Whitney Apartment, 8am

Ray was in the bathroom, taking a warm shower. While under the shower, she started to think. ("It´s the Semi-Finals now. We already managed to come this far... that´s why I need to give everything I have. Because only one more win seperates us from the Final and the chance to earn us the champion title.")

She then looked down and narrowed her eyes a bit. ("But my opponent today will be Isao Kachidoki, and from what we saw and heard yesterday, he is very strong. And then there is also his violent dueling style...")

Ray lifted up her right hand and looked at the bracelet on her wrist. "You have always been like a lucky charm for me..." She smiled and closed her eyes before placing her hand with the bracelet on her heart. "Bring me luck this time as well, and please look after me during this dangerous Duel."

Ray then turned off the shower and looked determined. "Alright ! Let´s do this !"

OPENING

...(Music)

"Hey ! Hey !

Can you feel the power ?!

You vs. me competition for the victory, (Wull !)

I could be the best one day and make history (Go !)

Swing into action, are you ready to play ? (Come on !)

Challenge anyone, anywhere (Go !), any day (Come on !)

You wanna take a chance ?

Go ahead and rool the dice (OK !)

See if it´s in your cards, if you´ll pay the price. (Wull !)

Activate the Spell, let your powers come to life. (Go !)

It´s showtime, who will win the fight ? (Wow !)

I am ready to duel, go ahead and make your move.

( Go ! Go ! Go ! Go !)

I´ll win this Duel,

You can´t beat my moves.

I´m in that groove.

I know I cant lose.

Your turn, your tricks.

Now what will you choose ?

Can you feel the power ?!

I´ll win this Duel,

You can´t beat my moves.

I´m in that groove.

I know I can´t lose.

Your turn, your tricks.

Now what will you choose ?

CAN YOU FEEL THE POWER ?!

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V Evolution

Episode 12. Consequences of Violence

Paradise City, Duel Stadium, 12am

Ray, Lynn and Raleigh were standing in the tunnel that lead out to the center court, watching the first of the two Duels of the Semi Finals. It was Drake Kirigaya from the Harper Futuristics Duel School against the ninja MoonShadow from the Fuma Clan Duel School.

A few turns later, Drake attacked MoonShadow with his Ace monster and won the Duel.

"Guess it´s your turn now." Lynn said, looking at Ray.

"Be careful out there." Raleigh said. Ray looked at them with a smile. "Don´t worry, I´ll be fine." She then walked towards the exit of the tunnel.

Nico Smiley then spoke into his microphone while Drake and MoonShadow exited the field. "The winner is Drake Kirigaya. Team Phoneix Grave moves on to the Final." The crowd cheered.

Nico then held up his arm. "Next coming up is the Duel that will decide who will face Team Phoenix Grave in the Final. So let´s get the introductions started ! First is the You Show Duel School´s... Ray Whitney !" He pointed at Ray as she walked onto the center court.

The audience cheered the moment they saw Ray. "Go for it, Ray !" One guy in the audience shouted. "I have been waiting for this !" Another guy shouted.

Ray looked at the audience with a smile while she waved her hand at them. Lynn and Raleigh stayed on the sidelines while the rest of You Show sat in their usual spot in the stands. Jaden noticed that his friends looked quite worried. "Come on you guys, the match hasn´t even started yet, so why are you so nervous ?"

"It´s because Ray´s opponent today is that Kachidoki ! You saw what he did to Tsubasa´s students yesterday, haven´t you ?" Veracity said.

"It was so brutal that it scared me." Danny added.

"Not to mention that Kachidoki´s team reached second place in the last championship. It wouldn´t be strange to consider Kachidoki and his friends as the top candidates to win this tournament." Stacey said.

At that moment so did Nico point at the other entrance. "And her opponent is the Ryozanpaku school´s top student Isao Kachidoki !" Isao then walked out on the center court and looked at Ray. (For apperance please look at the original Yu-gi-oh Arc V Anime ).

The audience sat in complete silence and looked at Kachidoki. Danny swallowed nervous. "They haven´t even started the match yet and I´m already scared."

Stacey nodded. "It´s understandable considering what Kachidoki did to the teens yesterday. To tell the truth, I´m also scared and worried about what he might do to Ray."

Jaden looked serious. "Smiling, having fun with your friends and dueling don´t belong together. That´s the way the martial arts school Ryouzanpaku trains their students, to think that way."

Veracity at this looked at Kachidoki. "Martial Arts..."

Jaden narrowed his eyes. "For them things like making people happy and smile are pointless. For them winning is everything, just like you guys saw yesterday. Their forceful dueling is justified by their belief that everything goes if it can lead them to victory." Jaden then looked towards the Ryouzanpaku students and their principal who had long black hair and a long black beard who sat with a lot of space around them since the other spectators were scared to get near them. "Their principal, Ryouzan Godogawa, has always been criticized because of his forceful and violent dueling style. However, by using their style they have won many tournaments as if they were just brushing some dust of their shoulders."

Veracity looked at Jaden. "He seem to be a very strict person..."

Stacey nodded her head. "He is. Also it´s a boarding school where students aren´t allowed to go outside of unless it´s to attend a class. I have also heard that the students aren´t allowed to see their parents again until they become strong duelists. However, even with such strict training regimen, there are countless of people who wish to join them. Ryouzanpaku is only second to Harper Futuristics when it comes to creating strong duelists."

Jaden nodded in agreement to what Stacey said. He then looked down at Kachidoki. "And the one who stands above all of the other students at Ryouzanpaku is non other then Isao Kachidoki." He then looked at his sister. ("Ray, please be careful. This guy is not someone you can reach out to so easily. Even so I still believe that somehow you´ll be able to do it.")

Nico then held up his hand. "And now that our competitors are ready to begin, it´s time to select the Action Field." The sphere of glowing cards with a large Action Card in it appeared above them. "And the field will be..."

The big Action Card spun around for a few seconds before the sphere shattered and the Action Card turned around. It had an image of a floating island with a lot of bamboo trees with floating rocks surrounding it.

"Action Field, on ! Activating the Field Spell Bamboo Forest of the Immortals !"

("Augmented Reality Combat System activation. Creating the Action Field")

The ARC system under the field activated and the floating island then formed around them. Ray then saw that they were connected to similar floating islands because of stone walkways that connected them to each other.

Ray looked at Kachidoki. "I saw your Duel yesterday."

Kachidoki didn´t answer her and just threw out two punches and a kick forward aimed at Ray while standing on a cliff on the island across from Ray.

Ray got a serious expression on her face. "I will never accept your dueling ! That wasn´t dueling at all !"

Kachidoki didn´t answer and just lowered his leg while he looked at Ray. "Duelists locked in battle..."

Ray looked at him shocked before she narrowed her eyes a little and gritted her teeth. "Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside their monsters, they storm through this field !"

Kachidoki threw out two more punches forward and then did a spin kick. "Behold ! This is the latest and greatest evolution of dueling !"

Nico held his arm up into the air. "Action..."

"Duel !" Both Ray and Kachidoki shouted together. Nico snapped his fingers and the Action Cards scattered across the islands as both duelists drew their first five cards.

TURN 1 Ray LP 4000 Hand 5 / Kachidoki LP 4000 Hand 5

Kachidoki held out his hand towards Ray with a confident smile on his face and waved his hand to tell Ray to come at him with everything she had.

