Kaku was stressed. This Anti-Totaku Alliance was going to be the end of her, especially since she had received word that two of the four points that she had assigned to be guarded were now left open. And once all four paths to the empire were open, then the alliance could begin an assault on the city, in their attempt to overthrow Totaku. If only they knew the truth of the matter…

"Well, actually, things aren't going too good."

Kaku froze. Somewhere in the palace was a voice that she had never heard before, one that sounded like a child who had been caught misbehaving. She left her bedroom, bringing her green-trimmed Duel Disk with her, and walked down the wide halls, following the voice that she had heard.

"Please, enlighten me, Tanoshi."

A new voice. This one was calm, although she doubted that the speaker's emotions were the same. She tracked the voice down to a room that was familiar to Kaku: her personal library, one that was made as soon as Totaku became the emperor.

'Yue…'

She slowly put her ear to the door, attempting to figure out what exactly they were talking about.

"Well, two of the generals have already been beaten, and none of the alliance members have lost to them."

"I see...and their souls were sent to the Shadow Realm?"

'Shadow Realm? I know I've heard of that somewhere...wait...that calm voice, it sounds familiar…'

"Yep! It was awesome! The looks on their faces were hilarious!"

"Good. We can't let the alliance know the truth. If they find out the truth about Totaku, then this was all for nothing."

'What!?'

Suddenly, the door she was leaning on swung in, causing Kaku to fall into the room, alerting her presence. While she cursed her luck, she looked up to see a single figure with an odd Duel Disk.

"What was that! I thought you said you were in a secure location!"

Kaku almost screamed when she saw the Duel Disk talk, the life point counter glowing yellow.

"So did I," said the man. "Ooh, ooh, can I play with her? I never did get to play with the little one."

"Fine by me, just make sure to leave no witnesses." And with that said, the Duel Disk dimmed.

"What did you...are you responsible for everything that's happened?"

"Maybe I am, maybe not. I'm not telling you!"

Kaku frowned. His playful nature was hiding something dangerous, she just knew it. She swiftly activated her Duel Disk.

"If you want to duel me, then I expect something in return! I want to know what you're up to, and how Yue plays into all of this!"

"Okay, but this better be fun!" The man, Tanoshi, activated his own Duel Disk, as the blade suddenly extended. In full length, it resembled a sickle with a forked tip. A dark energy covered their cards briefly before disappearing, indicating a Shadow Game.

"LET'S DUEL!"

(Kaku: 4000 LP)(Tanoshi: 4000 LP)

"I'll go first!" declared Kaku, although inwardly she grimaced when she saw her hand. All of the cards that she had to work with were Monster Cards! She cursed her luck again, although she eventually decided that she could work with this.

"I'll set one monster and end my turn!"

As the horizontal face-down graced her field, Tanoshi drew his own card, and grinned.

"I set my own monster! And then it's your turn to play!"

Kaku drew, and flipped up her monster.

"I Flip Summon my Man-Eater Bug!"

Her card was shown to be a massive bipedal insect, with brown armor, horns, and a massive mouth that took up most of its face (LV 2: ATK 450). Suddenly, it walked over to Tanoshi's card and opened its mouth even wider. The Insect-type grabbed the Monster Card in its teeth and shattered the card.

"Hey! No fair!"

"It's plenty fair. Whenever Man-Eater Bug is flipped up, it destroys one monster. And now I summon my Swarm of Locusts!"

A card appeared on the field, and a swarm of brown locusts flew out and joined the Flip Monster (LV 3: ATK 1000).

"Now, my monsters are going to attack you directly!"

First was her Man-Eater Bug, which simply swiped at Tanoshi with a clawed arm (Tanoshi: 4000-3550 LP). Then Swarm of Locusts surrounded him, biting and scratching the man child (Tanoshi: 3550-2550 LP).

"To end my turn, I activate the effect of my Swarm of Locusts, changing it to face-down defense mode."

As the insect hoard set itself, Tanoshi drew, before he began to giggle wildly.

