once per turn, I can send the top three cards of my deck to my Graveyard to increase this card's ATK by how many cards I sent X500." This is awfully risky, if I send any of the material monsters I need it's going to leave me in a big hole. But I cannot let cards that I cannot use get in my way either so I will use this double-edged sword like my brother said. She thought to herself as she played it in attack position.

"I send the top three cards of my deck to the Graveyard to increase this card's ATK by the amount of cards sent X500 until the end of my turn. My monster gains 1500 Attack points, giving it a total of 1900." She nodded as she send the top three cards of her deck to the graveyard. She hoped none of them were material cards she needed as she would boldly do one of her brother's reckless moves which was to attack head-on without hesitation. She had less cards than she did so it wasn't a bad decision except the fact it left her without a guard afterward and hopefully no card would prevent her attack.

Card Trooper - Level 3, ATK 400 --> ATK 1900

"Battle!" Tsukiko said as she moved into her Battle Phase. This move could either bring her salvation or destruction, but she didn't know which of the two it would bring since it was a very risky gamble she wouldn't normally take. "Card Trooper, attack and be a martyr. Vanquish Ehren along with yourself!"

Michelle noted the kamikaze attack Tsukiko used to destroy Ehren. A risky gamble, that was for certain. Admittedly, it did bring down her offense, but it was still only a temporary setback, and nothing that could not be replaced.

"Not bad." The voice said to her slightly impressed her gamble worked. The voice did admit that it was a move itself would perform since he was pretty much a quick strike guy. That was a hard strategy for Tsukiko to follow, since her brother had better cards than she did and was far more experienced than she was, though she was refreshed when he complimented her. The card she held onto might not be useful right now, if she allowed the duel to progress, maybe it may be useful in the later stages as she set it face-down where she was now holding two cards in her hand. "Dont' forget about Card Trooper's effect when it's destroyed." The voice reminded her which she almost forgot about. "When Card Trooper is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to draw one card." She said as she drew one card from her deck and added it to her hand. She noticed it was a card which could help her creep closer to victory if she used it correctly.

The voice again went silent since it appeared he wanted her to win under her own power. Tsukiko was curious if Michelle sensed that she was playing better than her skill level? She was certainly a beginner, but the moves she made aside from the one blunder with the Trap Card were how her brother would have played. He scolded her earlier for losing her focus and he had all the reason to do so. She jumped the gun and forgot about Michelle's actions, which cost her dearly along with a very useful Trap Card. Nothing she couldn't recover from since she held cards in her hand, which would help propel her to victory if she played them correctly and if she drew the card she needed. "All right, I need to make sure I stay focused." She reminded herself as she tucked the new card in with other two giving her three cards in her hand before she ended her turn. "That's it for now."

Turn 5: Michelle
Michelle: 3600 LP, 2 cards, 0 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 3800 LP, 3 cards, 0 Mon, 2 S/T

"My turn. Draw!" Michelle declared, drawing her next card. Not all that useful at the moment, but it would do for now. "I Summon Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress in Attack position!" Michelle declared, the sorceress appearing on the field.

Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress - Level 4, ATK 1700 --> ATK 2000

"Battle! Lyla, attack Tsukiko directly!" Michelle commanded, Lyla firing a beam of light from her staff.

Tsukiko realized that neither of her cards were useful at the moment and she needed some sort of defense to on her next turn or she'd be forced to play the card she was holding in her hand. She saw her brother, then noticed that she was about to take damage, but the damage didn't hurt as bad as she anticipated. Was it because her brother somehow shielded her from the harm and took some of the damage himself. She thought to herself as she felt his presence a moment ago though he wasn't actually there. His voice and presence both could be seen and heard by her though he was somewhere with Hayate where she had no idea where that was.

Brother, please don't do that. You don't need to burden yourself for my own sake. He then reminded her that he didn't like to see her get her and was going to be there to protect her no matter. When it came to dueling he could withstand about anything, but Tsukiko's duel spirit was weak, meaning it needed to be honed before she could realize her true potential. She had covered her eyes to shield herself, but the damage subsided and she was still standing managed to maintain her balance, because somehow her brother intervened and shielded her from harm.

Tsukiko - 3800 LP --> 1800 LP

Michelle then gave the issue of Tsukiko's last face-down card some debate, wondering if it was worth getting rid of. At the moment, it seemed like it had no purpose, and perhaps Lyla's effect would be wasted if it were to be used. However, there was still the chance that it could prove deadly if left untouched. Eventually, Michelle decided to leave it for now, and find a better opportunity to use Lyla's effect. "At the End Phase, I mill 3 cards, as per Lyla's effect," Michelle explained, milling Garoth, Beckoning Light, and Judgment Dragon. Michelle looked in surprise to see the Judgment Dragon going into the Graveyard, which was made even worse by the fact that one of her few Graveyard searchers, Beckoning Light, was sent away as well. Michelle merely dismissed it as a stroke of bad luck and continued. "Realm of Light and Lightsworn Sanctuary gain 1 Shine Counter each as well," Michelle explained.

Realm of Light - C4

Lightsworn Sanctuary - C2

Lyla, Lightsworn Sorceress - ATK 2000 --> ATK 2100

"Turn End," Michelle said.

Turn 6: Tsukiko
Michelle: 3600 LP, 1 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 1800 LP, 4 cards, 0 Mon, 2 S/T

Tsukiko knew that the Spell Card in her hand wasn't useful as long as those counters were in the way. She would need a Monster Card that she could summon with high defense to get her out of this mess. She had a Monster Card, but it was a Level 6 and she couldn't play it unless she made a tribute. Also, she had no cards in her hand that were useful aside from one, but if she played it she knew it would get countered. She only needed one last card, but she was out of options. There is nothing you can do now. You waited too long to play that Spell Card and now if you play it will get countered unless you had a decoy card to push the effect onto but you don't. You have two options. Go out in a blaze of glory and see a blast from the past or place your hand on top of your deck and surrender. I'd prefer if you just surrendered. You don't need to let your memories haunt you.

