Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh GX.

Shifting Generations Saga

Chapter 7: Eruption of Time; Rush Chaser Appears

A half an hour preceding the incident with Judai, meaning it occurs at roughly the same time the duel against Butterfly began…

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Tortoise sat in silence, the laptop next to him silently waiting for either Coyote or Butterfly to engage either of the two subjects. ("Yuki Judai or Ichigo Pilkington, which of the two will find their opponent first?")

Sitting on the small wooden end-table next to him was a strange black-faced card. After a moment it released a faint purple pulse, as if it was trying to get his attention.

The UNSS Agent glanced at the card and frowned in displeasure before picking it up and holding it up in front of his face. ("This is the weapon that thousands of Shadow Duelists across the world would kill each other for. An item which has different effects depending on the one using it, but no matter what they will become stronger because of it.") The card's face shimmered again and he sighed, placing it back on the end-table. "How troublesome that we live in a world where things such as you exist…"

On the television monitor an image appeared, showing Ichigo and Coyote standing across from each other in the middle of a clearing somewhere within the depths of Duel Academy's forests.

"I wonder…" Tortoise mused. "What a kid like you, who has a Soul Shadow deck, would do with one of these deadly cards under your control…Ichigo Pilkington."

An image of the currently deadly serious boy's face appeared framed in the television screen. "The Douten Iai… or Kontan shigekizai…or if you wanted to stick to English you could just call it what we down at the UNSS refer to as 'A Draw Drive.' What would you do if you had access to this kind of power, I wonder?"

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"Duel!" Coyote and Ichigo both drew from their decks at the same time, the latter having a smile on his face while the former looked angered that this insolent kid would dare to enjoy this duel.

Ichigo- 4000

Coyote- 4000

"It's my turn, draw!" The half-demon looked at his drawn card and his smile disappeared. ("Hmmm, it looks like I'll have to do something unpleasant during the first turn.") "I activate the magic card Stage of Introduction!" A giant red-curtained stage appeared between their fields. "Both you and I select a level four monster from our deck and special summon it!"

A crouching shield-holding warrior appeared on his field. (0/1500) "I summon Final Shadow Shield Guardian in defense mode!"

Coyote tossed a card onto his disk and a black-leathered cowboy appeared in play on his field. "I'll summon my Gun Shadow Quickdraw in defense mode!" (800/1300)

("Gun Shadows…") Ichigo wondered what this kind of Soul Shadow deck did as opposed to his. "I activate the magic card Infinite Pulse! This card allows me to special summon one Infinity named monster from my hand to the field, but at the end phase of my turn any Chaser named monster is returned to my deck from play."

The card that appeared behind his Shield Guardian started to glow. "From my hand Infinity Chaser is special summoned!" A bolt of dark blue light fell down from the sky and crashed into play alongside his Shield Guardian, forming into the metallic shell of his representation. (2000/1000)

"Also…" He threw a card onto his disk and a golden liquid metal humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I summon Infinity Traveler Reverse Runner in defense mode!" (300/1200) "Reveres Runner lets me discard a card from my hand to return a card I have played this turn to my hand!" He discarded a card and held up Stage of Introduction. "And now I'll activate this baby again! So come on, make a choice!"

Coyote tossed a card onto his disk and another black-leathered cowboy appeared on his field in a crouching position. "I'll choose another Quickdraw!" (800/1300)

Ichigo threw a card onto his disk and a bulky semi-humanoid robot appeared on his field in a crouching position alongside Shield Guardian. "I special summon Robot Minion!" (1500/1000)

"You've been summonin' all these monsters…" Coyote suddenly sneered, his right hand twitching a little. "To what end though? Summoning a ton of monsters ain't gonna save ya!"

"Reverse Runner and Infinity Chaser…" The two monsters Ichigo named faded away and he held up a six-sided die he had removed from his pocket. "Remove themselves from the game instead of Contact Fusing. I roll a die, and depending on the number it will determine how long until the fusion comes out." Releasing the cube, he watched it bounce along the dirt and come to a stop with three dots facing the sky. "Three…" His hand shot out and he pulled the top three cards off of his deck, adding them to his back pocket with his other monsters. "I place one card face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Coyote held up a magic card. "I activate my Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my deck." Then he motioned at his two Quickdraws, which suddenly faded away. "When I draw a card or cards outside my battle phase Quickdraw goes to the graveyard, dealing you 300 points of damage and letting me draw a card!"