"Oh boy! Now we can have some real fun! Time for us to take a trip to Toon World!"

He then activated a Continuous Spell, ad a book appeared on the field, while the immature duelist took a good deal of damage (Tanoshi: 2550-1550 LP). The book opened, revealing it to be a pop-up book, with the inside showing a very odd town with old looking buildings.

"It isn't doing anything," said a very confused Kaku. "All that it did is make you pay a thousand of your life points."

"But now, I can play with my Toon Monsters! Like my Toon Masked Sorcerer!"

Out of Toon World came a rather odd looking monster. It had a long purple cloak, small red shoes, large hands, orange hair with a flower in it, and a blue mask with a crooked nose and a large grin (LV 4: ATK 900).

Kaku was surprised, though not by its cartoonish appearance, but rather how it appeared to be a bizarre copy of an existing card known as Masked Sorcerer. Was this man's entire deck filled with goofy knock-offs of existing monsters? And what did that Toon World have to do with it? She was torn from her thoughts when Tanoshi activated another card.

"And since I control Toon World, I can tribute my monster to Special Summon my Toon Dark Magician Girl!"

The Toon Monster gave a wave goodbye, as it went into the storybook, which snapped shut, before opening, revealing a new Toon Monster, also based on an existing card called Dark Magician Girl. The monster was a young girl with long blond hair, wearing a blue and pink wizard outfit and twirling a small wand that ended in a spiral (LV 6: ATK 2000).

"Unlike most of my Toons, Toon Dark Magician Girl doesn't have to wait her turn before she can play, and Toon World lets her attack directly! Dark Burning Attack!"

The monster pointed her wand at Kaku, and a small wisp of smoke came out. Frowning, Toon Dark Magician Girl looked at her wand and shook it, when suddenly the tip began to glow with pink magical energy. She then smiled and pointed her wand at Kaku once more, before firing a pink orb of energy, sending the Toon Monster flying backwards, as the blast struck the green-haired strategist (Kaku: 4000-2000 LP).

"And I end my turn with one face-down! Now you can play!"

Kaku frowned as she drew. There wasn't much she could do, unless she took down that Continuous Spell. Fortunately, she had a way of dealing with it.

"I Flip Summon my Swarm of Locusts, letting me destroy your Toon World!"

But just as the card began to flip up, Tanoshi's cheerful smile became much more malicious.

"Hold on now. I'm not going to let you ruin my fun, am I? I play my Divine Wrath."

His face-down was revealed to be a Counter Trap with an image of Cannon Soldier being struck by lightning, as a lightning bolt struck Swarm of Locusts, while Tanoshi discarded what appeared to be a smaller version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

"By sending a card from my hand to the Graveyard, like my Red-Eyes Toon Dragon, I can negate the activation of your monster's effect, then destroy it!"

Kaku could only watch in horror as her last hope was destroyed. All of her monsters had effects that activated when they were flipped, and she still only had monsters. And since his monster could attack directly, there was nothing she could do.

"I...end my turn."

"Good idea!" Suddenly, Tanoshi reverted back to his childish state, his sadistic side having seemingly vanished. "Toon Dark Magician Girl, let's do this!"

His monster went over to Kaku and bashed the duelist on the head with her wand (Kaku: 2000-0 LP)(Winner: Tanoshi).

Kaku fell to her knees, holding back tears. She had lost her only chance to save Totaku! Suddenly, Tanoshi walked over to her, holding his comic book.

"You lost the game," he said, once more win his cruel smile. "But don't fret, you can still have fun with me."

Kaku tried to run, but her body refused to listen. He then opened the comic, before he flipped to the last page, which showed a purple vortex. He then held out his comic, and the vortex became larger, and began to spin. Kaku could suddenly feel something tugging on her, and realized, to her horror, that the vortex was pulling her towards it. Before she had a chance to grab onto something, she was brought into the pull of the swirling portal and screamed as she was swallowed by darkness. Tanoshi looked at the formerly blank page, seeing Kaku surrounded by shadows, a terrified expression on the illustration of the strategist.

