"Hey guys, we ready to take on Team Taiyo tomorrow?" Lise sidled into a chair at the café Jack frequented. He had insisted on "detoxing," in his words, before the match. Crow had reluctantly agreed that relaxing a little bit before taking on the responsibilities of protecting the world would be nice. Yusei also agreed for the hot chocolate.

"Getting there," Jack sniffed the steam wafting from his coffee cup. "I'm meditating."

"Sure," Lise laughed.

Yusei pushed over a drink for her carefully. "Got you the bubble tea, except it's got lychee jelly. They were out of boba. That okay?"

"Uh huh, thanks."

"In answer to your question," Crow spoke up, clearing his throat. "I think it's more than fair to ask you if you're ready to face Team Taiyo? You fixed their duel runner and gave them a new paint job. Can you face them at full strength after all that?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? If I go easy on them, that's just rude," Lise scowled at her friend.

Crow sat back with a chuckle. "Okay, just checking."

Yusei tugged on Lise's hair. "How's the band? They're on after our match tomorrow."

"Much better, but uh…Mako joined…"

"No?" Jack leaned forward over the table. He was always in the mood for some hot drama. Technically, it wasn't drama or gossip, but Mako was an interesting contention point. "Tell me everything!" His violet eyes were glittering.

Yusei frowned over his hot chocolate. I don't…hate people, but if I did, Mako would be top of the list.

"Yep," Lise swallowed a cube of jelly before she continued. "He's a vocalist and back up guitarist. So far so good. He seems to be reigned in, but he's still obnoxious."

"Why the sudden change?" Crow raised an eyebrow. "Seems suspicious."

"That's what I thought. Mika says he has a girlfriend."

"He could be trying to make you jealous?" Jack suggested.

"I'd have to care about him first," Lise pointed out wearily. "My first thought was 'poor girl.'"

Yusei snorted. "Mine too."

"Oh fuck," Jack's gaze had wandered past Lise's shoulder. The gossip gleam in his eye had vanished. "Lise, you might want to go home, right now."

"What?"

"Ako-may, is here-ay."

"Fuck," Lise echoed under her breath. "Okay," she gathered her drink, kissed Yusei on the cheek, and managed to slide away quickly. "See ya when it's safe!"

Mako swung into the seat Lise had vacated just a couple seconds ago. "Hi Team 5D's! Fancy meeting you here!" He had the cheesiest, fakest smile plastered to his face.

"You weren't invited," Yusei growled.

Mako ignored him. "Good thing I ran into you, because I wanted to ask you guys for a favor? Oh, and catch up, of course!"

"Just tell us what you want," Crow sighed, stirring his drink.

"Oh…" Mako's smile faltered. "Well, it's more of a question for Yusei?"

"No. Whatever it is, no."

"Here me out first," Mako insisted, a business-like expression on his face.

"This oughta be good," Jack sat back in his seat and threw his feet up.

Yusei stared up at the sky and let out a long, tired sigh.

Mako took that as a sign to keep talking. "Okay, so I'm trying to put my life back together? I have a job, and I'm playing guitar in my sister's band now."

"That must get you a lot of girls," Jack laughed.

"I do have a girlfriend now, and she's great, but…"

"Here it comes."

"Lise still won't talk to me? I thought Ren would make her jealous, but no dice! I mean, I've been nice, I'm a hot musician, a great dancer, and an excellent fighter! I've given her gifts too. Ya know, woman stuff like lipstick and a purse. So, what'm I doing wrong?"

Yusei set his hot chocolate down. Crow and Jack looked like bobbleheads their heads were swiveling so fast between Mako and Yusei. Mako seemed to be totally oblivious to the tension he had just created.

Yusei put his hands together and up to his face. "Lemme get this straight," he lowered his still joined hands. "You're asking me for advice on how to win my girlfriend away from me?"

"Yes!" Mako's smile was back, without the pretense of friendliness. "I'm so glad you understand! First step is getting her to talk to me."

"Dude," Crow half laughed, and half scoffed. "How far up your own ass, are you?"

Jack, on the other hand, was just staring at Yusei. His friend was the more forgiving type, but Mako had the unique ability to push Yusei's buttons more than anyone else they'd met.

Mako frowned at Crow. "Whattaya mean?"