Ray grabbed a card in her hand and placed it into her duel disk. "I´ll start by activating Summon of a Pendulum Soul. With this I can special summon a high level Pendulum monster from my hand without tributing. Appear, Spirit The Pendulum Wolf !" A wolf with orange-gold fur, green eyes, a white fur tail and a white fluffy-spike mane on its neck appeared on the field behind her and howled.

Spirit The Pendulum Wolf ATK/2500 DEF/1000 Light/Beast/Pendulum/Lv. 7 -Scale 5

Spirit then begun to run towards Ray who jumped up on his back the moment Spirit reached her. The audience cheered when they saw this.

"That´s it Ray ! You´re so cool !"

Ray smiled and waved at the audience until she heard Raleigh call out to her. "Oi Ray ! In front of you !"

Ray looked at him confused before she turned her head forward and screamed in shock when she saw that Spirit was heading straight fot the bamboo. Spirit then run through all of the bamboo, and when he came out on the other side, Ray was a bit dizzy from being hit in the face by a lot of bamboo. She shook her head before raising an eyebrow annoyed. "Spirit..." The wolf craned his neck to look at her with an innocent grin.

"Oh my..." Lynn said with a smile. Raleigh chuckled. "That´s Ray. She is always herself no matter which opponent she´s facing." He said and then begun to think a bit. ("Always herself... that day she unlocked the Pendulum Summon... the meeting with Lynn and Amber... the discovering of even more new Summons... the posibility of that there are more worlds out there then just ours... there is no way that this isn´t bothering her and yet... she is still acting like herself and is facing the opponent that´s in front of her right now.") He then felt a smile appear on his face as he watched Spirit run across one of the stonewalkways with Ray on his back.

Ray looked at Kachidoki while she grabbed a card in her hand. "I end my turn by placing one card face down." A card appeared next to Spirit who was running before it vanished.

Kachidoki placed his fingers on his deck and drew a card without saying a word.

TURN 2 Kachidoki LP 4000 Hand 6 / Ray LP 4000 Hand 2

Kachidoki looked at the card he had drawn before he turned it towards Ray. "Now since you have a monster on your field while I don´t, I can summon the level five Hayate The Earth Star from my hand without a sacrifice." A warrior in purple armour with a golden staff with a ring on his back and with a wolf headdress appeared on the field.

Hayate The Earth Star ATK/2100 DEF/0 Earth/Warrior/Lv. 5

Nico had an excited smile on his face. "Here it is ! Just like Ray, Kachidoki has already summoned a high level monster to his field. However, it has lower attack points then Ray´s Pendulum Wolf."

Kachidoki pointed at Spirit. "Now Hayate, attack Spirit The Pendulum Wolf !" The warrior let out a battle cry while he flew towards Spirit. "Hayate´s effect activates ! When he attacks, your monster loses 500 attack points !" Spirit ATK/2000

Ray gritted her teeth. She then saw a crossroad in front of them and then looked at the island to their right. "Spirit, turn to your right !"

Spirit roared and turned to his right, running towards the island. He was running through the bamboo while Ray was looking around. She then saw an Action Card that was stuck in the branch of a bamboo and got a smile on her face. "Alright, an Action Card !" However at that moment a piece of bamboo flew towards them and Spirit jumped out of the way as the bamboo pice got stuck in the ground. Then another piece of bamboo came from the other side and Spirit once again jumped out of the way.

Spirit then landed on the ground and both he and Ray sighed relieved. "Man, that was close." Ray said and Spirit nodded his head. Both of them then looked up when they heard footsteps and saw Kachidoki walking over to the Action Card with a smirk. He grabbed the Action Card and looked at Ray. "You´re to slow. The battle still continues."

Ray gasped and looked up in the air and saw Hayate fly towards them. Hayate then slammed his staff into Spirit, sending Ray flying while Spirit got destroyed. Ray landed on the ground but quickly got up on one knee. "When Spirit is destroyed, I only take half of the damage !" Ray LP 4000 (-50) 3950

Nico´s smile grew higher. "Kachidoki destroyed Ray´s monster, however Ray managed to halve the already small damage !"

Ray grabbed Spirit´s card. "By banishig Summon of a Pendulum Soul from my graveyard, Spirit is sent to the extra deck instead of the graveyard." She placed Spirit´s card face up into her extra deck.

Kachidoki narrowed his eyes. "I now place one card face down and end my turn." A card appeared in front of Kachidoki as his turn ended.

TURN 3 Ray LP 3950 Hand 2 / Kachidoki LP 4000 Hand 4

Kachidoki smirked at Ray and waved with his hand, signaling to come at him again. Ray narrowed her eyes when she saw this. "You plan to duel like this no matter what ? If so, then I will also duel the way that I believe in !" She placed her fingers on her deck.

"It´s my turn now !" She drew her next card and a smile appeared on her face once she looked at the card. "It´s here !" Ray grabbed a second card from her hand. "I use the Scale 1 Yuna The Melodious Angel and the Scale 9 Stella Fairy of Earth in order to set the Pendulum Scale !" She played the cards and the two Pendulum Zones then appeared behind Ray. Yuna and Stella appeared in them and the numbers 1 and 9 appeared underneath them.

Yuna The Melodious Angel 1 - 9 Stella Fairy of Earth

Ray looked at Kachidoki. "Now I can summon monsters between level one and nine at the same time ! I Pendulum Summon ! Come forth, my monsters !" A portal opened between the two Pendulum Zones and two beams came down from it. "Now revive from the extra deck, Spirit The Pendulum Wolf !" The wolfe appeared on the field with a roar.

Spirit The Pendulum Wolf ATK/2500 DEF/1000 Light/Beast/Pendulum/Lv. 7 -Scale 5

"And next is the main star. Now appear with your ability to take down your opponents with the speed of lightning, Fate The Lightning Pendulum Mage !" A girl with long blonde hair, bond into pigtails and burgundy eyes appeared. She wears a white cape, a black top who goes a little bit over her thigh and has a white stripe at the underside, a light short pink skirt, black fingerless gloves with silver wrist armour, black knee socks and short metal boots. In her right hand she holds a silver trident shaped staff which is the hilt for an yellow energy blade.

Fate The Lightning Pendulum Mage ATK/2500 DEF/2000 Light/Warrior/Pendulum/Lv. 7 -Scale 5

Ray then held up her hand towards Yuna. "And now Yuna´s Pendulum ability activates. The attack and defence of your Hayate is halved."

Hayate The Earth Star ATK/1050 DEF/0

"Now Lightning Mage, attack Hayate The Earth Star !" The female warrior charged towards Hayate. Kachidoki narrowed his eyes. "I activate Hayate´s special ability ! Once per battle phase, if he´s the only monster on my field then I can negate one attack during your battle phase." Hayate pointed his staff at Lightning Mage and a blue beam shoot out of it and hit Lightning Mage, stopping her and forcing her back next to Ray.

Ray smiled. "I figured you would have a way to save your monster. Now Spirit, attack Hayate !"

Spirit roared and run towards Hayate. Kachidoki narrowed his eyes and then placed the Action Card he had picked up earlier into his duel disk. "I activate the Action Spell Evasion ! This negates your attack !" Spirit tried to tackle Hayate but the warrior blocked him with his staff and pushed him backwards. The wolf jumped back next to Ray.

Ray´s smile grew bigger. "Nice move. This is getting interesting."