"I better get out of here. I've had enough fun for today." And with that, Tanoshi ran to a window and opened it, before running into the night, quietly giggling in euphoria.

~KD~

It was early in the morning, as Anthony woke himself up. Yawning, he stretched as he began to get ready. He was just putting on his fedora, when he heard arguing. Two familiar voices, both getting closer to the Kikai tent. Rolling his eyes, Anthony put on his sunglasses and grabbed his bag before heading out with a smile.

As he entered the common room, he noticed Kan'u was shuffling her cards, when she turned to face him.

"You're certainly cheerful, considering what happened yesterday."

Anthony simply sighed. Currently, Denki was in a cell, just like Kayu. Anthony had considered putting him in the infirmary, but considering he had his soul removed, that probably wouldn't have done anything. The arguing increased in volume, snapping him out of his thoughts and causing his smile to evaporate.

"Do you hear that, Anthony?"

"Unfortunately."

Taking a deep breath, Anthony went to the exit, and bravely moved the tarp.

"Could you speak a bit louder? I can't hear you from down there, pipsqueak!"

"I said, it's amazing how an idiot like you managed to become the leader of anything!"

'Of course, Ensho and Skull Loli. Because they have nothing better to do.'

As per usual, the two blonde faction leaders were at each other's throats, with neither of them having any intention of stopping. Honestly, if these two went to war with each other as soon as the alliance ended, it wouldn't be a surprise.

Not wanting to get involved with these two, Anthony simply went to get something to eat, with Kan'u trailing him. When they arrived, they noticed that there was another conversation going on inside, although with a much more exhausted tone. They went inside to find Kakoen and Ganryo, seemingly talking about their fellow faction members.

"I swear, they can be quite a hassle! Reiha is obsessed with herself, Ishe tends to jump into situations without a second, or a first, thought, and sometimes, it feels like I'm the only one with a functioning brain between the three of us!"

"I wholeheartedly agree. I love Karin, and my sister, but they're both far too stubborn. Keifa doesn't see eye to eye with anyone, except for Lord Karin. And Ki can be more concerned with food than anything else."

"Who's Ki?"

As Kan'u went to grab food for herself and her lord, Anthony found himself sitting next to them and entering their conversation when he heard an unfamiliar name. The two of them turned to him, and Kakoen gave him an answer.

"Kyocho, the remaining general. Lord Karin left her behind to guard the Gi capital."

"Oh. I presume that she's a member of the harem as well?"

"No, she's too young, as well as straight."

"How old is she?" This question came from Ganryo, as Kan'u brought two plates to the table, and gave one to Anthony, before sitting down and helping herself to the other.

"Thirteen. Lord Karin chose her to join the Gi Faction when she witnessed the power of her FIRE deck. She happily agreed, as long as she could fight bandits."

"Neat," said Ganryo, as Anthony smiled.

"It's cool how you two get along so well, despite the fact that your leaders can't stand each other," he said between bites of rice.

"Well, we both fill similar roles," said Kakoen. "We're the voices of reason amongst the insanity of our friends."

The tender moment was abruptly destroyed as Ensho and Soso entered the dining hall, sitting at the table adjacent to Anthony and company. They were still fighting, it seemed.

"Well then, if you believe that you're so much better than me, midget, then why don't you duel me? The winner is to be considered superior to the loser for as long as this alliance lasts!"

"Why bother? Everyone in the country knows that you're horrible at Duel Monsters."

"How dare you!"

Ganryo leaned in and whispered, "It's true," verifying her lord's lack of skill.

"How about we simply elect someone to duel, somebody from our respective factions? Does that sound good, dumbass?"

"Of course, shrimp!"

"I've got an idea."

The two female leaders turned to the supreme leader of the alliance who simply pointed to the purple-haired advisor and the bluenette general.

"Why don't we have Ganryo and Shuran duel to decide who's superior?"

They stared at him. "Why those two in particular?" asked Ensho.

"And when did you gain permission to call her Shuran!?" demanded Soso.