Tsukiko didn't entirely agree with her brother. If he finished what he started and didn't run away from facing the music like a coward. Neither would she either even if it meant risking stressing her mind to the point she would be blown into past again. Maybe if she experienced the memory one more time she might be able to learn more about it. Looks like I'll have to answer her questions even if it does go against what my brother said. Sorry brother, I failed you once again. I hope you can forgive me. She looked away in disappointment though she buried her eyes in her cards to prevent Michelle from seeing her face. Tsukiko, do not worry about what affects me. You did your best and that is all that matters. You didn't give up and this will give you a chance to strengthen your deck with stronger cards. You only made one mistake. A costly one, yes but you learn from those in time.

"I know..." She closed her eyes and smiled as she decided to lay one card face-down in her Spell/Trap zone knowing the next turn would be the end. "I'll set one card face-down in my Spell/Trap zone." She wasn't going to run away, because that would just be like running away from her past. Even if had nothing to do with her past, she didn't want to give the impression she was afraid of going out in a blaze of glory. Because that was the only way she knew her brother lived and it would be the same way she would be defeated. "Well, that is it for me. You can finish me off if you want, because we both know you have already won. Though I'm disappointed I didn't get the chance to at least get one more turn, I did enjoy our duel as it did help ease some tensions that were bothering me earlier." Tsukiko sighed as she wasn't sure if Michelle was the brutal kind like her brother who wouldn't show any mercy to anyone when he knew he won. That's the kind of duelist he was. The kind which destroyed anything and everything that stood in his way even if it was cold and ruthless.

Turn 7: Michelle
Michelle: 3600 LP, 2 cards, 1 Mon, 2 S/T, 1 Field
Tsukiko: 1800 LP, 3 cards, 0 Mon, 3 S/T

Michelle was sad to see Tsukiko giving up, but at least a final blow was offered. Michelle respected Tsukiko for that. Still, the other face-down was not a risk Michelle was not willing to take. It all depended on her draw right now to see how things would go.

"Draw!" Michelle declared, drawing her card. Michelle was pleasantly surprised to find that card coming to her now. "I activate Lyla's effect! I can destroy a Spell or Trap card my opponent controls, then switch her to Defense Position. I'll choose the card you just set last turn," Michelle said, Lyla firing another beam of light at the face-down card.

Unfortuantely she couldn't activate it, despite it being a Quickplay Spell called Cybernetic Fusion Support. She needed one more Void Dragon to be able to use it so she just decided to let it be destroyed. Without the card she needed to use it, wasn't that much of a loss as long as she held another certain Spell Card in her hand.

Michelle saw the card before it was destroyed. Cybernetic Fusion Support? Must've been a decoy I fell for, Michelle thought. Still, it won't help now. Out loud, Michelle said, "I activate the Spell card: Charge of the Light Brigade! I mill 3 cards from my deck, then add a Level 4 or lower Lightsworn monster from my deck to my hand." She then milled Skill Successor, Lyla, and Raiden. Michelle was a bit disappointed to see Raiden, as she had wanted to add that card. Still, she had accounted for that to happen just in case. Adding Jain, Lightsworn Paladin instead, Michelle continued, "I now activate the effect of my Lightsworn Sanctuary! Once per turn, I send a Lightsworn monster from my hand to the Graveyard to add another Lightsworn monster from my Graveyard to my hand." Sending Ryko, Lightsworn Hunter, Michelle then added Raiden, Hand of the Lightsworn to her hand. "Now I Summon Jain, Lightsworn Paladin in Attack Position," Michelle declared, the armored champion appearing on the field.

Jain, Lightsworn Paladin - Level 4, ATK 1800 --> ATK 2200

"Battle! Jain, attack Tsukiko directly!" Michelle commanded, Jain rushing forward to strike.

Tsukiko - 1800 LP --> 0 LP

Aftermath

Tsukiko closed her eyes as she allowed the monster to attack though she fell into a flasback while the monster attacked her. She could finally see clearly her brother's turn of when he turned the tables on his opponent and it was the duel the accident occured in. Her brother had just borught Void End Dragon back from his graveyard and also reduced its attack by 1000 to add two extra counters to it. She was about to see the horrific monster that he summoned during the semifinals which was very powerful and unstable. She remembered clearly he used an effect on Void End Dragon to summon this mighty beast, and when it was summoned to the field, when he removed all five Void Counters, he obliterated all cards on the field. What is that thing? Tsukiko questioned as she saw it more clearly. It was a gigantic dragon enveloped in a dark purple aura. This dragon had twelve heads and looked a little like Chimeratech Overdragon except it seemed to be far more dangerous.

"That look on his face..." She said as he had already played the monster in attack position. Quite a fiercesome beast which was Level 12 from what she could see from the card, but the writing was too blurry for her to read its description. All she knew is that when he summoned it, his opponent's monsters were gone. She was about to see what next was going to happen when he was about to play another card from his hand when she returned to her senses and found herself on the floor where she opened her eyes slowly. She looked around and noticed a few of the students were looking at her to see if she was all right.

Michelle was one of the students near Tsukiko, coming over right after the Duel ended. "You ok?" Michelle asked when Tsukiko woke up, extending a hand to help her up.

Tsukiko noticed that Michelle offered a hand to lift her up, so she extended her outward from her downward position allowing her to lift her back onto her feet. She brushed herself off first when she was back on her feet then picked up the cards that fell on the floor that she dropped. One of them was Dark Hole, and the other one was 'Void Dragon'. The last one was Power Bond and then she noticed the next card she would have drawn another 'Void Dragon'. The exact card she needed to win had it gone one more turn, but that was unfortuante as she slipped all those cards back into her deck along with her 'Graverobber' and 'Trap of Eraser Board' Trap Cards. One of the students told her hey that if she had another turn the duel would have went differently and they had a point since she did hold Power Bond in her hand too at the time, but it was open and there was no use thinking about what could have been. "Thank you. I really appreciate it, and yeah, I'm fine. I'm probably just a little tired is all," Tsukiko said as she walked over to take a seat as she disengaged her duel disk.

She decided to get another drink of her orange soda to quench her thirst then invited Michelle over, because she remembered her agreement. "You won, so now I will keep my promise and tell you exactly what you want to know." She paused for a moment as she relaxed back in her chair a bit. After that duel which exhausted her, she needed some rest and refreshment to invigorate her spirit once again. "Congratulations on the win."