Kachidoki just narrowed his eyes slightly. "Just finish your move already since you can´t attak anymore."

"Who said I can´t attack anymore ?" Ray replied and then looked up at Stella in the pillar of light. "I use Stella´s Pendulum Effect. I target a Pendulum monster on my field, it gains 1000 attack points until my next end phase and can attack once more." Lightning Mage glowed as she increased in power. Lightning Mage ATK/3500

Ray got a smirk on her face and leaned her head a little to her right. Kachidoki gasped when he saw this. It reminded him of something he had seen years ago.

FLASHBACK/

A younger Kachidoki walked behind Ryouzan Godogawa with a troubeled expression on his face while he carried his new duel disk in his arms. He then heard a voice from the river next to them. "Here I come brother !" He looked next to him and saw Jaden Whitney standing next to the river with his sister in front of him. "Alright, bring it on ! Show me the teamwork of you and your monsters !"

The younger Ray waved her right arm excited. "Here it comes ! The power of me and my friends !" Kachidoki looked at them with a smile since they seemed to have so much fun together, however the next moment he heard Ryouzan speak to him. "Do not think of dueling as fun."

Kachidoki looked shocked at Ryouzan who continued walking and spoke again without turning around. "The path you´re about to walk is nothing childish like that. The next time you´ll be able to see your parents who bought you that Duel Disk again is after you´ve become a strong duelist, and until that time comes, you´ll walk down a pitch-black road of darkness."

Kachidoki looked down at his duel disk troubled before he turned his eyes back to Ray and her brother and saw Ray´s excited expression as she had managed to pull of the combo she wanted.

END OF FLASHBACK/

Kachidoki looked at Ray with a serious expression on his face. "It must have been decided on that day, that we were fated to duel against each other here and now."

Ray looked at him confused. "What are you talking about ?"

Kachidoki ignored the question and pointed at Ray. "Now come at me with everything you got !"

Ray pointed at Hayate. "Alright Lightning Mage, it´s time to strike ! Attack Hayate The Earth Star ! Riot Zanber !" Lightning Mage jumped forward and then vanished as she moved in lightning fast speed. Ray smriked. "And just in case you don´t know, Lightning Mage inflicts double damage." The female warrior reappeared right in front of Hayate and cut through his body with her sword, causing a massive explosion. Kachidoki shielded himself from the shockwaves and then quickly pressed the image of his face down card.

"I activate my face down Trap card, Call of the Haunted !" His face down card got flipped face up and it was a trap card with the image of a cemetery with a soul rising up from it. "This trap halfes the damage and then I can bring back a monster from my graveyard in attack mode ! Return, Hayate The Earth Star !" Kachidoki´s monster returned.

Hayate The Earth Star ATK/2100 DEF/0 Earth/Warrior/Lv. 5

Kachidoki LP 4000 (-2450) 1550

Nico had a huge smile on his face. "This is really getting intense ! Ray Whitney used her ace monster to inflict quite a lot of damage to Isao Kachidoki, however Kachidoki managed to bring back his destroyed monster."

"You just saved yourself from losing." Ray said. Kachidoki narrowed his eyes confused while Ray continued. She held up an Action Card which she grabbed when Kachidoki was distracted by the attack´s outcome. "I play the Action Spell, Attack Chain. A monster I control which attacked two or more times this turn can attack once more."

Kachidoki´s eyes widened in shock before he gritted his teeth and ran to find an Action Card with Hayate close behind him. Ray jumped up on Spirit who ran after Kachidoki. "Lightning Mage, attack again !" The female warrior flew into the air and prepared her attack. Kachidoki gritted his teeth as he saw this, but he then noticed an Action Card in front of him and run towards it.

Ray narrowed her eyes as she realized that Spirit wouldn´t quite reach it in time. "Jump forward, Spirit !"

Spirit looked at her shocked but did as he was told and launched himself forward. Ray then launched herself off of Spirit´s back and reached out with her right arm while Kachidoki reached with his left arm. Ray smiled when she saw that she was going to reach it first thanks to jumping off of Spirit who had used his powerful legs to jump forward in incredible speed. However Ray then gasped in pain when Kachidoki slammed the elbow of his right arm into her side, causing Ray to fall to the ground in pain while Kachidoki grabbed the Action Card just as Lightning Mage flew towards Hayate.

"I activate the Action Card Evasion and negate the attack." Hayate then managed to just avoid the blade of Lightning Mage´s sword.

Raleigh and Lynn had troubled expressions. "There it is. It´s rough methods allowed him to get the Action Card." Lynn said.

Ray slowly got up on her knees. She held her left side in pain while she gritted her teeth. "So you plan to fight like this the whole Duel huh ? The way you from the Ryouzanpaku school are fighting, it´s not dueling, and I will never accept it."

Kachidoki looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Whatever, just end your turn already since you can´t attack anymore this turn."

Spirit came up to Ray and growled at Kachidoki and Lightning Mage nodded her agreement to the wolf´s reaction. Ray closed her eyes. "My monsters are agreeing with me, and we´ll make sure to show you what we believe in. I end my turn."

TURN 4 Kachidoki LP 1550 Hand 4 / Ray LP 3950 Hand 0

Kachidoki closed his eyes. "In the end this is all your fun, care free dueling can do ?"

Ray´s eyes widened a bit when she heard that. "Well, I knew it wouldn´t be easy to reach out to you, but I won´t give up so fast. Before this Duel is over, I will make sure that you´re having fun and are enjoying the Duel."

Kachidoki placed his fingers on his deck. "We will see about that, it´s my turn now." He drew a card and looked at it. He then placed it in his hand before he grabbed another card. "If I control an Earth monster, I can summon the level five, Tenma The Sky Star !" A warrior with horse headdress and blue armour with a sword in his hand appeared.

Tenma The Sky Star ATK/2100 DEF/1000 Light/Warrior/Lv. 5

Kachidoki then took the card he had drawn. "And next..." He turned the card around. "I activate the Spell card Polymerization in order to fuse Tenma and Hayate together !"

Ray´s eyes widened. "Polymerization ?!" She gritted her teeth worried. ("And here comes Summon number five...")

Kachidoki held up his left hand and slammed his right fist into his palm. "Now, star racing across the heavens, pass over the earth, become one and shine as an enternal ruling star !" A blue and orange vortex appeared and both warriors got sucked into it.

Kachidoki held out his arm and lifted his left leg. "I Fusion Summon ! Come to me, level ten. Idaten The Conqueror Star !" A tall muscular man with a helmet with a "V" on it in a purple and light green armour with a purple cape and a staff which looked like a trident appeared on the field.

Idaten The Conqueror Star ATK/3000 DEF/2200 Light/Warrior/Fusion/Lv. 10

Nico had a shocked expression on his face. "What´s this ? Isao Kachidoki just performed a new Summon, a Fusion Summon ! After falling short in the last championship, Kachidoki has evolved in order to make sure that it won´t happen again !"

Raleigh gritted his teeth. "Dammit. Of all times, the last new Summon had to appear by an already strong and dangerous opponent."

Lynn narrowed her eyes. "It may be a level ten monster, but it only has 3000 attack points while Ray´s Lightning Mage has 3500 right now."

"Yeah, however I´m sure that Kachidoki has a way to turn things around, so Ray needs to be carefull." Raleigh replied.