"To answer your questions, these two are the only ones who can be civil about this, and Shuran let me call her her secret name after I beat her in a duel, two days ago."

"Oh really now?" Soso suddenly gained a knowing smile, as Kakoen began to blush. "Well, as long as they're okay with it, then it's fine."

Anthony couldn't help but widen his eyes. When it came to her underlings, Soso was surprisingly civil.

"I'll accept, Lord Karin."

"Me too."

"Then it's settled. The duel will be held two hours from now. That sound good, ladies?"

Ensho and Soso begrudgingly agreed, as they left with their respective peerage members to prepare. Anthony and Kan'u swiftly finished eating and went to gather the remaining members of the three factions, deciding that Go and Kosonsan probably didn't care.

~KD~

In the En tent, Ganryo was rebuilding her deck, looking over all of the cards she had, while Ensho paced back and forth in front of her.

"If we are going to prove that En is superior to that midget's pathetic faction, then you must be ruthless."

"Of course, Reiha."

"You must not let your opponent get inside your head, but instead, try to get inside theirs."

"Absolutely, Reiha."

"Take complete control, never allow her to gain the upper hand! Destroy her, and shove your victory in that skirt-chaser's ugly face! Ohohohohohoho!"

Ganryo simply smiled and nodded, not really paying attention to her lord's rambling as she finished building her deck.

"Yes, my lord."

"Perfect! Let's show her what we're made of!"

"Lord Reiha, the duel isn't for another thirty minutes."

"I-I knew that!"

~KD~

At the same time, Kakoen was in her room, putting the finishing touches on her own deck. Satisfied, she slipped her cards into her Duel Disk, before she headed into the common room to wait, where her lord was waiting.

"So, I see that Lord Anthony has unknowingly captured your affections. I hope you don't intend on leaving me for him, do you?"

Soso's words made Kakoen blush. "Lord Karin, it isn't like that! I remain loyal to you alone!"

Soso laughed, and walked up to Kakoen, leaning up to give her a peck on the cheek. "Well, despite his complete lack of tact, his general disrespect towards me, and the fact that he's clearly not ready for the real world, I suppose that he's not the worst man in the world. If you like, you have my blessing to pursue him, as long as I remain your number one. As you surely know, I have no qualms with multiple partners."

Between the kiss and Soso's words, Kakoen suddenly became as red as her sister's outfit. "Many thanks, Lord Karin."

"Excellent. And one more thing, Shuran."

"Yes?"

"Don't lose. I refuse to let Ensho have anything over me, lest her ego grow even more."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Perfect."

~KD~

Currently, Anthony and Kan'u were at the arena, waiting with everyone else. Shokatsuryo and Jun'iku were easy to find, talking with Kosonsan about where next to search for the generals, between a path that went through a tunnel, and somewhere called Hulao Pass, which was supposedly the most vital point for the empire to defend. After they got them to join them (Jun'iku was surprisingly easy to convince, once Soso was brought up), the four of them split up and sought out the last four. And now, the eight were simply waiting for the women of the hour to show up.

"So, do you know what's going on?" Bunshu asked Shokatsuryo.

"Apparently, Kakoen and Ganryo are going to duel each other, in order to determine which faction is better."

"Well then, this should be a snap! Toshi will crush anyone who stands in her way with her awesome Rock-type monsters!"

'So that's what she uses,' thought Anthony. 'So this will be a battle between land and sky.'

"Excuse you? The only one who will find themselves crushed will be your friend against my sister's Harpies!" retorted Kakoton.

"They're coming!" said Chohi, and true to her word, the challengers and their leaders were approaching. Ganryo and Kakoen shook hands, before taking their places on opposite sides of the field, while Ensho and Soso joined the crowd.

"May the best duelist win!" said Anthony, prompting the two duelists to begin.

(Ganryo: 4000 LP)(Kakoen: 4000 LP)

"You could go first, if you'd like," said Kakoen.

"Thanks," said Ganryo, as she drew a new card. "I'll set one monster and two cards, and end my turn."

As the face-downs appeared on the field, Kakoen drew, and immediately played her new card.

