Ichigo has agreed to become part of Xcution if it means he gets to Tsukishima and those close to him are safe. At the moment, Ichigo and Chad headed right for Xcution's headquarters.
"We're here." Ichigo said as the two came in.
"Glad you made it." Kugo said.
Hold on, what's the big guy doing here?" Riruka said as she pointed to Chad. "I don't remember saying this guy can join in."
"He already knew where our headquarters is." Kugo said. "Besides, he said he wanted to help out Ichigo. I don't see the harm in that."
"Yeah. So chill out and let them do their thing." Yukio said as he continued to play his game.
"Shut up, Yukio. No one asked you." Riruka said.
"Can it you two." Jackie said. "Ginjo, are you sure this is a good idea? What if the guy doesn't meet our expectations? There's also the possibility that Tsukishima will come here if he decides to directly attack Ichigo."
"If he does, we'll be ready. Speaking of which…Riruka, get yourself prepared." Kugo said. Riruka just turned and grabbed her duel disk. "Follow her, Ichigo. The rest of you will come with me." Ichigo followed Riruka and the others soon after. They went into the next room with a smaller room inside it. That's where Riruka and Ichigo went in with the others watching through a window. Ichigo looked and saw it was a duel field.
"Wow! How did you manage to get all of this in here?" Ichigo asked.
"It was all thanks to Yukio. No one else lives in this building so Yukio managed to redesign the whole thing." Riruka said.
"He did? How did he afford it?" Ichigo asked.
"Duh. It's because Yukio is wealthy." Riruka said and that was a surprise to Ichigo. Yukio didn't even look rich in his opinion. "Enough talk. Let's get on with this."
"You're already set to lose to your new crush?" Yukio mocked through a speaker.
"Shut up!" Riruka said.
"Hold on a minute. Why am I dueling now?" Ichigo asked.
"We want to get a good read on your skill level." Kugo said. "Perhaps we can also figure out what it is that Tsukishima wants from you. You'll duel all five of us and Riruka is first."
"Is this really going to help?" Chad said.
"The more you duel, the better you get." Kugo said. "Let's see if Ichigo is the skilled duelist I hear he is."
"Alright, I'm not going easy. You have to come at me with everything you've got." Riruka said.
"That's the only way I know how. Let's do this." Ichigo said as he pulled out his deck and duel disk and placed it on him. Both of them activated them and drew their cards.
"Let's duel!" Both said with 4000LP.
"Ladies first." Riruka said as she drew her card. "I'll start by activating the field spell, Dollhouse." The entire field changed into the inside of a dollhouse.
"Don't you think you're a little old to be playing with dolls?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't think so. Anyway, this house isn't for playing." Riruka said. "If I summon a beast or fairy-type monster, they gain 200atk points. I'll also be allowed to special summon another one. Next, I summon Mr. Pork in attack mode." A pig stuffy with a blue shirt came on the field with 1200atk points.
"You've got to be kidding." Ichigo said as he thought that was the dumbest card he's ever seen.
"Now, for my field spell's ability. He gains more power." Riruka said as the pig's points went to 1400. "Now, I'm able to summon Mr. Rooster." A chicken stuffy came on the field this time and has 1300atk points, but that soon changed and went to 1500. "It's your move."
"Here goes." Ichigo said as he drew a card. "I summon my Reaper of Spirits in attack mode." His reaper was a man with a black cape and hood with a scythe and held 1700atk points. "Reaper, tear up that pig." His reaper went in and slashed against Mr. Pork and destroyed it with Riruka's life points dropping to 3700.
"You dope." Riruka said. "When Mr. Pork is destroyed, I can summon Mr. Pork Beast to the field." A stronger and darker version of Mr. Pork with five eyes came on the field with 1800atk points and it rose to 2000.
"I'll set these two cards and end my turn." Ichigo said.
"My move." Riruka said as she drew her card. "I think I'll add another toy this time."
"I don't think so. I'm activating my face-down: Silent Movie." Ichigo said as the card activated and the whole field turned black and white.
"What happened?" Riruka said.
"Sorry, but for this one turn, none of your spells and traps can work." Ichigo said and Riruka growled with frustration as her monsters' attack points returned to normal.
"Fine. I'll just switch things around and activate my Five Star Revolve spell." Riruka said. "Since I have a level five monster, such as Mr. Pork Beast, all my monsters have their attack points equal his." Mr. Rooster's attack points rose up to 1800. "Mr. Pork Beast, take out Reaper with Pork-Chop Crush." The toy pigged chopped at Ichigo's monster and his life points dropped to 3900. "There's more. When he destroys a monster, you take an extra 300 points of damage." The pig chopped at Ichigo and knocked him off his feet with his points dropping to 3600. "There's still Mr. Rooster. Attack with Chicken Tempest." The chicken flapped its wings and Ichigo got blasted by wind and his life points went to 1800.