Ray let her eyes wander around the field. ("Lightning Mage is still the strongest monster on the field, but I still shouldn´t let my guard down, so that means that I should get my hands on an Action Card.") Ray then started running with Spirit and Lightning Mage right behind her.

Kachidoki looked at Ray. "Allow me to tell you about Idaten´s special ability. When this monster battles against a monster with a lower level, the opposing monster´s attack points becomes zero."

Ray´s eyes widened when she heard that. "What ?"

Veracity looked worried. "But... that means that if Ray is not able to stop this attack, she will take 3000 points of damage since Lightnig Mage will lose all of her power."

Ray then ran out of the bamboo forest while she looked around for an Action Card. At that moment Kachidoki used a karate chap in order to break off a large piece of bamboo, he then used his foot to launch it up and grabbed it before he tossed it towards Ray.

Ray didn´t notice it before it got stuck in the ground right in front of her feet and caused her to fall down hard on the ground. Lightning Mage and Spirit stopped and looked at her worried.

Kachidoki then run out from the bamboo while he placed a card into his duel disk. "And now I equip Idaten with the equip spell Magical Star Sword." A Spell card with the image of a sword with electricity coming out of it appeared on the field. Idaten´s staff then changed into the sword on the image. "Now by sending Spell cards that was added to my hand this turn to the graveyard, the equipped Idaten will gain 100 attack points for each card sent to the graveyard."

Kachidoki then jumped over Ray who looked at him shocked and landed on a floating rock before he jumped into the bamboo forest again and looked around and found an Action Card that was stuck in a split bamboo and grabbed it.

Ray was slowly getting up while she held her left shoulder in pain since it had hit the ground hard when she fell down because of the bamboo stick. She looked up at Kachidoki who walked over to her while he held up the Miracle Action Card he had just picked up. "I send one Action Card to my graveyard which means that Idaten gains 100 attack points." He send the card into his graveyard and the sword Idaten was holding glowed. Idaten ATK/3100

Danny looked worried. "This is bad. Since Action Cards caunt as Spell cards, Idaten will gain attack points for every card that Kachidoki picks up and send to his graveyard."

Ray got up on her feet. ("If he gets his hands on enough Action Cards, he might be able to wipe out all of my lifepoints in one attack. I can´t let that happen.") She looked around and saw an Action Card that was attached to a bamboo high up on the air.

Ray turned towards her warrior. "Let´s get that Action Card Lightning Mage !" Lightning Mage nodded and held out her hand towards Ray.

Ray ran towards her and was about to grab her monster´s hand, however at that moment she felt a sharp pain inher left side once more as Kachidoki hit her in the side with a flying kick. The force pushed Ray to the ground a few feet away. She landed very hard and Lightning Mage seemed to glare angry at Kachidoki before she went over to her fallen master.

Ray slowly got up onto her knees and groaned in pain while she held her left side which was starting to really hurt now. She looked up at Kachidoki who looked down at her while he revealed the Block Draw Action Card he had just picked up.

"I send a second Action Card to my graveyard in order to increase Idaten´s attack points by another 100 !" Sending the card to the graveyard, Idaten´s sword glowed once again. Idaten ATK/3200

Ray gritted her teeth and then jumped onto Spirit who ran into the bamboo forest once again. She then saw an Action Card on the top of a few bamboss in front of them and Spirit run towards it. The next moment, Idaten appeared in front of Spirit and blocked his path. Ray jumped off of Spirit and run around Idaten who tried to block the way, only to get pushed out of the way by Lightning Mage. Ray nearly reached the Action Card but Kachidoki pushed her out of the way and jumped up and grabbed the Action Card.

"I send a third Action Card to my graveyard." Idaten ATK/3300

Raleigh, Lynn and the others from You Show then watched worried as Kachidoki got his hands on five more Action Cards. Idaten had now 3800 attack points. But what worried them more was that Ray always received hart blows from Kachidoki when she tried to get the Action Card as well.

Lynn looked concerned. "This is bad. If Kachidoki gets just two more Action Cards he´ll be able to wipe out all of Ray´s lifepoints."

Raleigh gritted his teeth a bit. "Come on, Ray..."

Ray run through the bamboo with her monsters behind her. "I can´t let him get his hands on any more Action Cards or he will be able to finish me off !"

Kachidoki then appeared next to her with Idaten flying above him. "I´ll never allow you to get your hands on an Action Card !"

Ray narrowed her eyes a bit. "What ?"

Kachidoki looked at her with a grim expression on his face. "Up until now you´ve lived your life strolling down a bright path without a single shadow falling over it !"

Ray looked at him. "What are you talking about ?"

Kachidoki narrowed his eyes. "I´ve only been walking down a pitch-black path of darkness ! I´m not going to lose to someone like you ! I will obtain victory no matter what !" Both of them looked at the Action Card in front of them and run to get to it first.

Ray narrowed her eyes. "If you think I´ve lived my life without any troubles then you´re completly wrong. And you can´t be sure that you will win !" Ray looked at the Action Card in front of her. "I´ll get the Action Card !"

Kachidoki narrowed her eyes. "I don´t think so ! Idaten, attack Lightning Mage !"

Ray looked shocked. "Wait, what ? You´re attacking ?!" She had believed that Kachidoki planned on getting enough Action Cards to wipe her out with one attack.

Kachidoki then held out his hand. "Idaten´s special ability now activates ! When it battles against a monster with a lower level, the opposing monster´s attack points are reduced to zero !" Idaten unleached a few green rings from his body that flew towards the female warrior. Lightning Mage managed to look behind her in time before she got trapped inside the rings.

"Lightning Mage !" Ray yelled as her monster struggled to get free. Lightning Mage ATK/0

Ray gritted her teeth when she saw Lightning Mage lose all of her power. She then looked at the Action Card. "I won´t let you get the Action Card !" Ray then jumped forward while she reached out with her arm. At that moment so swung Idaten his sword and slashed Lightning Mage who screamed in pain before she got destroyed and an explosion appeared.

Once the smoke cleared, Raleigh and the others got worried when they saw Ray on the ground. She had managed to reach the Action Card first, however Kachidoki was standing above her while he was stepping on the wrist of the hand Ray held the Action Card with. Ray LP 3950 (-3800) 150

Nico Smiley looked at the scene shocked. "Ray managed to get the Action Card first, but now she only has 150 lifepoints left."

Kachidoki looked annoyed. "So you got it first huh ?" He put more force behing the foot that was on Ray´s right wrist causing Ray to groan in pain. He then removed his foot and walked away.

Ray slowly got up. "I... activate the Trap card Pendulum Shock Draw ! If I lose more then half of my lifepoints then I can draw two cards." Ray placed the Action Card in her left hand before she placed her right hand on her deck. She groaned in pain once more because of the pain of her right wrist before she drew two cards and looked at them.

Kachidoki stopped with his back to Ray. "So there was still a little thing you could do huh ? However, it won´t help you." He grabbed a card in his hand. "I equip Idaten with the Spell Fairy Meteor Crush."

Ray´s eyes widened when she saw the Spell appearing on the field.

"If you were planning to try and buy time by playing monsters in defence mode then you can now forget it. Thanks to Fairy Meteor Crush, if Idaten attacks a monster in defence mode with lower defence points then his attack points, he´ll inflict piercing damage."