"I activate my Harpie's Feather Duster, destroying all Spell and Trap Cards that you control!"

"Ha! My sister's already eliminated her defenses!" boasted Kakoton.

A green feather suddenly swept up Ganryo's back row, destroying her cards, which turned out to be Trap Hole and Mirror Force, a dangerous combination.

"And next, I'll summon my Cyber Harpie Lady!"

The card resembled Harpie Lady with a normal skin tone, equipped with Cyber Shield and an energy whip (LV 4: ATK 1800).

"And now I'll attack your face-down monster! Go, Shadow Nail Slice!"

Cyber Harpie Lady took to the sky, before it flew down and aimed a razor-tipped kick at the defending monster. The card then flipped up, revealing an absolutely massive warrior made entirely from gray stone (LV 3: DEF 2000). The Giant Soldier of Stone simply shrugged off the kick, as Kakoen's life points fell (Kakoen: 4000-3800 LP). Kakoton's jaw dropped, as Bunshu smirked.

"Not all of her defenses, it seems. Toshi has a deck that's the opposite of mine. While I believe that the best defense is a good offense, she believes that the best offense is a good defense."

"I suppose there isn't anything else I can do but set one card," said Kakoen, ending her turn. Ganryo drew, before smiling and playing a Spell Card.

"I activate my Fissure, which destroys the weakest monster that you control, or in this case, the only one!"

Her spell showed a monster falling into a fissure, as the earth suddenly split below Cyber Harpie Lady. The monster in question stopped hovering and fell into the crack, which suddenly sealed itself.

"Next, I switch Giant Soldier of Stone into attack mode, and summon my Destroyer Golem!"

Her stone stood at its full height, as it drew two stone short swords (ATK 1300). Another monster appeared next to it, a large golem made of bricks, with the exception of its right arm, which was made out of uncovered muscle (LV 4: ATK 1500).

"Giant Soldier of Stone, attack directly with Rock Crush Sword!"

The massive monster raised one of its massive arms and thrusted its sword towards Kakoen, who calmly played her card.

"I play my Mirror Wall!"

The reflective barrier of glass appeared in front of Kakoen, as the sword struck it. The attack reverberated through the wall, lowering the amount of damage she took (ATK 1300-650)(Kakoen: 3800-3150 LP).

"As long as my Mirror Wall remains on my field, the power of your attacking monsters shall be cut in half!"

Soso smirked, while Ensho bit her bottom lip in irritation.

"Well, I can still attack! Destroyer Golem, direct attack!"

The monster reared back its right arm, and let loose a powerful punch (ATK 1500-750)(Kakoen: 3150-2400 LP).

"And now I end my turn."

"Then I draw! And now I destroy my Mirror Wall!"

The card shattered into yellow pixels, as Bacho was confused (ATK 650-1300)(ATK 750-1500).

"Why did she destroy such a valuable card?"

"The alternative is to pay two thousand life points during each of her Standby Phases to keep it active," said Jun'iku, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That would leave her with a measly four hundred points."

"I summon my Harpie Lady!"

The familiar harpy appeared on the field with a screech (LV 4: ATK 1300).

"And I'll equip her with Gust Fan, lowering her defense points by two hundred, but raising her attack points by four hundred!"

A multicolored fan with an image of a green dragon appeared in the talon of Harpie Lady (ATK 1300-1700).

"Now attack that Giant Soldier of Stone!"

The Winged Beast-type swept its fan downward, sending a blast of wind that sent the Rock-type tumbling backwards as it shattered when the monster's back hit the ground (Ganryo: 4000-3600 LP).

"And now I end my turn!"

"This is pretty good," said Anthony. "I already knew what Shuran was capable of, but Ganryo's skill is a pleasant surprise."

Both duelists smiled at his words while Ganryo drew her next card, while Ensho took the opportunity to boast. "Of course she's skilled! My advisors are some of the best duelists in the En Faction!"

"All two good duelists in the kingdom," snarked Jun'iku, while Kakoton laughed.

"I set one monster and end my turn."