Ichigo- 3400

Coyote- 4000

"From my hand…" He threw another card down and a new cowboy appeared in play. "I summon Gun Shadow Gunslinger!" (1200/1200) "Also I activate the equipment magic card End-Life Bazooka!" A heavy metal weapon appeared over the cowboy's shoulder. "For every monster ya'll have in play I discard a card from my hand. " He discarded two cards and his monster aimed the weapon at Ichigo's field. "Disappear, ya annoyin' toys!"

Ichigo barely heard this over the roar of the bazooka as it fired, the blast slamming into his field and instantly obliterating his two monsters. ("Well that stinks…")

"I'll set one card face-down and end my turn." The Apprentice Agent snickered at Ichigo's single set card. "I guess that didn't help ya out at all, did it?"

"Reverse card open!" Ichigo's set card flipped up and a card slid out of his graveyard. "I activate the trap card Security Plan, setting one continuous trap card from my graveyard face-down on my field." He inserted the graveyard card into his disk.

"Draw!" Ichigo switched the drawn card to his other hand and fumbled around in his back pocket, pulling out the five removed cards he had. "At this time the effect of the still non-existent fusion monster is that I place one random removed from play card into my hand during my standby phase." He shuffled the cards up, drew one, and then returned the stack to his back pocket.

"And now…" The half-demon inserted two cards into his disk and they appeared face-down on his field. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"Draw!" Coyote held up the drawn card with a smug smile on his face. "I'll be activatin' Magic Purge now!"

"Magic…" Ichigo gasped as a soft white light blasted across the field. "That means…"

"That means that your fusion ain't comin' out no more!" The Apprentice Agent pointed at Ichigo. "Direct attack!" His monster dropped the bazooka, pulled out his revolver, and fired a couple of bullets that pierced Ichigo's body.

Ichigo- 2200

Coyote- 4000

"I'll end my turn there." Coyote saw no need to punish the boy any more than that for right now. ("After all, with the card I'm still holdin' he won't be able to win against me!")

Ichigo shook off the pain from the holographic bullets and drew. "You stopped the summoning of that particular fusion…but there's a downside to your little effect." He held up the drawn card. "I still have that fusion monster in my removed from play pile! From my hand I activate the magic card Twins of Time! If Infinity Chaser, Reverse or Forward Runner, and the appropriate fusion is in my removed from play pile then I return them all to my hand…excluding the fusion which returns to my fusion deck." Now he was holding two cards. "I summon Reverse Runner in defense mode and end my turn." The golden humanoid appeared on his field in a crouching position. (300/1200)

"Draw!" Coyote discarded a card from his hand and his monster loaded the bazooka. "Get that annoying thing off my field!" Then it fired and blew the Infinity Traveler to bits. "And once again yer…"

"This time," One of Ichigo's set cards flipped up. "I was ready for your effect! Infinity Geocrystal Formation activates now!" The card remained in play, meaning it was a continuous trap. "Whenever an Infinity Traveler is destroyed, depending on the way it happened, a number of Infinity Gem Tokens come out! Since my monster was destroyed by a card effect, two come out!" A pair of rainbow crystals appeared on his field. (0/0)x2

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Tortoise kicked his feet up onto the foot-stool in front of the couch and pushed his cap up a little. "Wow, what a weird deck…he actually tried mixing an entirely different set of monsters in with his Soul Deck…" Most sane people wouldn't try that…but something about this guy's dueling reminded him of someone else. ("Oh yeah, it's like that one guy…")

He leaned forward to get a better look at Ichigo's face. "Could you be related to him, Puffy-kun?"