Michelle was glad to see that Tsukiko was alright. "Thank you," Michelle responded. "Oh, and don't worry about the story. You should rest; I can listen to it later." Michelle was curious about the story, but right now that was of little concern to her, especially considering how Tsukiko just collapsed like that.

Tsukiko decided to just sit where she was enjoying herself waving toward Michelle as it looked like she was leaving the room. She wanted to ponder some thoughts that bothered her. Especially that vision she just saw a moment ago. "My brother is in the Light Dorms. You can find him there," She hinted toward Michelle hoping that she did hear him. She decided to go back to relaxing in her chair as she enjoyed the rest of her drink and pulled out a magazine that she was going to read.

[LunarStandard]

Preduel

"Well, the coin has it. But hey, we can always duel later." Nathaniel said to Camryn with a shrug as he walked past her.

Nathaniel felt an excitement in his body as he strapped his Duel Disk to his arm, standing with Megan and the Colonel. Sure there was no audience or anything like that, but he was dueling with someone who appreciates the game, and that was enough. Plus there wouldn't be any of that Junior Disaster nonsense. Always a plus. Nathaniel thought to himself with a small, barely noticeable twitch of the eye.

As the Solid Vision set into place, Nathaniel looked to his opponent and grinned. "Ready when you are."

Megan looked at the circus that popped up around them in surprise. It was perfect for Performapals, literally designed for it. Had Snipes chosen this field on purpose or was it happy coincidence? Either way it was sure to make for an interesting duel.

"DUELISTS LOCKED IN BATTLE! KICK UP THE EARTH AND SOAR IN THE SKIES ALONGSIDE YOUR MONSTERS! ACTIOOOOOOON!"

DUEL!

Duel! Megan VS Nate, Blades and Circuses

Turn 1-11

Turn 1: Megan
Nate 4000LP: 5 cards
Megan 4000LP: 5 cards

Alright, now this hand wasn't nearly as bad as her last two. Quite reasonable in fact. "Alright, I think I'll start things nice and slow, I'll set one monster and two more cards, then leave it to you. Let's see what you can do!

Turn 2: Nate
Nate 4000LP: 6 cards
Megan 4000LP: 2 cards, 1 set monster, 2 set S/T

"My turn! Draw!"

His initial hand wasn't great, but as Nathaniel looked over the new card in his hand, maybe he could pull something off. Regardless, he was planning on making his first real duel of the year a spectacular one.

Standing on the platform opposite of Megan, Nathaniel slapped a card onto his Duel Disk. "Let's get this show on the road! Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between! Please welcome to the field: Performapal Spikeagle!"

On Nathaniel's command, a large brown bird with sharp wings, sunglasses, and a bowtie appeared on the field. It flapped its wings in introduction, and the shades on its eyes gleamed in the circus lights.

Performapal Spikeagle: Level 2, 900 ATK

"And Spikeagle is not alone, because he is about to be joined by our lovely assistant! Please give a warm welcome to Performapal Helpprincess!"

Performapal Spikeagle moved to the side as a girl dressed in purple appeared amidst a cloud of smoke. She had on a spotted bowtie, and purple hair decorated in twintails. In one hand she held a phone with its cord severed, and in the other a winged staff with a big gloved hand at the end.

Performapal Helpprincess: Level 4, 1200 ATK

"Now prepare your eyes for Spikeagle's dazzling performance! Using his effect, I can target one monster I control, and allow it to inflict piercing battle damage this turn! And I target our lovely Performapal Helpprincess!"

Spikeagle flew to the top of Helpprincess's staff, and circled around its big hand. Soon, the fingers of the hand began to grow sharper and sharper. Kind of like nails, but razor nails.

As Nathaniel prepared to moved to the Battle Phase, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. An Action Card hidden in plain sight, although this one was suspended in midair. It seems it was in a location that was meant to be reached by trapeze, but Nathaniel had a better idea. He jumped off his platform and onto Spikeagle, who desperately flapped its wings a little before stabilizing its altitude again. As Nathaniel and Spikeagle flew to the Action Card, Nathaniel pointed a finger towards Megan's face-down monster.

"Battle Phase! Performapal Helpprincess attacks your face-down monster! Go!"

Helpprincess raised her staff with a triumphant grin and moved in towards Megan's set monster before smashing her staff into it from above.

Attacking with such a weak monster? He must've thought she just put down something as a bluff or to stave off attacks. Either way it wasn't enough to beat her monster. The monster flipped face up and Mystic Swordsman Lv.4 appeared, violently slamming his sword into the staff attack of the princess. Megan merely gave a confident grin and waited for Nate's response.

Mystic Swordsman LV4: Level 4, 1600 DEF

Nathaniel LP: 4000->3600

Nathaniel groaned as Helpprincess's attack was deflected. Mystic Swordsman LV4 was bad enough, but if Mystic Swordsman LV6 hits the field, then he's really in hot water. Pinning his hopes, he swiped the Action Card with one swift motion before lowering himself back onto his original platform.

"Not the best performance," Nathaniel sighed. "but we save the best for last. I set two cards face-down and yield the stage to you."

Turn 3: Megan
Nate 3600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Spikeagle (900 ATK), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), 2 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 3 cards, Mystic Swordsman LV4 (1600 DEF), 2 set S/T

Megan drew her next card with another grin, nice, about time this one showed up. Of course at this rate she wouldn't need it but still. She checked the field again, with two set cards and the possibility of a trap card attacking would be rather dangerous.

What's more if her swordsman got destroyed she would be helpless and it would only take a few turns to finish her off. Too risky "Alright Swordsman, lets go looking for some cards, oh and switch to attack mode." Megan announced and jumped on his shoulders.

Mystic Swordsman LV4: 1600 DEF->1900 ATK

The swordsman stood up easily managing Megan's weight and ran across a tight rope towards an action card that'd been spotted. It'd take a while to get to but it was the closest one. At least the little circus monsters looked weak for now, but she'd learned from her last duel that attack wasn't always an indication of strength."Oh and its your turn to resume the stage." she said somewhat belatedly.

Turn 4: Nate
Nate 3600LP: 4 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Spikeagle (900 ATK), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), 2 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 3 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman Lv. 4(1900ATK), 2 set S/T

Not attacking? Interesting tactic. Nathaniel thought as he drew his next card. Still, his hand was not getting any better. Even if Megan didn't attack last turn, it seemed the best he could hope for was a stalemate.

