A/N: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF YU GI OH 5DS OR PRINCESS MONONOKE! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS! THE ONLY THING I OWN ARE MY OCS!

Chapter 3: Battle Between the Tricksters

As Crow caught up to Broder, Bruno commented, "There are still two more of these god cards."

"Knowing Crow, he won't allow the second one to be summoned," Leo responded. He looked at Yusei and noticed his tense atmosphere around Yusei. "Something wrong, Yusei?"

He sighed and slowly said while looking at Crow through the monitor, "I just feel like this won't be as easy for Crow as you think. Broder is also known as the Trick Star, after all. And if the attacks and damage was real…" He shook his head. "We just have to hope Crow won't be hurt too bad. Crow will find a way, though." They looked back at the duel.

"I'll beat you in a second, Crow," Broder told the man.

"Don't underestimate me," Crow responded. He drew his card calling, "I'll bring out the power of my Blackwings." And the duel began. "Since you control a monster and I don't, I can summon Blackwing- Sirocco the Dawn (Attack 2000/ Defense 900) in attack position with tribute. And now since I control a Blackwing monster, I can special summon Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind (Attack 1300/ Defense 400) in attack mode. I then activate Gale's effect to halve the attack and defense of Thor (Thor, Lord of the Aesir: Attack 1750/ Defense 1400) until the end phase. And now since the total levels of the Blackwing monster I control are at least eight, I can special summon Blackwing- Calima the Haze (Attack 600/ Defense 1800) from his hand in attack position with its effect. Now I tune Blackwing- Calima the Haze with Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind in order to synchro summon. Rise, Blackwing Armor Master (Attack 2500/ Defense 1500)! Blackwing Armor Master, attack Thor!" The attack destroyed Broder's monster and his life points fell to 3250. Sirocca, attack Broder directly!" The man's fell to 1250.

"I activate my face down, The Golden Apples! This increases my life points by the battle I took this turn and summon a Malus Token which attack and defense equals that amount (Attack 2750/ Defense 2750)," Broder defended.

"I set two cards face down and my end turn," Crow finished. And due to it being the end phase, Thor's effect, it was revived and inflicted 800 to Crow. The bird named man life points fell to 3200 and he cried out in pain.

Broder drew his card and Solemn Authority was destroyed due to its last effect. "I activate the effect of Thor. This negates the effects of Blackwing Armor Master and granting those effects to Thor until the end phase. Malus Token, attack Blackwing- Sirocco the Dawn!" Broder ordered and the attack destroyed Crow's monster while dropping his life points to 2450. "Thor, attack Blackwing Armor Master!" Crow's last monster was destroyed and his life points fell to 1450.

"Since two Blackwing monsters were destroyed the same turn, I can special summon Blackwing- Brisote the Tailwind (Attack 1200/ Defense 1800) in attack position," the bird named man played. "I activate my face down, Black Return! This increases my life points by the attack of Thor, Lord of the Aesir and return it to your extra deck."

"I activate Nordic Relic Laevateinn! This destroys Thor due to it destroying a monster in a battle this turn," Broder fought. "And since your Black Return's target was removed, its effect of Black Return is negated." He smirked. "I set a face down and end my turn. And since it's the end phase, you know what that means, don't you?" Thor rose again and inflicted another 800 points of damage to Crow, dropping his life points to 650.

"I can't believe the attacks are real," Jack commented.

'I'm well below the safety line,' Crow thought in worry. 'If Broder has a speed spell in his hand next turn, I lose.' As they complete the lap, he passes the kids and they cheer for him.

Broder stated, "I had kids that I, myself, protect. But yours can't count on Team 5D's to protect the children and defeat Yliaster." That caught Crow's attentioned. "I used to be a treasure hunter, to be honest. But that changed when I met a bunch of kids who were lone survivors of a war. I wouldn't leave the island as there were no other adults to really take care of the kids. Eventually, parents came to adopt them, but I'd heard rumors of the organization that triggered the war. That's not something I can just brush off."