Lynn gritted her teeth. "That´s why he didn´t bother to get more Action Cards. He knew that Ray would be unable to defend herself."

Raleigh looket at Ray worried. ("Ray... what are you going to do now ?")

Up in the stands, Jaden looked troubled. ("Things doesn´t look good right now. Ray´s biggest hope is those two cards she just drew and her next draw. If she doesn´t get anything then she´ll lose during Kachidoki´s next turn.")

Kachidoki turned towards Ray who slowly got back onto her feet. "I end my turn. You may have survived this turn, but your own darkness will soon be upon you." Ray didn´t answer him and just looked at her hand. The cards she had drawn were Angel Magician and Winged Pendulum Kuriboh.

Kachidoki continued to look at her. "There is no use to struggle. All that´s waiting for you is despair." Ray looked at him shocked while Kachidoki narrowed his eyes. "Time for you to fall into the darkness !"

Ray gasped when she heard that. She then cringed in pain when she felt a pulsating sensation in her chest. Her bracelet started to faint flicker in a pink glow and the pulsating in her chest grew stronger. She then closed her eyes in pain, but suddenly she could hear a roar. Ray opened her eyes and saw to her shock that she was in some dark space. She heard a roar once more and turned towards the sound, but what she saw was beyond words for her. Her Lightning Mage stood on a cliff next to two other figures. Ray couldn´t recognize any more of them then their shadows, but what she did noticed was that Lightning Mage looked liker her old form. Her black cape was swaing with the wind and she had a serious look on her face. They stood on a cliff above what seems to be the ruins of a destroyed old village. The whole land was devured in fire.

Ray then heard a loud roar and the shadow of a large creature shoot out of the flames into the air. Ray couldn´t descripe what it was but its eyes were glowing green.

("What... is this...") She thought.

"Come on, you two ! Let´s end this nightmare of violence !" A female voice then cried out. A moment later, Lightning Mage and the two other figures jumped into the air. They clashed with the large shadow creature and a bright white light appeared, blinding Ray...

"What is going on ?!" Lynn asked as she looked at her bracelet which was slightly glowing green. Raleigh looked at her. "It´s reacting... just like Ray´s bracelet reacted before. Something must be happening to Ray."

High in the stands, Selena´s bracelet also glowed, in a slight purple glow. "My bracelet is glowing, but why ?"

Ren was calm. He looked at her before looking back down to the Duel. "Maybe it´s because of her."

Ray gritted her teeth and her eyes started to slightly glow pink. Kachidoki looked at her. "What´s wrong ? Have you realized that you who has only walked a bright path can´t beat me who has walked a road of pitch-black darkness ?" However, Kachidoki then gasped in shock when Ray looked up at him and saw that her eyes were glowing.

Ray glared at him. "You talk about walking down a road of pitch-black darkness, but..." She balled her right fist and the pink glow of her bracelet got stronger. "Someone like you doesn´t know what true darkness is !"

TURN 5 Ray LP 150 Hand 2 (+1 Action Card) / Kachidoki LP 2550 Hand 2

Ray placed her fingers on her deck. "It´s my turn, I draw !" She drew her next card and crashed a shockwave that hit Kachidoki and caused him to shield himself with his arms. He then looked at Ray shocked while Ray looked at the card she had drawn. She then held up the Action Card. "I activate the Action Spell Field Hurricane. This sends all cards on my field back to my deck." A tornado of wind then appeared on Ray´s field and wiped Spirit and the two monsters in the Pendulum Zones away. Ray stuck the three cards into her deck and it shuffeled.

"What is this ? Ray has no cards on her field !" Nico shouted shocked.

Jaden narrowed his eyes serious. He knew that something was different with his sister. "Ray... what are you planning to do ?"

Ray held up two cards. "I reset the Pendulum Scale with Scale 6 Angel Magician and Scale 8 Winged Pendulum Kuriboh." She slammed the cards down and the rainbow word "PENDULUM" appeared on the blade. Both monsters rose up in a pillar of light.

Angel Magician 6 - 8 Winged Pendulum Kuriboh

Ray held up her right hand. "I can now summon level seven monsters at the same time !" The light of the pillars intensified. "Swing Pendulum of my soul ! Draw an arc of light into the sky ! Pendulum Summon !" The portal appeared between the two Pendulum Zones and a yellow beam came down from it.

"Revive from the extra deck, my loyal friend. Fate The Lightning Pendulum Mage !" The female warrior appeared in front of Ray. She looked at her and bowed which made Ray sigh and shake her head. "Come on, you´re my friend. Stop doing that." Lightning Mage seemed to grin a bit. Ray then smiled gently. "But I know what you want to say. It´s good to see you too." She whispered.

"Stop acting like she is a real being ! This Duel style of yours is nothing but a childish joke !" Kachidoki yelled. He was able to hear what Ray whispered.

"Think of it whatever you want, I don´t care. But your violent style isn´t something you should be proud of." Ray replied.

Fate The Lightning Pendulum Mage ATK/2500 DEF/2200 Light/Warrior/Pendulum/Lv. 7 -Scale 5

Kachidoki glared at her, getting his mind back to the Duel. "So you summoned your ace monster back huh ? However it won´t help you, so unless you want to experience more pain, just surrender."

Ray sighed. "You´re just like the rest of your kind, overconfident and arrogant." Ray then revealed the card she had drawn and it was a Spell card with the image of a blonde female warrior standing on a cliff where the wind was blowing all around. "I activate the Spell card, Wind-Nature !"

Wind started to get more intense as it was blowing around the Action Field. Kachidoki looked around confused. "What the hell is going on ?"

Ray smiled and walked up next to Lightning Mage. "Until the end of this turn, Wind-Nature changes Fate to wind atribute and she gains 1000 attack points for each level she has !" An aura of blue and white wind then surrounded Lightning Mage´s entiere body. Lightning Mage ATK/9500

Danny had a shocked expression on his face. "9500 attack points ?! That´s enough to end this Duel right here and now."

But Ray wasn´t finished as she held out her hand towards Winged Pendulum Kuriboh. "And next I´m activating Winged Pendulum Kuriboh´s Pendulum Effect ! Kuriboh can copy the Pendulum Effect of a Pendulum monster from my deck or extra deck. I pick from my deck and choose Dragon Wolf´s Pendulum Effect ! All monsters on my field gain 500 attack points !" The aura of wind around Lightning Mage became even stronger.

Lightning Mage ATK/10.000

Kachidoki´s eyes widened when he saw the warrior´s attack points. "An attack of 10.000 ?!"

"I have never seen a monster with attack points that high before." Danny said.

Veracity nodded her head but had a worried expression. "Yeah, but this feels... wrong. Ray is different..."

Ray looked at Kachidoki, serious. "Now it´s your turn to experience the same despair you enjoy making your opponents feel."

Kachidoki narrowed his eyes. "You might have increased your monster´s attack points, but it was meaningless. Did you forget about Idaten´s special ability ? If you attack me then you´ll only destroy yourself !"

Ray smirked confident. "Let´s battle ! Fate The Lightning Pendulum Mage attacks Idaten the Conqueror Star !"

"You fool ! Idaten´s special ability activates ! When he battles a monster with a lower level, the opposing monster´s attack points are reduced to zero !" Kachidoki yelled. Idaten´s boddy released green rings which flew towards Lightning Mage. However, the rings then got deflected by the aura of wind. Kachidoki was shocked. "What ?! Why didn´t it work ?!"