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"And now," Ichigo drew and held the drawn card up. "I activate Touch of Humanity!" One of the two Gem Tokens exploded open and a flaming humanoid appeared on his field. "By sacrificing an Infinity Gem Token on my field I can special summon an Infinity Traveler from my deck to the field! My choice is Infinity Traveler Inferno Brawler!" (0/100)

"And now," One of his two remaining face-down cards flipped up, revealing a picture of Infinity Chaser in its crouching position landing in the midst of a battlefield. "Infinity Savior is a continuous trap card that activates when an Infinity Traveler is special summoned to my field! From my deck or hand Infinity Chaser is special summoned!" An explosion of dark blue light filled his field as the robot materialized once again. (2000/1000)

"And now…" He snapped his hand up and the two monsters launched up into the sky, disappearing. "Come out now, Final Shadow Inferno Chaser!" A fireball plummeted down to his field, forming into the flame-striped orange and red robot. (2000/1000) "At this time Touch of Humanity activates its effect. When a Contact Fusion between Infinity Chaser and an Infinity Traveler occurs the card returns to my hand!" Grabbing the returned card he pointed at the Gun Shadow. "Attack now!"

"Reverse card open!" Coyote's set card flipped up and his monster suddenly was aiming at the rapidly approaching Inferno Chaser. "Quick Shot lets me activate the effect of any equipment card on my monster at this time! I discard two cards from my hand to destroy your monsters!" The bazooka belched out a blast of fire that crashed into the robot, swallowing up the rest of Ichigo's field in flames as well. "With that…"

"With that what?" The flames suddenly were violently blown away as Inferno Chaser emerged from them. "I activate the trap card Crystal Shell. This card equips to an Infinity monster on my field and is destroyed in place of it!"

Coyote's monster screamed in pain as Inferno Chaser locked its arms around him, becoming red-hot. After a few moments the Gun Shadow exploded and the backlash of heat slammed into the Apprentice Agent.

Ichigo- 2200

Coyote- 2000

Ichigo's monster returned to his field and sprayed a jet of boiling steam from its back. "There is a downside to Infinity Savior, which is at the end phase of my turn all monsters on my field are destroyed." Inferno Chaser exploded...and three rainbow crystals appeared on Ichigo's field. "Whoops, did I forget to mention that Infinity Geocrystal Formation gives me three Tokens when a Chaser is destroyed by a card effect?" (0/0)x3

"You damn annoying brat…" Coyote drew. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn." A pair of cards appeared on his field, his face expressing what he was feeling like now, extreme anger.

"Draw!" Ichigo held up Touch of Humanity and one of the tokens shattered, a prismatic humanoid landing on his field. "I summon Infinity Traveler Null Entity! And now…" A card popped out of his deck and he threw it down, Infinity Chaser appearing in play alongside Null Entity. (2000/1000) (100/200)

"…and that means…" Coyote clenched his teeth tighter as he realized what was coming. "You bastard…"

"Aww, don't be sore about it…" Ichigo removed Touch of Humanity from his graveyard and added it to his hand as the two monsters launched into the air. A few moments later the monochromatic colors of Negation Chaser could be seen as it appeared. (2000/1000) "Negation Chaser activates its effect now!" He discarded a card from his hand and pointed at one of Coyote's set cards. "Negation Core!" The card shuddered and became black and white. "Direct attack!"

"Reverse card open!" The Apprentice Agent's other card flipped up. "I activate the quickplay magic card Emergency Casting! From my hand one non-quickplay magic card is activated!" He flipped the card over and snickered as a powerful black hole appeared in the sky, releasing a blast of energy that hit Ichigo's field and blew his monsters apart. "Dark Hole destroys all monsters in play!"

Ichigo snapped his hand up and three new Infinity Gem Tokens appeared in play on his field. (0/0)x3 "End turn." His Infinity Savior card shimmered and the tokens shattered.

"Draw." Coyote was smiling now. "What's the matter, big man? Without your little Endless Contact loop you suddenly can't win?" He threw the card in his hand onto his disk and a new monster, this one a cowboy holding a pair of revolvers, appeared in play. "I summon Gun Shadow Rapid-Fire!" (1000/1000) "Rapid-Fire attacks directly!" His monster snapped its revolvers up and fired twice, the bullets blowing small clouds of dust into the air around Ichigo.