"What we mean is Lise is her own person," Yusei broke into a grin and leaned close to Mako, patting him on the shoulder. "And if she actively doesn't try to talk to you on her own, it means she doesn't like you."

"Wha?"

"So leave her alone, and see ya never," Yusei saluted his friends a good bye and left for the garage across the plaza.

Jack and Crow had to visibly force themselves from laughing into their coffees. Mako stared after Yusei and then back to Jack and Crow.

"What just happened?"

/

Yusei found Lise upstairs on the couch. She looked up from her sketchbook when he came in.

"Oh, you're back early. Welcome home."

"Yeah…" Yusei removed his boots as quickly as he could.

"Mako's kind of a lot, but- Mmph!" Yusei had pulled Lise into a kiss by her cheeks. She grasped the folds of his jacket and shirt to pull him closer.

Yusei melted down onto the couch next to her. Lise swung her leg over to sit on his lap. It was a good moment before they ran out of breath.

Lise finally found her voice. "What…what was that for?"

"Weirdly enough, Mako reminded me of one of the reasons why I love you," Yusei murmured. He pushed Lise's hair out of her face.

"That is very weird," Lise laughed a little. She kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too."

/

"It's time to begin the first round of the WRGP Tournament Finals B Block!" The MC cried. "These eight teams have survived the qualifying rounds and have advanced to the finals! Team New World has already qualified to the final block in the A Block match ups with overwhelming strength!"

/

"Wait, so you're telling us they don't have any rare cards?" Jack's mouth was agape. "Not even an effect monster?"

"Yeah," Yusei said. "Their entire deck is filled with normal monsters."

"They did well winning in the qualifying rounds with a deck like that," Akiza commented. In this day and age, a deck without effect monsters could be considered obsolete.

Crow shrugged, spreading his hands. "They might be trying to trick us. They show a weak deck to get our guards down?"

"That's not true!"

Leo's outburst was unexpectedly loud. He'd attracted everyone's attention.

"Taro's team aren't the kind of people who'd do that! I would know more than anybody!"

Jack waved that concern away for the moment. "In any case, Team Taiyo isn't our true enemy. Team Ragnarok, next round, will be the true opponents to defeat to get to Team New World."

"But Team Taiyo are our opponents now, not Team Ragnarok," Lise reminded him. She tugged on her hair as she thought. "Leo's right that Team Taiyo aren't the sneaky type, but there has to be more to it than just a deck of normal monsters."

Luna nodded. "Right, there must be something that we're just not seeing…"

/

"Time to introduce the participating teams for today's B Block matches! First, the team that beat the formidable Team Unicorn and Catastrophe in the qualifying rounds, Team 5D's!"

The team emerged into the stadium to take up refuge in their assigned pit station. The crowd erupted into cheers for their favorite team and its team members.

"Proceeding to the tournament finals after a brilliant yet unappreciated turnover, Team Taiyo!"

Crowd members erupted into cheering for Taiyo as well. The match was set to be an exciting one.

Leo stared across the pavement to Taiyo's pit. These were their new friends, and as friends Team 5D's had to treat them as such by giving it everything they had to win.

Taro and his teammates took in all the cheers and those rooting for them. To think, we were working in the east just a few months ago. Now we have our own duel runner, deck, and a shot at winning this tournament!

Jin had laughed in Taro's face at the suggestion. Granted, he had been right about not having a duel runner or even a single card.

Yet, Taro had wanted to try something. To fight for a day that wasn't the same over and over… Something about the WRGP ad had stirred something inside him that day. The chance to try something exciting, something new!

It was hard. They were poor farmers, and the duel runner they bought was more scrap than bike. Nevertheless, Taro wasn't discouraged, and lead the way in fixing up the bike. He worked long hours too, teaching himself how everything worked, what needed fixing, how to fix it, what parts he needed for fixing it…

Taro's father noticed the hard work and dedication his son was exhibiting. He showed Taro an old duel runner he had used a long time ago. At first Taro was confused as to why his father had hidden the duel runner, but… Eventually his father had understood, Taro and his friends needed to go out into the world to experience something bigger than their small circles. They wanted to come home with more to bring to the table.

But even after they were able to get the duel runner fixed, the problem was still finding cards. Jin was downcast to report to his friends that he had only found normal monsters with no effects.