"I-"

At the sound of his voice, his monsters stood at the ready...

"-set a card face-down and end my turn."

...And promptly faceplanted at Nathaniel's unremarkable turn.

"Sorry, guys. Maybe next time?"

Turn 5: Megan
Nate 3600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Spikeagle (900 ATK), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), 3 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 4 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman LV4 (1900 ATK), 2 set S/T

Ah goody, there was the backup she needed in the event of failure. She snatched up the action card and glanced at it in parting. "Alright, to kick things off I'll tear apart your middle face down with my Mystical Space Typoon, then Mystic Swordsman will slice apart your eagle." Of course her plans didn't factor for her coming along on the ride.

Simply following orders her monster leapt forward sweeping with his magic blade to pixelate the monster. Besides having lower attack it was also his transportation for the moment so it was a double whammy. Being carried along was exhilrating considering the speed of her monsters attack and quite fun. Maybe she should do that more often.

Nathaniel covered his eyes as the circus was suddenly overcome by a powerful gale, and his middle face-down revealed itself to be Negate Attack before succumbing to the winds and shattering to pieces. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Mystic Swordsman immediately moved to destroy Spikeagle. The well-dressed bird attempted to fly away, but the swordsman proved to be too fast, and Spikeagle was sliced clean in two, forcing Nathaniel to brace himself against the shockwaves that ensued.

Nathaniel LP: 3600->2600

Megan grinned, sweet, looks like she got lucky with hitting that negate attack and it looked like his action card hadn't done him any good. What's more in addition to dealing some nice damage her monster leveled up. "Curtains close for your eagle, now I'll enter the end phase and allow my Mystic Swordsman to level up to level 6!" Megan annouced as she leapt off her monster and he shimmered breifly. Better armour, stronger swords and most importantly, more attack. "Your turn to take back the stage!"

Mystic Swordsman LV6: Level 6, 2300 ATK

Turn 6: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 4 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), 2 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 5 cards (1 Action Card), 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (2300 ATK), 1 set S/T

With Mystic Swordsman now up to LV6 and one of his best protection cards destroyed, Nathaniel could not think of a worse situation, and he was really trying. He let out a deep sigh as he looked at his next draw. This performer was late to the show. Still, the show must go on, and Nathaniel slapped his next card onto his Disk with renewed vigor.

"While the curtains may have closed on Spikeagle, I bring you our next performer. The amazing Performapal Skeeter Skimmer!"

The new monster that appeared was a large, orange water strider, clad once more in the Performapals' signature bowtie and tophat. On each of its little insect legs were white gloves, and its back was designed like a boat.

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: Level 4, 500 ATK

"I'll switch Helpprincess to defense position next and then end my turn.

Performapal Helpprincess: 1200 ATK->1200 DEF

Turn 7: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 DEF), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), 2 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 6 cards (1 Action Card), 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (2300 ATK), 1 set S/T

Eh, not bad not great. Megan looked suspicously at the monster that had just appeared. 500 ATK, but it was in ATK mode and he'd switched his princess to defense. Cleary he was either baiting her to attack the princess and ignore the skitter, or he had a rather specific card. But he hadn't played anything last turn so odds were he was bluffing besides, it was too good an oppertunity to let pass.

She'd wait until later in case he did have something but what she could do to get some extra oopmh in there was... "I'll activate the spell card Solidarity, raising my Swordsman's attack to 3100, then I'll use him to tear apart your skeeter.". If Nate let this next attack go through he'd be in for a hurting. Her swordsman raised both his swords now and once again lunged forward to pixelate another one of Nate's weak monsters.

"Skeeter Skimmer has a trick up his sleeve." Said Nathaniel as he activated Skeeter Skimmer's effect. "When he's targeted for an attack, I can negate that attack, and then switch Skeeter Skimmer into defense position!"

Skeeter Skimmer raised two of its six legs to protect itself, and Mystic Swordsman's blade was blocked by a colorless barrier. However, even after the barrier dissipated and the danger was past, Skeeter Skimmer was still covering its head.

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 500 ATK->1600 DEF

Hmph. She should've known better. She'd have to make a note of that in what she was going to dub her Dueling Notes. It seemed most poeple didn't try bluffing and it wasn't wise to assume they did something stupid without cause. "Nice trick, turn end."

Turn 8: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 4 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Helpprincess (1200 DEF), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (1600 DEF), 2 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 5 cards (1 Action Card), 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (3100 ATK), 1 set S/T, 1 Solidarity(cont. spell)

Nathaniel looked at the next card he drew with a slight annoyance. It was really not helpful right now.

"I set one card face-down. Then, I will introduce the fourth member of our little troupe: Performapal Whip Snake!"

This time, what appeared was a purple viper, with more top hats and bowties. It wore a grin that curled its lips up to its starry cheeks, and it did a little dance as it joined its brethren on the stage.

Performapal Whip Snake: Level 4, 1700 ATK

Hope this works! Nathaniel silently prayed in his head. It was showtime.

"Now, on with the show! I switch both Performapal Helpprincess and Performapal Skeeter Skimmer to attack position!"

Skeeter Skimmer took its legs off of its head and Helpprincess raised her staff once more. Both looked ready for action.

Performapal Helpprincess: 1200 DEF->1200 ATK

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 1600 DEF->500 ATK

"And now Performapal Whip Snake unleashes his grand performance! Once per turn, I can target one monster my opponent controls, and switch the current values of their attack and defense points! Show them your stuff, Whip Snake!"

Whip Snake moved to the center of the stage and began performing a weird hypnotic dance, focusing its eyes on Mystic Swordsman.

Mystic Swordsman LV6: 3100 ATK->1700 ATK

Good thing Megan did have a backup for something just like this. "Nope, I'll activate my face-down quick spell Enemy Controller and I'll use it to change-" Megan thought a moment more. She was going to change his monster to defense mode, but if she changed her own monster to defense mode, his monster would slam into a 3100 DEF wall. Except it only worked on the enemy.

Dang it, why couldn't it have been named just controller? Ah well, "To change your snake back into defense mode!" An oversized controller appeared in her hands and she looked at it quizzicaly before proceeding to button mash on it in hopes of using it correctly. Whatever she did seemed to work.

