"Attention duel fans, do we have a special treat for you all today." said the MC. "Sector Security's annual Fortune Cup Tournament is about to get underway."

The moment he said that, the crowd started screaming in excitement for the coming duels.

"Now then, why don't we meet the eight expert duelists who came here for a chance to dethrone Jack Atlas." the MC said as a man in gold armor stepped onto the field. "First we have the noble knight sir Randsborg."

"Thy foolish opponents know not the power of these cards." Randsborg said calmly.

"Quite confident aren't you Randsborg, I'll have to teach you what a real duelist can do." said a man in a black jacket with a green hood pulled up.

"Well Archer, we'll just see how the duels turn out." the MC said. "Next up is a mysterious flower that mixes danger with beauty, Akiza."

With those words Akiza stepped onto the field without a word.

"Is something wrong miss?" Archer asked.

"It's not your concern." Akiza said sharply.

"Patience there Akiza, we still have a few powerful duelists waiting to make themselves known, including a real surprise entry." the MC said. "Yusei Fudo."

As he walked up to stand with the other competitors, the crowd started yelling at Yusei to get lost and go home to the Satellite.

"Maybe we should move on to the next duelist, a real champion among duelists, Hunter Pace." the MC said calmly.

"This isn't even a challenge, just bring out Jack so I can wipe the floor with him." Hunter said arrogantly.

"Hold on Hunter, you might have been the champion before but now you need to go through the rest of these powerful duelists, including miss Luna." the MC said as Luna walked up next to Hunter.

"I'll do my best." Luna said nervously.

"Well I wish you the best of luck today." the MC said politely. "Of course our next duelist isn't going to quit so easily, Commander Koda."

"I have each and every one of you completely figured out, my victory is as predictable as the sun rising tomorrow." Koda said calmly.

"Well don't get overly confident, because our last duelist isn't going to be easy to take down." the MC said calmly. "The powerhouse of machines, Grieger."

"I'm looking forward to some good matches, good luck to all of you." Grieger said calmly.

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"So let me get this straight, you expect to find the other signers in this tournament, and you think they're Yusei, Akiza, and Luna." Jack said. "Goodwin I already told you Yusei had a mark like mine, so why aren't we looking for the fifth signer?"

"Jack I only was able to identify the three of them, I don't know where to find the fifth signer but time is of the essence." Rex said. "Our only choice is to move forward and hope that the four of you will be able to find the fifth in time."

"That's great, well if it's any consolation, I'll get to humiliate Yusei again." Jack said. "Our last duel was interrupted before the end."

"True, however that would first require Yusei to win the Fortune Cup, and I severely doubt he'll be able to pull that one off." Lazar said walking into the room.

"We'll see, looks like the matches are being decided." Jack said.

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"Well, it looks like our eight duelists are ready to show us their skill." the MC said. "The first duel is going to be Akiza going head to head with Yusei Fudo. The second duel has Hunter Pace facing off against Archer. Third on the agenda is Luna taking on Grieger. Which means Commander Koda will face Randsborg fourth."

"Akiza, looks like we're dueling first." Yusei said calmly.

"It would appear so, I take it your offer stands?" Akiza asked.

"It does." Yusei said. "So what do you say?"

"Deal, but just know I don't intend to lose Yusei." Akiza said.

"I know, but neither do I." Yusei said as the two of them walked up and exchanged duel decks. (1)

"Did I just see that right, are you two using each others cards for this duel?" the MC asked.

"As a matter of fact we are, there's no rule against it." Akiza said calmly.

"Well I suppose that's true." the MC said.

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"What in the world, why would Yusei give away his deck like that?" Jack asked. "If he plans on winning against me he's going to need Stardust Dragon."

"Perhaps this is only a private challenge for the two of them." Lazar suggested. "Either way it should be interesting to see how Yusei Fudo handles the deck of the Black Rose."

"Wait, the Black Rose?" Jack asked. "The psychic duelist that's been sending people to the hospital for years?"

"The same, Akiza Izinski is the Black Rose, however she may also be one of the five signers." Rex said. "All we need to do is wait and see what happens in this duel, if I'm right both of their marks should appear."

"You'd better be right Goodwin, otherwise things are going to get a lot tougher when we're missing the head." Jack said.

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"You're Luna right?" Grieger asked walking up to her.

"Yes, is something wrong?" Luna asked nervously.

"You and Yusei are friends right, you were walking into the stadium together." Grieger said. "Did you know he planned on doing that?"

"No, but we'll see how it goes." Luna said. "Oh and good luck Grieger."

"The same to you, let's make our match a good one." Grieger said calmly.

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"Tough luck Archer, you're not going to be getting past round one." Hunter said arrogantly.

"I severely doubt you'll be able to defeat me." Archer said calmly. "My deck is quite unique."

"Whatever you use is going down when I play my speed deck." Hunter said.

"You shouldn't speak of the future unless you know what's going to happen, I already know exactly what card will end our duel." Archer said looking at his ace card, a 3000 attack point insect type monster.

(The Fortune Cup is ready to start, and the first match is going to be Yusei dueling Akiza. Next chapter the duel will begin. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)

(1) (Yusei arrived in New Domino City slightly earlier than in canon and had met Akiza more than once. The deck switch is part of a deal they made just prior to her receiving the invitation to the Fortune Cup.)