But Taro wasn't one to give up, and he wasn't about to start now. Despite Jin's insistence that it was impossible, taro poured over the cards until he had it. A strategy that would be their ticket to a WRGP win solution!

It's true that we don't have much strategy, and we only have normal monsters, but we can fight with that card! That one card holds all our hope! Taro turned his attention back to the match at hand. This was their moment, and if they were going down, they were going to go down swinging!

"The first wheelers, Lise and Yoshi, are at the starting line defending their positions with everything they have!"

"Duel Mode on," both duel runners announced. "Speed World 2, set."

"Let's get this match started!" The MC began the countdown.

Lise took a deep breath. She hadn't been the first rider yet, and it was nerve wracking. Ignore the crowd. Inhale. Exhale. You can do this. She lowered her vizor and gripped the controls.

"ACCELERATION!"

Yoshi and Lise took off like rockets. Both duelists gunned for that first turn. Team Taiyo's duel runner zoomed forward, smoothly gaining more than enough speed.

"It appears that Team Taiyo will be starting us off!"

/

Jack whirled on Yusei and Bruno. "What exactly did you two do to that piece of junk?!"

The two boys put up their hands.

"We just did what we could, honest!"

"It was really fun to work on…"

"But they got the first turn," Akiza pointed out.

/

"Let's duel!"

Yoshi: 4000

Lise: 4000

"I draw," Yoshi said. "And I set one monster in facedown defense mode."

/

"Hard to say, but I don't think their low level deck monsters was a lie," Crow said.

Luna nodded. "Which means they won the qualifying rounds with normal monsters."

"Should be interesting to see how they duel," Akiza smiled.

/

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn!"

Lise frowned at her screen. A rather whelming turn… Is the monster just bait for his facedowns? They made it this far with just normal monsters, I shouldn't underestimate them. Well, guess it's time to spring their trap.

"My turn! I summon Flame Alchemist in attack mode! Attack Yoshi's facedown monster!"

(Flame Alechmist: Atk: 1500 Def: 900)

Yoshi broke into a grin. "I play the trap Hidden Soldiers! When the opponent summons a monster, I can special summon a level four or lower Dark attribute monster from my hand! I summon HHand Holding Genie in defense mode!"

(Hand Holding Genie: Atk: 1000 Def: 1600)

"And while Holding Hands Genie is on my field, you can't attack any other monsters I control!"

/

Taro smiled at his monitors. "That should stop Flame Alchemist's attacks for now."

/

Lise wasn't deterred in the slightest. "I have two speed counters, which always me to play this spell: Secrets of Flame Alchemy! When Flame Alchemist is on the field, I can search my deck or graveyard to special summon Flame Alchemy Carrier to my field in defense mode!"

(Flame Alchemy Carrier: Atk: 600 Def: 1800)

"I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

/

"This is tricky," Akiza remarked. "While the Genie is out, Lise can't attack any other monster."

Yusei nodded. "Right, I'm willing to bet Yoshi's real goal is to protect the facedown monster."

"Question is why," Crow tapped his chin.

/

"My turn," Yoshi drew a card. "I flip summon my facedown monster! Come on out, Key Mace!"

(Key Mace: Atk: 400 Def: 300)

"And Next I'll set another facedown defense mode monster! Holding Hands Genie has another ability, it gains defense points equal to the defense of all my face up monsters on my field! Thanks to Key Mace, Holding Hands Genie has nineteen hundred defense points!"

/

Taro clenched his fist. "That's it, Yoshi. Fortify our defenses!"

/

"I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

Lise drew her card and slid it in with the rest on her wrist dealer. They're focusing on defense, and keeping me from destroying monsters… Maybe there's another way I can get rid of that Genie? Or…get around it…

"I summon Smoke Raven in attack mode!"

Yoshi frowned. "It only has eight hundred attack. It can't get past my Genie."

Lise flashed him a smile. "I'm not attacking your Genie."

"What? But you can't!"

"Smoke Raven can halve its attack points to attack you directly! Go, swoop in!"

Yoshi: 3600

Lise: 4000

/

"Oh, I see! She decided to ignore the Genie's rules and find a loophole!" Akiza gushed.

Leo wasn't smiling though. "But she can't keep attacking with just Smoke Raven. He only has four hundred attack points for direct attacks. It'll take forever."