"Not so fast!" Nathaniel cried. He has been sitting on this card for nearly nearly the entire duel now, and it was finally time to play it. "Action Card activate! Invisibility! With this card, not only can Whip Snake not be targeted for effects, it is also unaffected by them! Which means your Enemy Controller won't be controlling anything!"

On Nathaniel's command, Whip Snake's purple image suddenly became completely transparent. It continued to dance, despite nobody actually being able to see it.

"Now, Battle Phase! Performapal Whip Snake! Attack her-"

"Heh, you just made me pull out my real show stopper. I play my action card Big Escape. It doesn't effect your monster, it just ends the battle phase!" Megan called out triumphantly. That'd been a little close, he'd had more tricks than she'd figured. Without that action card she would've been hurting and been a little hard pressed to recover. But now from what she could tell his monster's were out of tricks and all in attack position.

"Oh come on!" Nathaniel was this close. It was a close call for both of them, but despite his initial frustrations, Nathaniel could not help but grin like an idiot.

"Not a bad show, but my Performapals always have a trick up their sleeve. I end my turn and yield the stage."

Turn 9: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 1 card, Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake (1700 ATK), 3 set S/T
Megan 4000LP: 5 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (3100 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell)

Always had a trick hm? Could that nasty snake's effect be used during her turn as well? If so it meant she had to attack with more defense than her opponent's attack. Luckily they were weak enough she could still pull that off. What's more, she'd gotten a friend to join her swordsman. "I'll normal summon the Exiled Force to the field." A crowd of ruffians appeared all around her, balancing precariously on the various tight ropes and wooden poles and such that made up the area.

Exiled Force: Level 4, 1000 ATK->1800 ATK

"Did you know Performapal Whip Snake can use his effect during my opponent's turn? Because he totally can! Go ahead and dance, Whip Snake! Show'em!"

Whip Snake once again danced its scaly little dance, and Mystic Swordsman's attack once again dropped to 1700.

All these cards with all their effects that she didn't know enough about. She'd would've studied them to make sure she knew them, but memorizing all the cards she might face would be impossible. Oh well, she'd have to work from experience. "Then I'll use them to swarm your little Skimmer." There, now even though his snake could use that pesky effect it didn't matter, her swordsman could still take apart the little princess. The ruffians managed to pull themselves together charging the little bug, some of them falling to the ground after losing their balance, but still valiantly charging.

"Skeeter Skimmer's effect activates! By changing it to defense position, I can negate your attack!" Once again, Skeeter Skimmer covered its head and a protective bubble appeared around it. The ruffians who had finally organized were once again knocked back into disarray.

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 500 ATK->1600 DEF

Again!? These clowns were starting to get on her nerves. She'd thought the little bug's thing had been like a once while on the field thingy. Argh, what did the little princess do again? Summon things? Not a priority then. The only real option then was to get rid of that bug with her swordsman so it couldn't curl up again. "Fine, Swordsman, make mincemeat outta that buggy." Megan said dismissively as her Swordsman gave the stumbling ruffians a disdainful glance and leapt over them gracefully, bringing his blades crashing down upon the bug's fragile body.

Even with his monster's imminent destruction hanging over him, Nathaniel was still grinning, because this was the chance he was waiting for. "Trap Card activate! Wall of Disruption! When my opponent declares an attack, Wall of Disruption causes their monsters to lose 800 attack points for every monster they control! You control two at the moment, so your monsters lose 1600 attack points each! Told you I had a trick up my sleeve."

Mystic Swordsman's movements suddenly became sluggish, and Exiled Force pretty much just gave up entirely.

Mystic Swordsman LV6: 1700 ATK->100 ATK

Exiled Force: 1800 ATK->200 ATK

Megan glared at her opponent's side of the field, unable to stop her weakened Swordsman from futilely slamming his blades into the pesky bug's shell. He was blown back from the recoil, plowing through the motley crew that made up the exiled forces and into Megan, causing her to unceremoniously thud into the wooden post behind her.

Megan 4000 LP ->2500

It didn't even matter what position her Swordsman was in, it seemed Nate was determined to make him useless either way. Her useless troops on the other hand didn't necessarily need any attack to be of assistance."FINE, exiled force, drag that snake down to the grave with you!"

With fresh energy the gang of miscreants clambered over the ropes, falling more than walking and latched onto the snake, falling off the wires onto the floor far below, the whole gang and the snake vanishing in a burst of color. "Your turn." Despite being slightly peeved at this point Megan had to admire the resilience of his defenses. A bloody pain to get through is what it was.

Turn 10: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 2 cards, Performapal Helpprincess (1200 ATK), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (1600 DEF), 2 set S/T
Megan 2500LP: 4 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (3100 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell)

That wasn't good. Whip Snake was one of his best cards. Nathaniel was planning on going for the knockout punch on Mystic Swordsman this turn, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

"My turn! Draw!

Not much he can do now. "I set one card face-down! Then I switch the positions of both my monsters and end my turn!"

Performapal Helpprincess: 1200 ATK->1200 DEF

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 1600 DEF->500 ATK

Turn 11: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 1 card, Performapal Helpprincess (1200 DEF), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), 3 set S/T
Megan 2500LP: 5 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (3100 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont spell)

Megan grinned, well that should cut down on the amount of stalling he was managing to pull off. She could use her spell but it wasn't really needed right now. On the other hand it would help her get through his defenses quicker. Hmm. She'd wait. Better to see what she needed and if it could be helpful later, her field was fine the way it is.

"Battle phase, Mystic Swordsman tear apart the princess!" Regicide? Matricide? Something-cide. Not good enough to make a snappy remark at least. Her swordsman was now looking much for able for battle and showed it as he crossed the impractical battlefield with amazing speed, attacking the princess from either side with his blurring blades.

"It may not save the princess, but I do have a Trap Card ready to activate! Go, Pinpoint Guard!" Nathaniel's face-down revealed itself, showing the image of a huge blue hand reaching from below the ground.

"This card can be activated whenever my opponent declares an attack, and I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my Graveyard back to my field, and it cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects this turn. Performapal Whip Snake, time for your encore!"

Performapal Whip Snake: Level 4, 900 DEF

On Nathaniel's call, a portal opened up on the ground, and out popped Performapal Whip Snake once again. However, Helpprincess was not so lucky, and she let out a small shriek as she shattered under Mystic Swordsman's blade.