"Friends don´t only give each other strength, they also always protect each other ! Wind-Nature´s second effect makes Fate unaffected by your monster´s effects !" Ray said.

Kachidoki gritted his teeth in anger. "Damn you..."

"I have seen way enough to know what violence can really do ! It´s the worst thing you can do to solve things with or to achieve your goals because it will only lead to more destruction and hatred !" Ray said, her voice loud, firm and serious. Kachidoki took a step backwards. The pressure he felt coming from Ray didn´t feel like that of a human being.

"I leave the rest to you, Fate." Ray said and Lightning Mage nodded. She jumped forward and vanished. A second later she appeared in the sky, right behind Idaten. Ray narrowed her eyes. "Riot Zanber ! End this !"

Lightning Mage flew down with high speed and crashed into Idaten. The yellow energy blade sliced right through the male warrior. Once the sword was through, Lightning Mage jumped up and made a somersault forward and landed next to Ray. She looked over her shoulder with a serious expression and watched as Idaten exploded. Kachidoki was sent flying backwards while he screamed in pain as he recived the full damage.

Kachidoki LP 2550-0 Ray WIN

The entire audience just sat quiet while they looked down at the two duelists. Nico Smiley then finally snapped out of his shock and spoke into his microphone. "The... the winner is Ray Whitney ! Team Fairy Tail moves to the Finals and will face Team Phoenix Grave for the champion title !"

Ray sighed and closed her eyes. Hers, Lynn´s and Selena´s bracelets stopped glowing. Ray then groaned and held her head. "My head hurts..." She then looked around the audience. She didn´t know what exactly happened, but somehow she knew with the way she acted just a moment ago she shouldn´t be surprised that no one is cheering. Ray looked troubled. "I may have won... but I don´t feel happy..." Lightning Mage at this words turned towards her with a sad look. She then disappeared along with the Action Field.

Ray looked ahead and saw Kachidoki down on one knee while he slammed his right fist into the ground. She run over to him. "Hey Kachidoki. Are you okay ?" She held out a hand to help Kachidoki up, but he just slapped her hand away. He got up onto his feet and glared at Ray. "You won´t fool me, Ray Whitney ! The way you acted, that more aggressive attitude of yours, that is your true self, the part of you which you hides by pretending to enjoying making people happy and smile !"

Ray got a shocked expression on her face before it turned into a troubled expression. "No that´s not true." Kachidoki didn´t listen to her and just turned around and bowed towards his principal and fellow students before he walked away without saying anything else.

Same time somewhere higher up in the stands

"So the people in this world can use all Summons huh. I knew it was a good idea to watch this tournament. Now the Master can make good advantage of it and won´t be surprised by anything." Ren said with a smirk.

"The energy output from my sister´s last summoning was also very strong. In fact, the card could absorb enough to recharch about half of its energy." Selena said while showing Ren the card. The card gained half of its color back, the other half remained grey. "I´m sure one more output like this is enough and the card will be fully functional again."

("So her emotions are neccesery for the Summon´s true power. Very interesting.") Selena added mentally to herself.

A little bit later

"And now for duel news. After several days of intense battles, the Championship has finally reached its final point. Tomorrow, Harper Futuristics Team Phoenix Grave will face the You Show Duel School´s Team Fairy Tail for the Champion Title. Knowing the skills of the duelists thanks to the past Duels, it´s defently promessing to be an awasome final round."

Ray heard a reporter say through a TV while she sat on a bed in the medical room of the stadium. A young female nurse was treating her since she recived a few small injuries from her Duel against Kachidoki. Ray didn´t say anything and just stared out of the window while the nurse was cleaning the scratches on her face and arms before putting small sticking plaster on them. The nurse then bandaged Ray´s right forarm, and after a few minutes she then looked up at Ray with a smile. "There. It´s all done."

Ray smiled back a little. "Thanks."

"You´re welcome." The nurse replied before walking over to her desk. Ray sighed troubled before she made her way over to the door. Opening it she then smiled a bit as she saw Raleigh and Lynn standing next to the door. They smiled back at her before all three then walked down the corridor towards the exit.

Evening at the Whitney Apartment

All from You Show were sitting at the table in the kitchen, eating pizza while celebrating reaching the Finals. The only one who wasn´t so happy was Ray. They tried to cheer her up but it didn´t really worked.

Danny then sighed, a bit frustrated. "Come on, Ray. Cheer up already. It´s not the end of the world when you act a bit more serious in a Duel."

Ray didn´t answer and just stood up. She grabbed her jacket and left the apartment.

"Good work. Maybe next time just leave it." Veracity said, her voice a bit angry.

"I didn´t mean it like that. I just... don´t understand why she isn´t happy..." Danny replied.

"It´s not like she isn´t happy, Danny. Something is just bothering her a lot, that´s all. So it´s best to just leave her alone for now. She will calm down again." Raleigh replied and Lynn nodded in agreement. They knew what was bothering Ray but promised her to keep it for themselfs.

Outside

Ray was walking through the city while she was thinking. She couldn´t blame Danny for how he acted... but Ray just couldn´t feel happy about her win against Kachidoki. She may can´t remember quite everything, but she knew that she acted weird during the end of the Duel with dueling more agressively.

("Just like it was during my Duel with Shin, I started to act more serious and agressively... that day it felt like I was there but wasn´t... and now it was just the same. Why does this happen to me ? Also, who where does figures I saw in my mind ? I couldn´t see more then their shadows... and why was Lightning Mage with them ?") Ray thought to herself and then sighed. She stopped walking and pulled out a card from her deck.

"Then... where did that Wind-Nature card came from ?"

She pulled the card back into her deckholder and rubbed her head. "Oh man. What the hell is going on here ? I try so hard to figure all of this out but things are only getting stranger and stranger..." Ray sighed once more before looking up into the evening sky. "I wish someone would tell me what is going on..."

("...We are sorry that you feel scared. We promise you... everything is going to be okay... so please bear with it for a little bit longer.")

Ray then heard a gentle voice say while a gentle blow of wind grazed her. It was like the wind and the voice were one and the same. This little gesture made Ray feeling a bit better. A smile came to her face. "Alright. I trust in those words."

Paradise City, Stadium, the next day

The stadium was completely filled with people all ages, not a single seat was empty anymore. Lots of people were also standing outside the stadium, watching the Finals from the TV screens that were outside the stadium.

Jaden, Ray, Lynn and Raleigh were standing in the tunnel that lead out to the stadium´s field. "Okay, you three. It´s the Final. Go out there and show the world what you´ve got !" The teens smiled confident and nodded before heading out onto the field.

"Wait a second, Ray." Jaden stopped his sister by placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked back at him. "How are you feeling ?"

"I´m fine. The time I had for myself yesterday was exactly what I needed." Ray said with a smile before she frowned. "But I do wonder how the people will react. Their reaction yesterday sayed everything, don´t you think ?"

"Don´t worry about that. You made them smile once, you can make them smile again." Jaden said.

"Maybe. But I´ll try my best." Ray now smiled again. "Gotta go now." She added before leaving the tunnel. Jaden smiled after her and then left for the stands.

Ten mintues later on the stadium´s center court

Nico Smiley appeared on the middle of the field with a microphone in hand and looked at the audience with a large smile on his face. "I welcome everyone to the final round of the Duel-World Championship ! Today´s Duel´s will show us who will gain the title of Duel-World-Champion for the next two years !" He shouted with excitment and the audience cheered.

