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Arrangements For Victory! The Tag Duel Tournament Only Days Away!

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Ryoga tried his best to stop thinking about Arishia's Number card. At the moment, his main concern was whether or not the girl was possessed by the monster. She didn't seem to be, but would things change if they were in a duel?

Ryoga's thoughts were interrupted by a card that came out of nowhere. With quick reflexes, he caught the card and pulled over to search the area to see where it had been thrown. It wasn't too hard to see that the card sent from a building currently under construction right next to him.

Ryoga jumped off his bike and raced to the location the card was thrown from. It seemed like no one was there, but he was wrong.

"Hello there Ryoga."

The duelist turned around to see a familiar face smirking at him. Just one look at that face made pure rage boil inside him.

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Astral observed Yuma as he dueled. The spirit decided these duels without the Numbers were the ones he could stay out of. These were the opportunities Yuma had to improve on his own. The boy couldn't always rely on Astral for every duel (not that he listened in first place, even when the spirit was right). More importantly, Astral needed a strong partner to aid him in the search for the Numbers. If he had his way, Yuma wouldn't have been the spirit's first choice. However, they were stuck together, but as each day passed Astral would grieve about that less and less.

"Alright Gagaga Magician, attack him directly!" Yuma ordered.

The magician flew over to Takashi's side of the field and attacked the class rep, causing his life points to fall to 2000.

"Nice one Yuma!" Tetsuo cheered. He had to admit that his friend has improved tremendously in dueling. Maybe there was actually a spirit in Yuma's pendant that was helping him out.

"Thanks!" Yuma said. "I'll end- huh?"

Yuma stare at the virtual pop-up that appeared in front of him. It looked like someone was requesting access to view the duel. It was most likely the school system interfering with the D-Gazer of someone who was passing by. If your D-Gazer wasn't registered in the school data base, you weren't allowed to view the duel without a student or teacher's okay. It was something about student privacy Yuma never understood.

The pop-up disappeared within a few seconds. Yuma shrugged it off and decided to end his turn.

"What was that Yuma?" Takashi asked.

"I think someone's D-Gazer just picked up on our duel," Yuma answered. "Alright! I'll end my-"

"Hey Yuma!"

The boy turned around to see the famous face that called out his name. Yuma's face lit up and waved to Max Pegasus. "Hey!"

"Whoa! Is that really Pegasus's son?" Tetsuo asked in disbelief.

"Yeah! We dueled earlier today. Didn't you listen to Arishia's story?"

Max jogged up to the Yuma and his friends crowded around. "How'd it go this morning in class? Did Arishia manage to get you out of trouble?"

Yuma smiled. "Yep!"

"That's great!" Max smiled. "Not that I doubted her. She really does have a way with negotiations."

"Max-san, may I ask what you're doing here?" Kotori spoke.

"Please, there's no need for honorfics. I barely remember half of them. Okay sweetheart?" Max said. Kotori nodded and tried to hide the light blush that crept on her face. "I wanted to make sure everything worked out for Yuma. I was also wondering if any of you signed up for the tag duel tournament."

"Of course we did! We're practicing right now!" Yuma said.

"That's what I was hoping for! I hope you don't mind, but I tapped into your duel. Arishia mentioned that this was your school and I figured you'd duel after school. I just had to make sure it was you," Max told Yuma.

"You hacked the system?" Takashi was impressed. He didn't know anyone else could manage to get passed the school's security.

Max chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Well Arishia taught me everything I know. She's a lot better than I am."

"Come on! Give yourself some credit! It's awesome hacking into the system!" Yuma praised. "Now, let's get back to our duel!"

Takashi and Cathy hurried back to their side of the field and the AR vision was reestablished. It was still Yuma's turn, although he was ready to end it. At the moment he had 2800 life points, Tetsuo had 3000, Cathy had 2500, and Takashi had 2000.

"Let's get this started, again!" Yuma shouted.

"Yeah, let's start by ending your turn already," Tetsuo said sarcastically.

"You're gonna end your turn now?" Max asked as he examined Yuma's cards.

Yuma jumped. He didn't see Max looming over his shoulder. "Um, yeah? That's what I was planning." He was uncertain about that now.

"Take another look at your cards. Even though you do have a monster on your field your opponent can easily crush it on their next turn. It would be smart to leave a face down to protect it," Max explained.

Yuma looked down at his cards. He wasn't sure what Max was getting at, but then he spotted Bye Bye Damage. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

Yuma glance over to Max to see if he made the right move. Judging by the smile, Yuma thought he did what Max intended.

"My turn, draw!" Cathy announced. The girl examined her cards to see what move to make next, but it didn't seem like she had a good move. Yuma managed to send both of her Stray Cats, which ruined her original combo.