As Kakoen drew her next card, she smiled. "I play my Spell Card known as Elegant Egotist in order to Special Summon Harpie Lady Sisters from my deck!"

A card popped out of her deck, and she slapped it onto her Duel Disk, summoning the avian siblings to the field (LV 6: ATK 1950).

"And now I play my Triangle Ecstasy Spark!"

This new Spell Card depicted Harpie Lady 1, Harpie Lady 2, and Harpie Lady 3 in a triangle formation, with a triangle of energy between them, firing a beam with a large "X" in the center. Her Harpie Lady Sisters then flew into the same formation, as three lines of white energy connected them, and a yellow orb appeared in the center (ATK 1950-2700).

"Now, my Harpie Lady Sisters' attack points become 2700 until the End Phase, and for the rest of the turn, you can't play any Trap Cards. Now, my Harpies, turn that Destroyer Golem into rubble!"

The orb suddenly became a bright beam that pierced the opposing monster's chest, and made it shatter into pixels (Ganryo: 3600-2400 LP).

"And now my Harpie Lady will attack your face-down!"

The blue harpy flew towards the concealed card and slashed at it with her fan, revealing a green and blue wall-like statue (LV 4: DEF 2000). It shrugged off the blow, and its eyes glowed a bright orange (Kakoen: 2400-1800 LP).

"Hold on! She should have only taken three hundred points of damage!" shouted Kan'u.

"Not in this case," said Shokatsuryo. "That monster, Stone Statue of the Aztecs, deals double the battle damage against monsters that attack it."

"Well, I suppose that concludes my turn." As Kakoen said this, her Harpie Lady Sisters had their attack points fall back to their original value (ATK 2700-1950).

"Now I draw!" As Ganryo saw her new card, she smiled. "I play my Hammer Shot, to destroy the most powerful monster on the field!"

"Yes! Get her, Toshi!" cheered Bunshu.

Suddenly, a wooden mallet appeared, and flattened Harpie Lady Sisters without warning. To Kakoen's surprise, Ganryo then switched her monster into attack mode (ATK 300).

"Why would you do that? My monster is far stronger than yours."

"Not for long! I play Shield & Sword!"

A Spell Card showing a knight visibly switching its stats appeared, as both monsters swapped their original attack and defense points (ATK 300-2000)(ATK 1700-1800).

"Oh dear."

"Stone Statue, attack that Harpie Lady!"

The statue suddenly moved swiftly towards the Winged Beast-type, and smashed into it, destroying the monster (Kakoen: 1800-1600 LP). As Ganryo concluded her turn, her monster's attack points returned to normal (ATK 2000-300). Immediately, Anthony began to wildly cheer.

"Go, Ganryo and Shuran! Keep it up! You girls are freaking awesome out there!"

His fellow spectators then turned to face him, more than a few with bewildered faces. "You're cheering…" began Ensho.

"For both of them?" finished Soso.

"Of course! Look, I honestly couldn't care less about which faction is better. But these two are awesome! Not to mention, they actually respect each other, unlike you two."

Ganryo smiled at the compliments, while Kakoen closed her eyes and smirked, her cheeks gaining a light red tint.

"Well, if the supreme leader desires a good duel," said Kakoen, as she drew her next card, "then who as I to deny him one? I summon my Harpie Girl!"

Her new monster was a young teenage harpy with a blue skin tight bodysuit, pink wings, and blonde hair (LV 2: ATK 500).

"And she's going to take down your statue!"

The harpy flew towards Ganryo's card and slashed at it with her talons, sending it packing (Ganryo: 2400-2200 LP).

"Now I end my turn. Show me what you've got, Ganryo."

"With pleasure, Kakoen! I summon Alpha the Magnet Warrior!"

This new monster resembled a gray knight covered in U-shaped magnets, with even its head resembling one. In its hands it held a short sword and a shield (LV 4: ATK 1400).

"And now, I play my Smashing Ground, destroying your monster with the highest defense!"