Ichigo- 1200

Coyote- 2000

"And now," Coyote slid his set card into his graveyard. "The effect of Rapid-Fire lets me send a card from my field to the graveyard to let it attack again!" The monster opened fire once more, creating another spray of dirt and dust on Ichigo's field. "And with that, I'll end my turn knowin' that there ain't a damn thing ya'll can do."

Ichigo- 200

Coyote- 2000

Ichigo sighed and brushed his pant legs off. "It seems…you're better than I thought." His smile returned and suddenly he was glowing a soft red color.

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Tortoise lifted his eyebrows at the indicator on the laptop. ("His score just rose to 300? Yet again another interesting person…I've never seen someone that can change their score so instantly without outside help…")

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"Draw!" Ichigo held the card up and grinned. "I activate the continuous magic card Crystal Pulse." The card appeared on his field and started glowing. "I summon an Infinity Gem Token to my field once per turn!" A new rainbow crystal appeared on his field. (0/0)

"...aww damn it…." Coyote paled as Touch of Humanity appeared on Ichigo's field and the crystal shattered, revealing a silver liquid-metal humanoid.

"This is Forward Runner…" Ichigo motioned to Infinity Savior and it started to glow. "Come out now Infinity Chaser!" Once more the dark blue form of his robot appeared in play on his field alongside his Infinity Traveler. "And now for the last move! Contact Fusion!"

The two monsters launched into the air and disappeared. Ichigo lifted his hand up and smiled as the field started to shimmer. "Let's take it to the future, shall we?"

Coyote blinked at the statement…and then gasped in surprise as his Rapid-Fire dissolved, as did the other cards on Ichigo's field. "What did ya'll do!?"

"Come out now, Rush Chaser!" The air in front of Ichigo shimmered and a silver-colored version of Infinity Chaser appeared in play, its slim body wreathed in a strange pulsing vibration. (2000/1000) "The effect of Rush Chaser is that when summoned all cards on our fields except for itself are removed from the game, and we draw one card per removed card. In other words…"

Coyote drew…and paled at what the card was. ("I can't use this…")

"Rush Chaser, direct attack! Time-Steam Crusher!" Ichigo's fusion disappeared momentarily, and Coyote was launched ten feet into the air as he was suddenly struck from four sides at once. When it returned to Ichigo's side he had crashed to the ground, unmoving.

Ichigo- 200

Coyote- 0

Ichigo turned off his Duel Disk and walked up to the fallen Coyote, standing over him and glaring angrily. "You guys are really low for resorting to kidnapping when your first dirty scheme didn't work."

The Apprentice Agent laughed weakly, unable to move because the damage to his body from that last attack had been too great. "It's not like we're supposed to play fair against somebody like you…"

"I'd ask why you guys have it out for me, but at the moment I don't care." He kneeled down, grabbing Coyote by the collar and hefting him up to eye-level. "Where's Sho?"

"The top of the mountain, in a cave. You should be able to find it fairly easily, since there will be a black helicopter up there." He smirked and leaned in a little closer. "Though I have to wonder whether you'll be able to beat an actual Agent…after all, they're the best…" He suddenly collapsed to the ground, and by the time he had propped himself up there was a long line of dust going from where Ichigo had been standing through the forest in the direction of the center mountain.

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"In a world filled with darkness…" A pair of spotlights cross-lit up a section of rock, revealing Masami standing atop it. "There was only one man capable of saving innocent lives. He was a great duelist, a mighty otaku, an even greater scientist, and above all else a hero. He was…" He started to turn, hand shooting up towards the sky dramatically…

"An idiot," Manjyome commented as he walked past the rock, ending the bizarre and unexplainable darkness effect that had appeared.

Masami stood perfectly still, a cold wind blowing by, and then he dropped off the rock. "Jerk, how dare you ruin my perfect heroic monologue!"

This forced Manjyome to stop, a vein bulging out of his forehead as he turned to face the self-proclaimed genius. "We're nearly at the top of the mountain, but there isn't anyone around! Who are you giving a monologue to!?"

"Psh, you know nothing about heroes apparently." Masami walked past him with his hands in his pockets. "A hero needs no audience to grandstand, it is their divine right."