"Now let us welcome the competitors ! First is the You Show Duel School´s Team Fairy Tail with their young but very talented duelists Ray Whitney, Raleigh Kamiya and Lynn Weston !"

Raleigh, Lynn and Ray walked onto the field while the crowd cheered. Nico then continued.

"Next is the Harper Futuristics Duel School´s Team Phoenix Grave with their strong and serious duelists Drake Kirigaya, his sister Lucy Kirigaya and a girl who hadn´t to duel until yet, Avery Harper !"

Raleigh and Ray got shocked when they heard Avery´s last name. "Don´t tell me Avery is actually Harper´s daughter ?!" Ray said.

"I thought she is Shin´s sister ? How does this fit ?" Raleigh asked.

"Well, she said she was his stepsister. Maybe her parents separeated somehow and she was taken in by Shin´s family because of her mother or father ?" Ray replied.

"Hey you two. Let´s better focus on winning, okay ? You can still ask her about this afterwards." Lynn said, getting her friends back to the important situation. Raleigh and Ray nodded and then saw Avery and her two teammates walking onto the field.

"Now that all competitors have gathered on the battlefield, it´s time for the first Duel ! Let´s see who will duel first !" Nico announced and pointed towards the stadium´s large TV screen. The screen lit up and the first pair appeared. It were Raleigh and Drake.

"The first Duel will be Raleigh Kamiya against Drake Kirigaya !" Nico declared and the crowed cheered once more.

"Alright. Good luck." Ray said with a smile. Raleigh smiled back and nodded and Ray and Lynn then left for the sidelines as did Avery and Lucy.

Raleigh eyed his opponent. Drake is a seventeen year old boy with spiky black hair and green eyes, dressed in grey pants, a black T-shirt with a red dragon pattern and a grey jacket with the symbol of Harper Futuristics on the right shoulder.

"Drake is a very strong duelist who only lost fifteen percent of his Duels since he started his dueling career and is also known as "The Fearless Dragon Duelist"." Nico explained before turning to Raleigh.

"Raleigh is a very talented young duelist and the only other known user of the Pendulum Summon." Nico then held up a Duel card. "Who will win ? Let us find out together ! Action Field, on ! The Pirate´s golden Reaper !" The ARC system activated and the Action Field formed. The boys found themselfs on a giant pirate ship with golden sailing and surrounded by water. Platforms in different colors were in the air all around.

"Duel !" Raleigh and Drake activated their Duel disks and both draw their first five cards. Action Cards then scattered across the field.

TURN 1 Drake LP 4000 Hand 5 / Raleigh LP 4000 Hand 5

Drake then looked at Raleigh. "I will go first." He grabbed a card in his hand. "Now I summon Spear Dragon in attack mode." A prehistoric looking blue and yellow dragon appeared. Spear Dragon ATK/1900 DEF/0 Wind/Dragon/Effect/Lv. 4

Raleigh gritted his teeth a bit. ("He hasn´t showed of much of his deck during the last rounds, but from what Nico had named him, I assume that he is a dragon user which means that he uses a deck that focuses on power alone.") He thought and then smirks. ("Well, a perfect opponent to end the championship with.")

"I end my turn with one card face down. Now show me what you got, Kamiya."

TURN 2 Raleigh LP 4000 Hand 5 / Drake LP 4000 Hand 3

Raleigh draw a card and looked at it. "I summon Action-Buddy Whip Snake." A purple cobra-snake with a blue top hat appeared.

Action-Buddy Whip Snake ATK/1700 DEF/900 Earth/Beast/Effect/Lv. 4

Drake looked at him. "Well looks like you´re not very good with math since that little reptile of yours is not strong enough to take down my powerfull dragon."

"Maybe not if you compare their attack points but you have forgotten one thing, your Spear Dragon has zero defence points."

Drake looked confused at this so Raleigh with a smile decided to explain what he meant. "You see, Whip Snale has the ability to turn things upside down for a short time to entertain people."

Drake narrowed his eyes. "Stop with your stupid jokes and the ridicules idea about making people happy and smile with dueling. Dueling is a contest of power where only the winner gets to smile in the end."

Raleigh shook his head. "That´s where you´re wrong and my friends and me proved that by now." He then pointed at Whip Snake. "I activate Whip Snake´s special ability. Until the end of this turn your dragon´s attack and defence points switch."

Drake looked a bit surprised as Whip Snake held up the metronom at the top of its tail and it begun to sway back and forth. Spear Dragon then lowered his head.

Spear Dragon ATK/0 DEF/1900

Raleigh then pointed at Spear Dragon. "And now Whip Snake, attack his Spear Dragon." Whip Snake then jumped towards Spear Dragon and wrapped itself around him and squeezed until the Dragon shattred into pixals causing Drake to grit his teeth a bit.

Drake LP 4000 (-1700) 2300

"Next I place one card face down and end my turn." A card appeared in front of Raleigh´s feet before it vanished.

TURN 3 Drake LP 2300 Hand 3 / Raleigh LP 4000 Hand 4

"You got lucky there but that won´t happen again. Now it´s my turn again." Drake said and drew his next card. "I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode." A dark blue Dragon appeared on the field with a mighty roar.

Luster Dragon ATK/1900 DEF/1600 Wind/Dragon/Lv. 4

("Another monster with 1900 attack points... ?") Raleigh thought to himself.

"And now there is nowhere for you to run. Luster Dragon, attack his Whip Snake now with Breath of Fire." The dragon started to gather fire in his mouth.

Raleigh pressed the face down card on the display on his duel disk. "Sorry but I´m not ready to lose Whip Snake yet. I activate my Trap card Last Minute Action ! Since you declared an attack while I have a monster in attack mode, all my monsters switches to defence mode and then all Action-Buddys on my field that are destroyed in battle are returned to my hand instead."

Whip Snake gave Raleigh a greatful look as he curled together and was surrounded by a blue light. Drake watched calmly as Luster Dragon unleashed a stream of flames towards the snake and they soon covered it before it got destroyed.

Drake held up a card. "When a monster I control failed to inflict damage, I can special summon this monster, but it can´t attack this turn. Come forth, Fire-Ghost Dragon !" A dragon entirely consisting of fire came onto the field.

Fire-Ghost Dragon ATK/1400 DEF/1000 Fire/Dragon/Effect/Lv. 3

"And with that I end my turn." Drake said.

TURN 4 Raleigh LP 4000 Hand 5 / Drake LP 2300 Hand 2

Raleigh looked at the new dragon and then placed his fingers on his deck. "It´s my turn then." Raleigh drew a card and looked at it. He placed it among the ones in his had and grabbed Whip Snake´s card. "I re-summon Action-Buddy Whip Snake." The monster appeared on the field once again (ATK/1700 DEF/900).

Raleigh pointed at the new dragon. "I activate Whip Snake´s ability once again in order to switch your Fire-Ghost Dragon´s attack and Defence."

Fire-Ghost Dragon ATK/1000 DEF/1400

"And now Whip Snake, attack Fire-Ghost Dragon !" Raleigh shouted and Whip Snake jumped towards the dragon.

Drake pressed the display on his duel disk. "I activate my Trap Negate Attack, and not only does it negate your attack but the battle phase is also ended."