"You know, sometimes you have to make last-second tactics during a duel. It's not always the best to solely rely on the same tactics all of the time." Max said as he hovered over Cathy's cards. "Monster Reborn might help in this situation, depending what's in the graveyard."

Cathy's eyes widened as she saw a new move to make. "First, I summon Cat Girl in attack mode! Next, I activate the card Monster Reborn to bring back my Stray Cat Girl from the graveyard!"

As said, the first monster appeared onto the field as the second rose from the graveyard portal. The others could see where this was going. Although neither of the monsters had enough attack points to bring down Gagaga Magician, they were both rank four monsters.

"Now, I'll use these two monsters to build the Overlay Network!" The red portal spawned as the two monsters turned into energy to bring out a new monster. "I summon Cat Girl Magician!"

A girl with her long purple haired tied into a pony tail appeared onto the field. She adjusted her hat, which had to cat-like eyes on each side.

"Remember, Yuma still has his face down," Max sung.

"Right," Cathy acknowledge. "I activate Cat Girl Magician's special effect! By detaching one overlay unit, I can half my monster's attack points and attack you directly! Go Cat Magician Girl, attack Yuma directly!"

Max smiled as he continued to help the other duelists. He didn't intend to do this when he came here, but he saw what Yuma could do on that turn. It would've been cheating if he didn't help out the other duelists as well.

The duel continued as Max gave small tips to the four duelists on protecting their monsters and saving their life points. Eventually, each duelist began to fall. First it was Takashi, then Tetsuo, and finally Cathy, which left Yuma and Tetsuo the victors of the tag duel.

Takashi checked his D-Gazer for the time. "Wow! That duel lasted pretty long."

"That's because you guys were dueling well," Max told the class rep. "All the saves you guys make drags out the duel, but that's a good thing if you want to win."

"That was awesome Max!" Yuma cheered. "You really helped us a lot!"

Max blushed lightly and began dismissing his contributions. "I wasn't that much of a help! I'm sure you guys would've come up with these tactics on your own. I just made it more obvious."

"God, you're way too humble about this!" Tetsuo complained. "Take some pride in what you do!"

Max persistently told the group that he didn't help them all that much. How could anyone gain anything from an awful duelist like him? The others constantly disagreed. How couldn't they have gained anything from a great duelist like him?

Yuma, however, was distracted by Astral.

"The boy may have doubt in himself, but he aided all of you greatly in your dueling abilities," the spirit said. "It would benefit all of you if you could convince him to stop by once again. We will need all the help we can get if we are to make it into Battle City. Who knows what kind of competition could appear at the tag duel tournament?"

For once, Yuma agreed with Astral completely. Besides the logical aspect, it would be awesome if the Max Pegasus would help Yuma and his friend not only train for the tournament, but become better duelists.

"Hey Max!" Yuma shouted over the crowd. "Would you please train with us for prep in the tag duel tournament?"

Max was taken aback by this request. "Y-you really want me to help you guys? But, as I've said-"

"I don't care what you think about your dueling skills! You're a great duelist whether or not you say so!" Yuma told the boy. "I don't care if you don't think you're helping us. I still want you to do it!"

"My help…" Max thought aloud. No one has ever wanted his advice in dueling. People would always ask for rare cards or sneak-peaks at the latest set, but this was new.

Max beamed at Yuma. "You got yourself a deal!"

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Shark leaned against his bike with his arms crossed and stared out into the stormy skies. He needed to get all of his thoughts straightened out.

First Arishia come out of nowhere and somehow has a Numbers card. And then there's IV. That bastard. After all these years he's still not done with me. He set me up and he hurt Rio. He will pay for that.

But the only chance I'll have to settle this is in Battle City and he's the one with the invitation, not me. I need to get into that competition, Shark thought.

He turned back to his bike. It was best to get home before this storm started. However, Shark stopped as he spotted someone in the alley.

Kaito saw someone too, but he couldn't place a name on him.

Ah, he's that duelist who was protecting Yuma's key, he remembered. Shark? Is that what Yuma called him?

Can he see me? Shark wondered. From the current angle it would look like the two couldn't see each other. Besides, it did look like the hunter was on one of his trips.

Even if he had just finished his business, Kaito felt the urge to stay put for a little longer. That competition was coming up and so far there wasn't a soul Kaito would even consider as a partner. Although he had beaten Shark, the boy was a talented duelist. He could've underestimated Kaito in that duel at first and he was under the Numbers' influence for some time. Or maybe he's just lost his touch. Regardless…

As much as he didn't want to do this, Shark needed a partner for the Tag Duel Tournament. There was no way he would ever have one of those chump duelist from school to be his partner. He wondered how he would convince Kaito to agree to this.