A card showing a muscular arm punching the ground appeared, and Harpie Girl was suddenly thrown onto the ground, making hard contact with the arena and shattering.

"Alpha, attack with Lightning Blade Slash!"

Her monster's sword became coated in electromagnetic energy, as it sliced through the blue-haired duelist (Kakoen: 1600-200 LP).

"Well, well, well! It seems that your general is rather far behind!" laughed Ensho.

Kakoton refused to let that arrogant bitch rattle her sister. "Shuran, don't give up! I know that you have the cards to win!"

Kakoen silently thanked her sister as she drew her new card, then smiled when she saw what it was.

"I play my Graceful Charity, letting me draw three more cards, at the cost of having me discard two!"

She drew her new cards, then discarded two, before she played a Spell Card.

"And now I activate my Monster Reborn, to resurrect my Harpie's Pet Dragon!"

With a yellow flash, a new monster appeared. It was a huge red dragon, with a gold chain around its neck (LV 7: ATK 2000).

"B-But how did it get there? I never sent it to the Graveyard!"

Kakoen smirked in response to Ganryo's panic. "No, but I did."

"Her Graceful Charity," explained Soso. "She discarded it so that she could Special Summon it."

"And now I summon my Cyber Harpie Lady!"

Another of her Cyber Harpies graced the field (LV 4: ATK 1800).

"And since my Cyber Harpie Lady counts as Harpie Lady, my dragon's effect is activated, giving it an additional three hundred attack points for each Harpie Lady I control!"

Her dragon then reared up, before letting out a fierce roar (ATK 2000-2300).

"That's kind of like your Machine King," said Kan'u to Anthony.

"It sure is. Both are monsters that rely on their friends for strength."

"Cyber Harpie Lady, attack!"

The monster lashed its whip at Alpha, destroying the magnetic monster (Ganryo: 2200-1800 LP).

"And now, for the final blow! Harpie's Pet Dragon, attack with Fearsome Fire Breath!"

A massive stream of flame erupted from the dragon's maw, as Ganryo was engulfed in the holographic inferno (Ganryo: 1800-0 LP)(Winner: Kakoen). The En advisor fell backwards, as Bunshu and Ensho went by her side. Kakoen approached her opponent and outstretched her hand, with Ganryo accepting it.

"That was a good duel, Ganryo."

"Call me Toshi."

"Very well, then you may call me Shuran."

Anthony and the members of Gi approached the group, and Kakoton broke away from the group to congratulate her little sister.

"You were excellent, Shuran! I'm so proud of you!" Kakoton pulled her sister into a tight hug, as Kakoen laughed softly.

"Thank you, Shunran."

Anthony then approached the twins. "You were great, Shuran."

"Thank you," she said, averting her gaze, while Kakoton frowned.

"That name is reserved for family and close friends."

"Then I suppose that I'm a close friend."

Kakoton's jaw hung loose, as Anthony walked over to Ganryo and Bunshu, as Ensho was having her loss shoved in her face by Soso and Jun'iku.

"The same goes for you, Ganryo. I'm rather impressed by your strategy."

"Thanks. It's nice to get a little recognition."

"Hey! What about me!?" shouted Bunshu. "I'm always talking about how good you are!"

"Well, besides you."

Anthony could only smile. In these times of war, it was nice to have some people get along.

One new chapter! Two new duels! And three new decks! So Ei's deck is composed of Flip Monsters, what with her being a smart duelist who prefers to use tactics over strength. Tanoshi uses Toon Monsters, fitting his immature and unpredictable personality. And finally, Toshi uses Rock-types, both so that her deck, like her personality, is a foil for Ishe, and because it's a deck that combines brains and brawn, just like Toshi! Also, this is one of the few duels I had to edit after I finished writing it (but not before uploading it) because I thought that Shield & Sword switched the current attack and defense points, rather than the original. This is why I always look up the cards that I use in this story, just to be sure! Anyway, next chapter, there will be two new decks on display, so keep an eye out! Also, feel free to check out the omake I wrote, if you wanna see LV Dragons and Vehicroids duke it out. Starpion out!