The snake was back again. Those monster's of his just couldn't handle being out of the spotlight could they? Well it was too late to switch to defense mode and when the snake pulled the same trick her swordsman would be done for. That meant she had to go for an action card. The next closest one she saw was towards the top of the tent, stuck at the nearly very top into the wood. "I'll set one more card. Come on mystic, run like your life depends on it! Oh and your turn again."

Turn 12-24

Turn 12: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 2 cards, Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake(900 DEF), 2 set S/T
Megan 2500LP: 4 cards, 1 Mystic Swordsman LV6 (3100 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 set S/T

"Draw!"

It looks like Nathaniel had Megan on the ropes, but he knew nothing was over yet, especially if she was scrambling for an Action Card.

"I switch Whip Snake to attack position and activate his effect once more, switching the attack and defense points of your Mystic Swordsman!" Nathaniel cried as he turned around and slid down the ladder to the ground below. Meanwhile, Whip Snake once again performed its little dance, its effect all too familiar for everyone involved.

Mystic Swordsman LV6: 3100 ATK->100 ATK

Once Nathaniel's feet touched the ground, he pointed his finger towards the sky where Mystic Swordsman was. "Whip Snake, attack Mystic Swordsman LV6!"

Whip Snake leaped into action, springing from pole to pole as it got higher and closer to Mystic Swordsman.

"Throw me!" Megan ordered her swordsman and she was tossed upwards clutching the post just below the action card. Grinning she snatched it from the post and looked at it. Trap? The card exploded and stairs appeared on her disk demanding a card to be put in. Slip-Up.

"Uh, trap card, Royal Decree activate!" Megan called out, a wall slamming on top of the stairs and saving her the trouble of having to recycle a card. Phew that would've been bothersome. Unfortunately her Swordsman was out of luck and was forced to battle the snake without any aid and was summarily crushed in the twisting coils. One of the swords flew away in the explosion of light grazing Megan's arm.

Megan 2600 LP -> 1000 LP

Royal Decree? Uh oh. Better activate this while I still can. "I chain my own Trap Card, Jar of Avarice! This card lets me shuffle five cards from my Graveyard back to my deck, and then I can draw one card."

A huge purple-faced jar appeared in the middle of the circus, and began sucking in the air around it, along with five cards. From the top of the jar then popped out another card, which made its way to Nathaniel's hand.

"I'll then have Skeeter Skimmer attack you directly!"

Skeeter Skimmer began to climb up a pole to move closer to Megan. However, when it got there, all it could do was give her a light poke with its stinger.

Megan 1000LP -> 500 LP

Oof. Nasty critter wasn't it? At least she was still alive for another turn, still could still kind of recover from this. Maybe. Her next draw could very well determine the way this duel would swing.

"With my Battle Phase over, I'll end my turn with a face-down and my Spell Card Burden of the Mighty. Alright, my Performapals will take a brief intermission for now. The spotlight's all yours."

Turn 13: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 1 card, Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake(1700 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 2 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 5 cards, 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Really! Did everyone run that card? Was there a royal decree for spells? Cause it was looking like she needed that. Megan drew her next card irritated and searched for another action card, even if it was a trap she had royal decree out so it didn't matter. To her pleasant surprise she saw one far below, in a pool of water seemingly placed just for this. It was still really far down.

With this card... math ran through Megan's head as she calculated her best move. Couldn't beat snake, attacking Skimmer did nothing, defense mode was the only option. What card would she summon though? Megan said "I'll set one monster and take a bow." and proceeded to dive off the wooden post she was clinging to for the action card floating lazily in the pool below.

Turn 14: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 1 card, Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake(1700 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 2 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 4 cards, 1 set monster, 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

As Nathaniel drew his next card, he looked to see Megan reaching for another Action Card. However, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something else. The glint of an Action Card bubble hidden under the platform. There was no way he was reaching that by himself, but an Action Duelist was never alone.

"Alright Whip Snake, attack her face-down monster!"

While Whip Snake leaped to take a bite out of Megan's defenses, Nathaniel once again ran for the ladder, and began to climb back up to the platform he had just climbed down from.

The monster was revealed to be Warrior Lady of the Wasteland, but its defense proved too weak to hold off the snake and it was crushed. However. "Now her effects activates and I can special summon a monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck. I'll summon Obnoxius Celtic Guardian to the field." His attack and defense were suitable to save her LP for another turn.

Obnoxious Celtic Guardian: Level 4, 1400 ATK->1800 ATK

As Megan summoned a new Warrior to her field, Nathaniel realized he had made a terrible mistake. He swore to himself that he would not repeat the same mistake next turn, but for now...

"Whip Snake! To me!" Nathaniel was on top of the platform once more, and Whip Snake leaped to his side before coiling around his arm. Nathaniel then got down on all fours and reached below the platform with Whip Snake on his arm. He knew he couldn't reach the Action Card, but Whip Snake definitely can.

Whip Snake returned to Nathaniel with an Action Card in its fangs. When Nathaniel saw it, he almost ducked for cover, but no explosion came. Then he saw that giant wall and remembered that Royal Decree worked both ways.

"Nice!" Nathaniel laughed, giving Whip Snake a playful pat on the head. "Alright, I'll set one more card face-down and end my turn."

Turn 15: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 1 card, Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Performapal Whip Snake(1700 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 3 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 5 cards, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1800 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Her samurai hm? Puny attack and the same defense. Plus that nasty spell card on the field. Still, her guardian had 1800 attack. Her other monster, if she played it. Hmm, 500-400+800+900. That added up to 1700, enough to tie. If she attacked the snake with both one would have to be let through. Or.... ya that was much a much better plan. "I'll activate my spell card, The Warrior Returning Alive, to return my Exiled Force from the graveyard to my hand. Then I'll normal summon them to the field."

Exiled Force: Level 4: 1000 ATK->1400 ATK

Not good. Nathaniel knew what was coming, and if Exiled Force destroys Whip Snake again, he'll lose his only way of getting past her monsters. If there was ever a time to scramble for Action Cards, it was now. Throwing safety out the window, Nathaniel leaped off his platform and jumped from floating balloon to floating balloon. He was sure there had to be an Action Card hidden around here somewhere, and sure enough he was right. One balloon way off to the side.