"Are you stupid!? What part of you is a hero!?" Manjyome's question, unfortunately, was going to have to go unanswered, as just then someone appeared in front of them on the path. "So it's you."

"So it is." Tadpole lifted up his Duel Disk and smiled confidently. "My apologies gentlemen but neither of you will be passing this point unscathed. If you want to continue then defeat me in a duel."

"We don't have time for this," Masami continued his approach, undaunted. "Get out of our way, small fry."

"Small fry?" The man pulled a handgun out of his pocket and aimed it right at the green-haired boy's forehead. "Would you like me to place a bullet through that arrogant brain of yours?"

"You're welcome to try." Adjusting his glasses with a finger, Masami continued his approach. "I do brag, but in this case I'm quite serious. You will not be able to shoot me with that gun. My speed is quite close to a demon's…" Then they were both silent, a stand-off coming to be that left a strange feeling in the air.

Manjyome shivered a little bit, wondering who was going to flinch first. ("I need to get out of the way, or else I might get hit by a stray bullet…") He turned to see if there was any cover, and his eyes widened in surprise. "What in the…"

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Tortoise adjusted his cap and yawned, pacing the open section of the cavern. "I wonder how long Tadpole will delay those two." Considering his skill level it should be a little while until they arrived. An explosion, followed by a spray of dirt and dust, came flying into the cavern from outside. "Hmmm?"

As the dust cleared, it revealed Ichigo, Judai, Masami and Manjyome all lying in a heap on the floor. They squirmed, kicking and bickering at each other until finally managing to separate themselves properly.

"Whew, I made it!" Ichigo sat down and took off his shoes, fanning the smoldering soles with his hand.

"Are you trying to get us killed!?" Manjyome and Masami both punched the back of his head at the same time. "What kind of person goes charging up the side of a mountain blindly!?"

Judai rubbed his butt for a moment before standing up and dusting himself off. "Good job Ichigo, you saved us some time." He gave the half-demon a thumbs-up, who grinned and returned the action.

"Don't praise him!" Manjyome and Masami yelled in unison angrily.

Tortoise yawned and adjusted his cap again. "So, what happened to Tadpole?"

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Outside the cave, the Apprentice UNSS Agent twitched a couple of times, foot-prints on the back of his head and back of his suit. ("Medical Insurance…must…cover…this…")

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"How the heck should I know?" Pulling his shoes back on Ichigo hopped to his feet and pointed at the UNSS Agent. "So are you the head guy?"

"That would be me." Tortoise smiled slightly at the grin that came across the faces of his two subjects. "You look kind of happy, but I suggest you consider the fact that I'm your enemy before jumping for joy."

"That's why they're so excited," Manjyome sighed and headed off towards the back of the cave. "Come on, Masami-sama, let's leave these idiots to enjoy themselves." A blast of air shot past his nose, hitting the rock wall next to him and leaving a foot-deep slash mark in its surface.

All four of them immediately went on the alert, eyes coming to Tortoise expecting to him holding some kind of strange weapon.

The Agent yawned once more and played with the card he had drawn off of his deck, flipping it around with his fingers. Other than this though, he didn't seem to be armed. "I wouldn't go back there yet if I were you. There's explosive wired to go off and bring the whole cavern down if you trigger the motion sensors, and since you don't know where they are it would be a pretty big gamble on all our sakes if you haphazardly walked into one."

"Then what do you want?" Manjyome Thunder stepped forward, his hand reaching into his pocket for his deck. "Is it a duel you want? If so then select your opponent, because between the three of us you won't find any weakness!"

"And," Masami stepped forward dramatically before glaring at Manjyome. "Why aren't you including me in the equation?"

"Enough," Tortoise yawned again, making the order sound more bored than authoritative. "You two aren't part of the equation right now. In fact…" He glanced at Manjyome and then Masami. "I'm not even sure if the two of you would be able to survive the initial start of a duel against me."

"What was that!?" The two offended students yelled at once, turning their anger towards him.

"Anyway," Tortoise had no intention of egging those two on anymore than necessary. "My targets are you two, Ichigo Pilkington and Yuki Judai. I'd like you both to duel me at the same time, since otherwise you won't stand a chance of winning."