'This far-reaching organization is Yliaster!' Crow realized. 'That's the mission Broder is determined to follow no matter what: defeating Yliaster. But I can't give up here. Not after what Yliaster is planning to do to the world.' He drew his card. "I summon Blackwing- Blizzard the Far North (Attack 1300/ Defense 0) in defense mode and activate its effect. This revives Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind (Attack 1300/ Defense 400) in defense mode. Then I activate my face down Blackboost to draw two cards since I control at least two Blackwing monsters. After that, I activate the Speed Spell- Speed Force! This prevents you from destroying my cards through spells and traps until my next standby phase. Next I activate the effect of Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind to halve Thor's attack and defense (Thor, Lord of the Aesir: Attack 1750/ Defense 1400). Now I tune Blackwing- Brisote the Tailwind with Blackwing- Gale the Whirlwind to synchro summon. Rise up, Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)! And now since Brisote was sent to the graveyard as a synchro material, its effect activates, increasing my life points by 600." Crow's life points jumped to 1250. "Black-Winged Dragon, attack Thor!" The attack succeeded and Broder's life points fell to 2950. "I set a face down and end my turn."

"Well, that means Thor's back and inflicts another 800 points of damage at you," Broder responded.

"Not quite, Broder," Crow retorted shocking him. "See, my dragon's got an effect. By placing a Blackwing Counter on it and decrease its attack and defense points (Black-Winged Dragon: Attack 2100/ Defense 1600), I can avoid damage."

Though he was frustrated, Broder stayed calm and continued the duel, "I summon Ljosalf of the Nordic Alfar (Attack 1400/ Defense 1200) in attack position and activate its effect to special summon Svartalf of the Nordic Alfar (Attack 1400/ Defense 1600) in attack position. Now I tune Malus Token with Ljosalf with Svartalf to synchro summon. Rise, Loki, Lord of the Aesir (Attack 3300/ Defense 3000)!"

'That's not good,' Yusei thought a bit worried.

"Loki, attack Black-Winged Dragon!" Broder ordered.

"I activate Black Sonic! This removes from play all of your attack position monsters," Crow defended.

"I activate Loki's effect! It negates the effect of Black Sonic and destroys it," Broder fought. Loki continued the attack against Black-Winged Dragon and destroyed it while dropping Crow's life point to a mere 50. "Thor, attack Blizzard the Far North!" The attack succeeded and destroyed Crow's monster.

"How is Crow going to survive at this rate?" Leo asked worriedly. They all looked at Yusei for his ideas being the best duelist they had.

"He'll find a way," he told them. "I've known him since he was a younger than memory. Even if it seems futile, he'll find a way to keep things as easy as possible for this team. But Crow will do all he can to ensure that this team wins. And that's all we have to rely on. And all we can do is hope that he comes out on top." They nodded and turned back to the duel.

Crow drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2. By removing seven speed counters, I can draw one card. I then set two face downs and end my turn," he played.

Broder drew his card. "I activate the effect of Speed World 2 as well! By removing ten speed counters, I can destroy one of your set cards!" he declared and the card destroyed was Black Wing. "Loki, attack Crow directly!"

"I activate my other face down Black Wing! This negates the attack by removing from play one Blackwing from my graveyard," Crow defended.

"I activate the effect of Loki! This negates the effect of Black Wing and destroys it," Broder fought.

"I remove Blackwing- Calima the Haze from my graveyard to revive Black-Winged Dragon (Attack 2800/ Defense 1600)!" Crow declared and his dragon returned to his side.

"Well, Loki, attack that dragon!" Broder ordered.

"I activate the second effect of Black Wing! By removing the two Black Wings in my graveyard, I can destroy both Black-Winged Dragon and Loki and inflict the attack of Loki as damage to you," Crow fought.

Broder's life points fell to 0 but Broder then called, "I activate my face down Dromi the Sacred Shackles! This inflicts damage at you equal to the difference between Black-Winged Dragon and Loki." The assault hit and the duel ended in a draw. But due to it being Broder's end phase, Loki returned to the field.

Broder and Crow passed the batons to Halldor and Yusei and both duelists sped forward to duel against each other.