Whip Snake got blocked by a force field and jumped back so that he was next to Raleigh.

("He´s really good even though he hasn´t played anything big yet. But I assume he is either waiting for certain cards or for a good opportunity. I need to be careful.") Raleigh thought before grabbing two cards from his hand. "I set two cards face down and end my turn. This also means that your dragon´s attack and defence return to normal."

Fire-Ghost Dragon ATK/1400 DEF/1000

TURN 5 Drake LP 2300 Hand 2 / Raleigh LP 4000 Hand 3

Drake looked at the extra deck spot on his duel disk. ("If I could just summon him now then this Duel would be as good as over. Oh well. Let´s see what I´ll get.")

"It´s my turn now so I draw." Drake looked at his drawn card and then at Raleigh. "Looks like I won´t be able to end our Duel this turn but I will be able to deal you a lot of damage." Raleigh braced himself for whatever would come now.

"I sacrifice both of my dragons in order to Tribute Summon !" Drake grabbed one of the four cards in his hand. "Ferocious Dragon of darkness, appear before us in all of your terrifying might ! Level seven ! Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon !" Drake´s dragons disappeared and fire appeared on the field and then a black dragon with red eyes appeared on the field. It had four wings covered in fire, two big and two small.

Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon ATK/2400 DEF/2000 Dark/Dragon/Effect/Lv. 7

"He brought out his ace monster." Ray said. "Now the real battle begins." Lynn added.

Drake then played another card. "Next I equip Red-Eyes with the dragon card Black Metal Dragon from my hand which increases his attack points by 600." A small black metal dragon came onto the field.

Black Metal Dragon ATK/600 DEF/600 Dark/Dragon/Effect/Lv. 1

It flew over to Red-Eyes and then behind it. It then attached itself to Red-Eyes´ body and begun to cover it with a metallic layer. Red-Eyes ATK/3000

Drake pointed at Whip Snake. "Now Red-Eyes, attack his Whip Snake." Red-Eyes roared and gathered fire in his mouth before unleashing it.

Raleigh grabbed a rope that hung down from the sailing and then used it to swing himself onto one of the platforms that surrounded the ship. He grabbed the Action Card that was on the platform and played it. "I use the Action Card Big Escape and this ends the battle phase !"

The powerstream of fire vanished and Raleigh then swung himself back onto the ship. Drake smirked. "Not bad. But don´t think you´re gonna escape the damage so easy. I activate Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon´s effect ! Once per turn if he attacked or is attacked, I can deal damage to you equal to his original attack points at the end of the battle phase."

"I activate my Trap, Mighty Roar of the Pendulum Dragon ! When a monster effect or a card effect is going to deal damage to me, I can half that damage !" Raleigh shouted and one of his face down traps rose up. Red-Eyes unleashed a ball of fire and that ball hit the ground before Raleigh. The Pendulum Duelist had to shield himself with his right arm.

Raleigh LP 4000 (-1200) 2800

"I end my turn with that." Drake said.

TURN 6 Raleigh LP 2800 Hand 3 / Drake LP 2300 Hand 1

"I draw !" Raleigh looked at the card he had drawn and a smile came to his face. He drew Odd-Eyes. ("Knew you would come sooner or later buddy.")

Raleigh grabbed two cards from his hand. "With Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician I set the Pendulum Scale ! I´m taking control of this Duel now !" The two blue pillars of light appeared and both Magicians riose up. Stargazer, a male with long dark white hair, blue eyes, and dressed in a white cloak and a purple cape. In his left hand he holds a black staff which has a white cyrcle item attached in the middle. Timegazer, a male with spiky brown hair and brown eyes. He wears a black cloak, dark purple pants, and on his right arm is attached a golden device which looks similar to a duel disk. He also wore a black hot which is similar to a witch hat.

Stargazer Magician 1 - 8 Timegazer Magician

"I Pendulum Summon ! Now turn up the heat Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon !" A red beam of light came down from the portal that opened up between the two Pendulum Zones. Odd-Eyes then appeared on the field with a powerfull roar.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon ATK/2500 DEF/2000 Dark/Dragon/Pendulum/Lv. 7 -Scale 4

"Next I play the Spell, Magician Card Trader. By tributing one card on my field I can draw cards equal to the number of cards on my field." Raleigh held out his right palm and Whip Snake jumped onto his palm. "I tribute Whipe Snake and now I can draw three cards cause I have three cards on my field." Whip Snake bowed his head and disappeared. Raleigh drew three cards. He looked at the cards and took the one in the middle. "Futuremore I activate the equip spell Dragon Nails ! Odd-Eyes´ attack points increases by 700 !" Odd-Eyes´ claws became longer and started to glow. He roared loudly, feeling the powerboost.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon ATK/3200

"And now Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack his Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon !" The Pendulum Dragon rushed towards Red-Eyes. He jumped into the air and opened his mouth. He unleashed his energy beam which hit Red-Eyes and destroyed him. "And when Odd-Eyes battles a level five or higher monster, the battle damage is doubled !" Raleigh said with a grin. Drake only gritted his teeth as he felt the damage. Drake LP 2300 (-400) 1900

"That´s the way buddy." Raleigh said with a smile. However, his smile then turned into a suspicious look since Drake seemed to smile. ("He smiles even though he just lost his strongest monster...")

"Hey. Answer me one thing. Why did you let me destroy your Dragon ? You could easily have saved him with an Action Card." Raleigh said.

Drake looked back at Raleigh and smirked. "You will have to wait to find out. And since Metal Black Dragon got sent from my field to my graveyard, I can add a Red-Eyes card from my deck to my hand." A card came out of his deck and he then grabbed it. "And the card I´ll add to my hand is Red-Eyes Fusion."

("Red-Eyes Fusion ? So he can Fusion Summon.") Raleigh thought worried and then smiled. "I don´t know what you´re planning but I´m not scared one bit so bring it on. I end my turn."

TURN 7 Drake LP 1900 Hand 1 / Raleigh LP 2800 Hand 2

"It´s my turn again." Drake drew his next card and looked back at Raleigh. "I tell you something. Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon is not the only ace monster I have." He then held up the Red-Eyes Fusion Card. "My true ace monster is something you haven´t faced before."

"As I said, bring it on." Raleigh replied, feeling a bit nervous.

"I activate the Spell Red-Eyes Fusion. With it I can Fusion Summon a Red-Eyes Fusion monster by sacrificing monsters from my hand and/or graveyard. However, for the Fusion monster I´m planning to summon, I need to tribute at least one level seven or higher Red-Eyes dragon monster."

"That´s why he didn´t bother that his dragon got destroyed." Lynn said.

"He planned this the whole time." Ray said.

"I sacrifice my Red-Eyes Black Flare Dragon from my graveyard and Spear Dragon from my hand." Both dragons appeared before getting sucked into the blue and orange vortex. Drake folded his hands together in front of himself. "Fusion Summon ! Appear, one of the mightiest dragons of the dragon world ! Level ten ! Red-Eyes Chaos Dragon !"

A mighty muscular blue dragon with four blue wings, a long blue tail and glowing red eyes appeared. He stands on his back legs and wears golden armour on his head, legs and upper body. He also holds a large golden spear in his right claw.

Raleigh looked in awe at the dragon and Drake smirked. "Your Dragon against mine ! Let´s see who is the stronger one !"

TO BE CONTINUED...