"Am I really getting my butt kicked around by stuffed animals?" Ichigo said.
"Looks like he's done for." Yukio said.
"Don't underestimate Ichigo. He always finds a way to pull out." Chad said.
"It's my turn now." Ichigo said as he went. "Since it's my turn, your monster's attack points return to normal." Mr. Rooster's points dropped back down to 1300. "I'll activate my other trap. It's known as Roaming Lost Soul. By discarding one card, any card I want in my deck comes to my hand." He discarded one card and took out another from his deck.
"That isn't fair." Riruka said.
"It's about to get worse for you once I activate the effect of White Specter." Ichigo said.
"How? You didn't play that card." Riruka said.
"It was the monster I discarded. When he goes to the graveyard because of a card effect, I'm able to summon him to the field." Ichigo said and a faceless white cloaked figure rose up with 1300atk points. "Your monsters also lose 300atk points."
"What?!" Riruka said and her monsters got weaker with them having 1000 and 1500atk points.
"Next, I summon my Reaper Swordsman." Ichigo said. A man in a black kimono and holding a katana came up with 1300atk points. "And now I unite my dark attribute, level three White Specter with level four Reaper Swordsman." Both of them became dark energies and united in a vortex. "I unite summon Chaos Machete." A white armored warrior came on the field and had a white machete and one that was longer with 2800atk points.
"He doesn't look so tough." Riruka said.
"Just you wait." Ichigo said. "Chaos Machete, attack her chicken with Chaos Decapitation." His warrior held out both his swords and slashed against Mr. Rooster in a flash of white and blue light with him being destroyed and Riruka's life points dropped to 2100. "There's more. If I use one unite unit, he can attack a second time." One unit entered his shorter machete and he slashed against the pig. It got destroyed and Riruka now has 800LP. "You're lucky because Twin Machete can't use his ability to attack you directly. It's your turn."
"About time." Riruka said. "Since it is my turn, the effects of your Silent Movie is over and my house get its color back." Color was restored into the house. "I think I'll summon my Fairy Doll." A doll dressed like a fairy came on the field with 1000atk points, but that changed to 1200. "Thanks to my Dollhouse, I can summon Pixie Doll in defense mode." A doll looking like a pixie came up and had 200def points.
"But neither of them can take down my monster." Ichigo said.
"I know, but my Fairy Doll's ability is helpful." Riruka said. "She can't be destroyed in battle and I don't take damage as long as there's another fairy-type on the field. It also allows her to attack you directly. Go, Playful Bash." The doll slipped right past Ichigo's monster and tackled him with sparkles flying everywhere and his life points dropped to 600.
"He's as good as finished." Yukio said.
"Perhaps there's nothing special about him." Jackie said.
"Don't underestimate Ichigo. It's when he's pushed down hard that he really pulls through." Chad said.
"I place one card face down and end my turn." Riruka said.
"Back to me." Ichigo said as he took his turn.
"Let's just wait one minute. I'm activating my trap, Release of Punishment." Riruka said. "This trap sends one monster on your field back to where it came from. Your Chaos Machete is going bye-bye." His Chaos Machete turned into light and returned to the extra deck. "I also gain 1000 life points." Her life points rose up to 1800. "Your left defenseless. On my next turn, you're done for."
"Don't sound too sure until this duel is over." Ichigo said. "I play my Pot of Greed to draw two more cards." He drew two more and was satisfied with what he drew. "Just what I needed. I'm playing my Monster Reborn and bring back my Reaper of Spirits." His Reaper of Spirits came back with 1700atk points. "I'm also going to bring out my Soul Siege to the field." His black armored warrior rose up with 1400atk points. "Time to end this. I unite my dark attribute, level four Soul Siege and Reaper of Spirits and unite summon Zangetsu." The two formed together and Zangetsu rose to the field with 2500atk points. "Zangetsu, let's take out her Pixie Doll." Zangetsu slashed down and unleashed an energy blast and took out the pixie.
"What good did that do?" Riruka said.
"This is why. It's so I can activate my Spiritual Assistance." Ichigo said. "This spell allows my monster to attack after destroying a monster. Finish this with Piercing Heaven." Zangetsu unleashed the attack with Riruka in a panic.
"No fair!" Riruka shouted as she fell down and lost all her life points.
"Impressive. That was one heck of a comeback." Kugo said. Ichigo went over to Riruka and held out his hand.
"Need a little help?" Ichigo said.
"I'm fine." Riruka said as she stood back up.
"What do you think so far?" Chad asked.
"He is pretty good. I think it was a wise choice to let Ichigo join." Kugo said. Ichigo has cleared one trial, but what more is there and what do the other members hold.