He leaped for it and stood precariously perched on top of the balloon. Staying as still as possible, he reached for the Action Card. Well, the name was suitable enough, but the effect was not what he needed. Nathaniel looked sadly at Whip Snake below. This was not going to be good for the little guy.

Heh, now she out attacked his snake twice, and could use her force's effect. Pesky snake was going down this turn one way or the other. Could the snake use his effect during the battle phase? Argh too many things she didn't know. She had to play it safe because she couldn't survive another hit from that dang bug. "Exiled Force is going to bring your snake back where it belongs!" In an eerie repeat the knaves piled onto the snake, dragging it back into the graveyard with them. Was there any point in attacking the little bug? He could have it in whatever position he wanted next turn anyway. Nah, not worth it. "Then it's back to you."

Turn 16: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 3 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 5 cards, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1800 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Nathaniel silently drew his card, not wanting to rock the balloon he was on and possibly suffer a nasty fall. He gently jumped from balloon to balloon, retracing his steps back to his platform.

"Alright. I end my turn." He said when his feet hit solid ground again. Not much he can do now.

Turn 17: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 3 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 6 cards, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (1800 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Perfect. Snake out of the way. Monsters to use. Thing were looking up again. Megan was briefly torn between which monster to summon but made up her mind quickly. The one with the least risk and effort needed to be useful. "Now I'll summon my Command Knight in attack mode." Megan said pleased with her draw. Even if Nate managed to get that snake back Command Knight had plenty of defense.

Command Knight: Level 4: 1200 ATK->2000 ATK

Obnoxious Celtic Guard: 1800 ATK->2200 ATK

"First off, my Obnoxious celt will trigger your skimmer's effect by attacking him!" Under the careful directing of the fiery knight, the celt rushed forward striking at the nasty bug with his heavy sword.

"Consider it triggered." Skeeter Skimmer's protective barrier once again formed around it as it assumed a defensive position, blocking the opposing monster's attack.

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 500 ATK->1600 DEF

"Now Command Knight, shishkabob that bug!" Her knight personally led the attack now careful stabbing with a flaming blade, traversing the obstacles as though they weren't even there.

"Uh oh. It looks like it's time for... a Hippo Carnival!" Nathaniel shouted with a grin. One of his many set cards flipped face-up to reveal a green card depicting a number of hippos in dancer's dresses. "When this card is activated, I can Special Summon three Hippo Tokens to the field. They have zero attack and defense, but their dancing is second to none! Look! Even your Command Knight can't keep her eyes away!"

Three dancing hippos appeared on the field in perfect synchronicity. Command Knight's blade, once aimed at the defending Skeeter Skimmer, now headed straight for one of the hippos instead.

Hippo Tokens: Level 1, 0 DEF

Son of a-, it seemed like Megan would never get through his monsters. What's more he could switch his bug back into attack mode now. Poo. Well there was nothing she could do now. Really needed to look up that royal decree for spells. "Well I suppose it goes back to you."

Turn 18: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 4 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (1600 DEF), 2 Hippo Tokens, Burden of the Mighty, 2 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 5 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK) 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Nathaniel sighed as he drew his card. It really wasn't what he needed right now. Looks like all he can do now is buy time.

"First thing's first. Skeeter Skimmer switches back to attack position so that he might perform once again. And then I'll set a monster face-down and end my turn."

Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: 1600 DEF->500 ATK

Turn 19: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), 2 Hippo Tokens, 1 set monster, Burden of the Mighty, 2 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 6 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK) 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Hm. Well that wasn't very helpful. Still, she didn't need it. This turn she'd have plenty of firepower. "Now I'll normal summon Ben Kei, and equip him with my Lightning Blade!". A heavily wounded samurai appeared on the field, an energized blade appearing in his hand.

Armed Samurai - Ben Kei: Level 4, 500 ATK->2100 ATK

"Now Ben Kei will tear through those tokens!" The samurai obliged, rushing at the hippos slashing at one with the energized blade, then ripping out one of the arrows and impaling the other one.

Well that was violent. Nathaniel thought with a cringe. The hippos may be gone, but he still had two more monsters on the field. He just had to hold on.

Wow, he was hardcore."Now my Command Knight is going to take care of that last face-down monster!" Once again Command Knight strode forward confidently, removing her sword from her sheath and igniting it to slash apart the set monster, which revealed itself to be Fluffal Mouse. "And since there's no point in attacking your nasty bug I'll turn it back over to you." Soon she'd manage to get through the last of his defenses and finally win. Nate had been tougher than she'd thought.

Turn 20: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 4 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 2 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 6 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK), Armed Samurai Benkei (2100 ATK) 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Lightning Blade (equip spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Another less than useful draw. Nathaniel had a lot of defenses set up, but he can't hold out forever. He needed to do something drastic.

"I activate the Spell Card Galaxy Cyclone! This card allows me to destroy one set Spell or Trap Card on the field. However, since there are none on your side of the field, I will have to destroy one of my own. I destroy my face-down Damage Gate!"

A great cyclone of winds roared in the middle of the Action Field, swirling the balloons around the eye of the storm like planets around a star. Soon, one of Nathaniel's face-down cards shattered in front of him, and the storm subsided.

"Not much else for me, so I'll end my turn here."

Turn 21: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (500 ATK), Burden of the Mighty, 1 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 7 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK), Armed Samurai Benkei (2100 ATK) 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Lightning Blade (equip spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Megan narrowed her eyes suspiciously. People didn't do stupid things. They did things that looked stupid but proved to be smart later. His face-down was useless because it was a trap so he hadn't really lost anything. He must have some way to use one of them in the grave. Still her next card almost fully loaded her field with monsters and Nate's field was slowly depleting. Doubtless his action card was something useful since he was holding onto it. Which reminded her she should pre-emptively start looking for another one.

She saw one that was floating in the middle of a flaming ring. Only if I have to to, she told herself slowly moving towards it as she played out her turn. "I'll summon Dark Blade to the field,"

Dark Blade: Level 4, 1800 ATK->2600 ATK

"then enter the battle phase. Benkei smash that beetle into pieces!"" Megan had forgotten how hardcore ben was. He'd appeared next to the poor bug in an instant, pounding the shocking blade into the creature as many times as it took for it to die.