"At the same time?" Judai pouted. "But I'm really strong…are you underestimating me or something?"

Ichigo frowned at the feeling he was getting from this situation. ("The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end in this guy's prescense. What about him is setting me off?") "Judai, let's do it." He smiled, trying to make it seem like the fun thing to do. "We'll show these guys not to underestimate us!"

"Che, I guess so." The Hero Duelist, still pouting, activated his Duel Disk and inserted his deck into it.

Ichigo did the same, though his expression wasn't quite as disappointed. ("This guy is powerful, I can already tell that. I'd better play it safe and accept the handicap he's giving himself. While I don't doubt my abilities, something about him is telling me I need to be cautious.")

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I smell it…a chance…

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"Duel!" All three of them shouted at once, the life point scores appearing over their heads.

Tortoise- 4000

Judai- 4000

Ichigo- 4000

"I'll take the first turn," Tortoise reached for the top card of his deck. "A little word of advice…please draw the top card of your decks at the same time as I do. Otherwise…" His lazy eyes momentarily grew rather dark. "The results might be a bit messy."

Judai found the request strange, but he prepared to do so.

"Draw!" Tortoise pulled the top card off of his deck strongly…

Judai did the same, and blinked in surprise as his hair was blown back by a sudden burst of wind. ("What was that? Where'd the breeze come from?") Returning the drawn card to his deck without looking at it, he noticed that Tortoise looked a little surprise. "Something the matter?"

"Indeed there is…" The Agent pointed at Ichigo, who was standing motionless. "Why didn't you draw at the same time as I did, Ichigo?"

"Because I wanted to confirm something…" The half-demon glanced down at his chest and the slash-shaped mark that went along his shirt and blazer perfectly in line with the arc Tortoise had drawn his card. Reaching under the slashed cloth, he pulled his hand back and narrowed his eyes. "No blood…"

He turned to look at the two smaller slash-marks in the wall a few feet behind him on both sides of his body. "Strong enough to indent rock, but not able to cut steel…I've never heard of someone's mere draw power being enough to do something like that…"

Manjyome twitched a couple of times before looking at the marks in the wall and then at Ichigo's chest. "So many questions…"

"I can't explain how this UNSS Agent just did that, but I can tell you why Ichigo is uninjured while that wall is now sporting some new body art." Masami adjusted his glasses casually. "Demon bodies are very dense compared to human bodies, nearly as difficult to pierce as steel in consistency. Hence why this strange technique had no effect on him."

"Who are you people?" Manjyome had no words to express how hard some of this was to belief. ("Demons, freaky super-geniuses, guys that can cut stone with the power of their card draws…")

Judai glanced at his own hand for a moment. "Why'd you aim at Ichigo only?"

"I didn't." Tortoise smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, you weakened my Killing Draw technique with your own draw power to the point that it couldn't injure you."

"…Huh?" Judai blinked at Tortoise, and then at his own hand again. "Wow…" He rolled his shoulders and brought his attention back to the dueling field. "Okay then, let's get this duel started!"

"Wow!? That's it!?" Manjyome pondered grabbing a nearby rock and throwing it at Judai's head to see if he was one of these Demons too. It would explain why he was so naturally dense, but in a different sense of the term.

"He's right." Ichigo smiled cheerfully. "While I'm rather interested as to how you managed to do something like that, I want to duel you more than ever now."

("320 and 290…a grand total of 610.") Tortoise added the drawn card to his hand before looking up at his two opponents calmly. ("Against my own 717 it will be a miracle if they can even push me far enough to use the Draw Drive.") "Here we go boys, let's see how long you last. Up to this point you've been dueling the minor players of the UNSS, against me though you'll quickly learn that this isn't little league anymore!"

To be continued…

And so the duel against a real UNSS Agent begins. What is the basis of Tortoise's confidence? He's already seen how powerful his opponents are, and yet he seems more worried that they won't be enough a challenge rather than whether he can win or not. What secrets is his deck hiding, and just what exactly was the Draw Drive he was talking about? What about the numbers?

Next Chapter: Initiation to the Big Leagues (Part 1)