/

"End turn."

"My move," Yoshi declared, drawing his next card. "I switch Key mace to defense mode, and summon Kurama in attack mode!"

(Kurama: Atk: 800 Def: 800)

"Kurama's defense points are added to Holding Hands Genie, putting him at two thousand seven hundred defense points! I also use Speed World 2's effect! By paying with four speed counters, you lose eight hundred lifepoints!"

Yoshi: 3600

Lise: 3200

"Turn end!"

/

"So that's their goal," Bruno scowled at his instruments.

"Right," Yusei said. "They shore up their defenses…"

"And wittle down lifepoints with Speed World 2. It's a speed spell, but also a field spell, so it can't be destroyed."

"No doubt they have more up their sleeves," Jack grumped, crossing his arms.

/

"It's my turn!" Lise peeked at her card. All right, here goes. "I draw, and I summon Pyrus Starburst! I tune level four Pyrus with my level four Flame Alchemist!"

"A synchro summon?!"

"I synchro summon… Crimson Starburst Dragon!"

Lise's ace monster took to the field, flying beside her friend. Its fiery wings blazing in the wind.

"I activate Crimson Starburst's ability! By sending two cards in my hands to the graveyard, I can remove from play one monster on your field!"

"That's where you're wrong!" Yoshi countered.

"What?"

"Trap activate: Scrum Force! If I control 2 or more defense position monsters, you can't target or destroy my defense mode monsters with card effects!"

Lise grit her teeth. Well, that didn't work. "Smoke Raven, attack Yoshi directly!"

Yoshi: 3200

Lise: 3200

"Look at that!" The MC gasped. "They've tied up the score! But Yoshi has quite the defense set up! What will he do with it?"

"End turn."

/

Luna clenched her fists close to her chest. "Oh no… I thought for sure that would work!"

"She's already discovered one weakness their defensive strategy has. She just needs to increase Smoke Raven's power…or…I dunno…" Akiza frowned. I'm the next rider up… I've gotta find their other weaknesses…

/

"My turn! I set one monster in facedown defense mode! I end my turn!"

Shit. I was hoping I'd have more time to think.

"The same strategy again? Does Yoshi have something else planned for his five monsters or is this all there is to Team Taiyo's strategy?"

/

Even the crowd was joining in with the MC. The strategy wasn't exactly flashy.

Jin glared at complaining viewers.

"Ignore them," Taro said. "No matter what happens, we don't have any other way of fighting."

/

"It's my turn! I play my facedown Fiendish Chain! I can negate the effect of one monster on your field!"

"Negate a monster effect?" Yoshi gasped.

"I negate Hand Holding Genie's effect! It's defense points go back down to sixteen-hundred!"

/

"Shit!" Jin swore. "The effect of Hand Holding Genie!"

"It's…sealed…"

/

"Next," Lise was far from finished. "I play the speed spell Passing the Torch! By removing three of my speed counters, I can give Flame Alchemy Carrier the ability to attack you directly!"

"Uh oh…"

"Flame Alchemy Carrier switches to attack mode. Now go, Crimson Starburst Dragon, attack hand Holding Genie!" Lise commanded, pointing at the specific monster.

Yoshi winced as his keystone monster went up in smoke.

"Flame Alchemy Carrier, attack Yoshi directly!"

Yoshi: 2600

Lise: 3200

"Don't think I forgot about Smoke Raven! He attacks directly too!"

Yoshi: 2200

Lise: 3200

"I set one card, and end my turn! Due to the effects of Passing the Torch, Flame Alchemy Carrier is destroyed at the end of the turn."

/

"All right!" Leo cheered. "Now they're going down!"

"Right," Yusei nodded at his younger friend. His smile slipped off when he noticed Team Taiyo… They…don't seem worried…

Taro was actually smiling.

Do they still have some kind of plan?

(I'm so sorry for such a long wait! I hope it was worth it!

I've been dealing with a lot lately, and just celebrated my birthday! Because January is my birthday month, I wanted to at least get a chapter out this month. It helps that I have amazing people to help and support me when I'm feeling down. This chapter was a LONG time coming, and I wanted to say thanks to all my supporters. Sincerely, thank you. It's meant so much during the darkest times.)