So, you can see me, Kaito thought. If this is a duel, it'll have to wait-

Until Battle City, Shark prepared. There will be plenty of duelists there. I'm sure a handful of them would possess Number cards. Perhaps I'll have one by the finals. It would just make it easier for you to track it down that way.

Shark stood on the edge of the alley and stared at Kaito, who returned the stern look. Somehow, they knew their plans would work out.

"Look, if it's a duel you're looking for, we'll settle it later," Kaito said.

"Good, I had the same plan," Ryoga told him. "I was thinking we'd settle during The Return of Battle City. You wouldn't happen to have an invitation to the event, would you?"

"No, and I'm guessing you don't either. It looks like we have the same idea." Kaito threw a D-pad toward Shark.

Ryoga caught the device and studied the screen. It was a registration form. He quickly filled it out and tossed it back to Kaito.

"Normally, I'd never do this," Shark told Kaito. "But it looks like there's no other way."

"It looks like we'll be partners until then," Kaito said.

Shark smirked. "Just don't get in my way."

Kaito returned the smirk. "As long as you stay out of mine."

The hunter took off to the skies and Shark hopped on his bike and made a leave of his own.

The rain began, slamming on the streets and buildings of Heartland City. A lightening strike hit a tree already weakened by the water's force.

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Arishia stared out of the window of her and Max's hotel room. So far, it looked like everything was going according to plan. There were already plenty of registrations coming in for the Tag Duel Tournament. Hopefully, there was actually great duelist here as she thought.

"I hope this storm isn't foreshadowing something about our tournament," Max said. He sat backwards on a chair and stared out the window as well.

"I think you're looking at this the wrong way," Arishia told him.

"When is a storm a good thing?"

"When you win something by storm. Honestly, I'm waiting for the tag team that works like rain and lightning. One of them drastically weakens the opponents and then the lightning gives the finishing blow."

Max smiled. "Optimistic. That's a nice change."

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The storm from the previous day cleared up. There was barely a drop of water to be seen.

As promised, Max visited Yuma and his friends everyday afterschool to help them with their dueling. The Pegasus boy was impressed how much everyone has grown in such a short time.

Astral would watch this training. He too was impressed by the progress made by these duelists in such a short time. Mainly, he focused on Yuma. Although the boy has improved, there was still room for perfection. But he has grown tremendously since his first duel with Shark. Astral was proud with Yuma's progress.

Today was the final day of training. Max carefully watched the two teams in their final exam. He hadn't made a single comment for this entire duel. It was time to see how much they could do without him.

"Go Melomelo Melody! Attack Cathy directly!"

The brass djinn giggled as it charged the instrument it sat on. Once the ray was charged, a blast of music was sent out to Cathy causing her life points to hit zero.

"Now, I detach one overlay unit from Melomelo Melody to attack again! Now, attack Class Rep's Vaccingale!"

Under normal circumstances this move would not work, Astral examined. Vaccingale's attack points start at 1800 while Melomelo Melody's are only 1400. However, Vaccingale's attack points have been lowered by 800 points due to Tetsuo's move last turn. And since the monster has no more overlay units, Yuma used the opportunity at its best to win the duel.

Another music blast was launched and it hit Vaccingale. Takashi was blown back by the force and hit the ground, his life points dropping to zero.

A horn rang for Yuma and Tetsuo's victory over Takashi and Cathy and the AR vision began to fade away. Max smiled as everyone gathered in for his words.

"I must say, you've improved a lot throughout this week," the Pegasus boy said. "Now, I don't know how good the competition is going to be at the tournament, but I think you all stand a good chance for the finals."

"Do you think one of us could win?" Takashi asked.

"Of course we can!" Yuma interrupted. "We've got this competition in the bag."

Max laughed. "With that spirit, I'm sure one of your will diffidently make it to The Return of Battle City. Just make sure to show off your Kattobingu!"

"Yeah!" Everyone cheered.

"Then it's decided! I'll see you guys tomorrow, at the Tag Duel Tournament!"

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A/N: First off, the first break follows Episode 26, 4:50-6:50 when IV reveals the truth about the competition he and Ryoga competed in before.

Hey now! I'm back with this story. Remember when I said I'd start up again in the spring? Well, I meant late May and then came June and I basically died that month. But I'm back now!

I'm super excited to continue writing this story. How is it so far? Is there anyone you're looking forward to see? Maybe you're all fans of the Tron family. (*wink wink*)

One last note for future chapters. Technically, everyone is speaking Japanese throughout the story. However, Max's first language is English and there's going to be moments where he'll just speak English. I think it would be annoying to put Max said in English multiple time during the story, so whenever anyone speaks English I'll do this:

"*English," someone said.

I was going to do it with italics, but I also use that for emphasis and the names of the cards. It would be confusing. I hope the asterisk will be fine in the future.

I hope you all enjoyed!