"Erm, good job Ben. Next, attack Guardian, then Dark Blade, then Command Knight!" Megan yelled in exuberance at the thought of finally breaking past his defenses and tasting sweet victory once again.

"From my hand, I activate the effect of Swift Scarecrow! By sending it to the Graveyard, I can negate my opponent's direct attack and end their Battle Phase!" As Nathaniel slid a card from his hand to his Graveyard, a metallic scarecrow materialized in front of Nathaniel, wielding twin twigs. Despite its unimpressive stature, it stood stalwart in protection of its master, fending off attacks from all three warriors.

How many stalling cards did this guy have? He still hadn't even used his action card! "So many defenses, guess its your turn again"

Turn 22: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 3 cards (1 Action Card), Burden of the Mighty, 1 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 6 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK), Armed Samurai Benkei (2100 ATK), Dark Blade (2600 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Lightning Blade (equip spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

She says that, but Nathaniel's defenses were steadily running out. At this rate, he's done for unless he can draw a counterattack. With that said, however, he still had a card to play.

"I activate the Spell Card Swords of Revealing Light!" Three giant glowing swords stabbed themselves into the ground around the field, creating a barrier around Megan's monsters. "Thanks to this card, I'll be safe from your attacks for three turns. I set a monster face-down and end my turn."

Turn 23: Megan
Nate 2600LP: 1 cards (1 Action Card), 1 set monster, Swords of Revealing Light (0 turns) Burden of the Mighty, 1 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 7 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK), Armed Samurai Benkei (2100 ATK), Dark Blade (2600 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Lightning Blade (equip spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap)

Royal Decree for spells. It had to exist somewhere. Nothing to bust it with, so none of her monster's could attack for a while. UGH. Whats more her hand was full. Well she'd just have to set down some dummy cards that weren't helpful yet. One at a time of course. "Set, back to you." Megan said irritated by another one of Nate's many, many, many defense cards.

Turn 24: Nate
Nate 2600LP: 2 cards (1 Action Card), 1 set monster, Swords of Revealing Light (1 turn) Burden of the Mighty, 1 set S/T
Megan 500LP: 6 cards (1 Action Card), Obnoxious Celtic Guardian (2200 ATK), Command Knight (2000 ATK), Armed Samurai Benkei (2100 ATK), Dark Blade (2600 ATK), 1 Solidarity(cont. spell), 1 Lightning Blade (equip spell), 1 Royal Decree(cont. trap), 1 set S/T

Nathaniel could understand Megan's frustration, but he was certainly not going to lay down and keel over. If his deck won't give him what he needs, then he'll just buy as much time as he needs until it does. He never was the type to give up. After all, where's the entertainment in that?

"Draw!"

He glanced at the card he drew out of the corner of his eye. It was good enough.

"From my Graveyard, I activate the effect of Galaxy Cyclone! I already used it once, but by Banishing it from the Graveyard, I can use it again! Only this time, I can destroy a face-up Spell or Trap instead! I destroy your Solidarity!"

A great cyclone of winds rose from beneath the ground, and this one didn't waste any time. It brought itself straight down on Megan's face-up Spell, shattering it instantly.

H-hey! That was like mystical space typhoon but better. What was up with that? Now all her monsters down 800 attack. Luckily Command Knight saved them from being utterly helpless but still.

"And then, from my hand comes the royalty we all know and love: Performapal Helpprincess!" The purple girl from way back at the beginning of the duel was back once again, raising her staff with a wink.

Performapal Helpprincess: Level 4, 1200 ATK

"Battle Phase! Let's get this show on the road, Helpprincess! Attack Command Knight!"

Helpprincess raised her big staff and charged at the red-armored warrior. The hand and the end of the staff balled itself into a fist as Helpprincess thrusted it at her opponent.

Command Knight simply took a step back and the other three monsters stepped forward in front of her. "Ha, not so fast. You can't get to my Command Knight until you get through all of my other monsters first!"

Nathaniel gritted his teeth as he analyzed the field. All three of those monsters had higher attack than Helpprincess. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if worst comes to worst...

"A slight cast change, but no biggie. Helpprincess will just attack Armed Samurai - Ben Kei instead!" Helpprincess stopped her charge and took a look around. Then, after locating the one called Ben Kei, she raised her staff and charged again.

Megan looked at the princess skeptically. People didn't do stupid moves. But that looked pretty stupid. Unwilling to use anything to stop it Megan simply watched to see what would happen.

Helpprincess thrust her staff forward, but it was easily parried by Ben Kei's Lightning Blade, leaving her wide open. As Ben Kei raised his sword to finish her off, Nathaniel played the last card in his hand.

"During the Damage Step, I activate the effect of the last card in my hand! Action Card: From the Brink of Defeat! When my monster battles this turn, I can activate this card to have it gain 800 attack points during damage calculation only!"

Performapal Helpprincess: 1200 ATK->2000 ATK

To Ben Kei's surprise, Helpprincess blocked his attack with renewed strength. Then, in one swift motion, she knocked him right upside the head with her big hand.

Ben Kei shattered from the force of the blow and his lightning blade exploded, arcs of lightning racing out and lightly touching Megan.

Megan 500 LP -> 0

Winner: Nathaniel

Post duel

Megan stared at the field in outrage as the circus collapsed around them. She'd been winning! She'd practically won! But what ticked her off even more was that she could've used her action card to stop the attack but hadn't.

People never did stupid things. Never ever. But she'd expected a tie from the battle at worst, not this. He really was a showman. She sighed and reluctantly reached out a hand to Nate. "One hell of a show."

"Yes! Nice work!" Nathaniel shouted as she gave Helpprincess a passionate high five before she disappeared along with the rest of the Action Field.

He then turned to Megan with a big grin on his face. "I'll say. You had me on the ropes for pretty much the entire duel. You're pretty amazing yourself." Nathaniel replied as he returned her handshake.

TL:DR

Megan got out Mystic Swordsman Lv.4 and chopped up a weak monster jumping straight to six and proceded to lead the match for a bit. Nate made good use of his snake to cripple Megan's Swordsman along with some good traps to keep pressure on the field. Megan took back the upperhand but was defeated by a sudden attack boost on princess while attacking her weakest monster.