As Zakuro and Rishid Ishtar, brother of Malik Ishtar, began preparing for their duel, with Ryouta having advanced to the next round in his duel right before, Dark Ichigo noticed that Retasu was still missing, unaware of her duel with Deep Blue. "That's odd," she thought to herself. "Retasu and Ryou are still gone. Where are they?"

She then suddenly detransformed back into the normal Ichigo, albeit still in her outfit as Mew Ichigo, and turned to Minyo, asking her, "Minto, have you seen Retasu or Ryou anywhere? They've been gone for a long time!" The tone in her voice was filled with worry.

"I can't say I have," she shook her head and replied.

"Stay here," Ichigo then instructed her. "I'm gonna go look for them. I have a bad feeling about this." As she began to run, her pace quickly picking up, she thought to herself, "I can't shake this feeling of dread! Whatever it was, it was enough to make the other me switch back. She must have been overwhelmed by it!"

Meanwhile, on the field, Rishid and Zakuro got ready to face off. This would be a friendly duel, as the Ishtars were on the same side against Deep Blue. Even so, there could only be one winner. "I wish you luck," Rishid told Zakuro.

"As to you," she replied as they both drew five cards. Then, the two of them declared at the same time, "Let's duel!"

Rishid went first, drawing a card. "I summon Giant Rex, with 2000 attack! I then activate Gravekeeper's Servant, which forces you to send one card from the top of your deck to the graveyard to declare an attack!"

"Oh no," Zakuro muttered to herself as she looked at her deck. "I'll have to discard a lot when I get going!"

"I end my turn," Rishid declared.

"My turn," Zakuro declared as she drew a card. "I summon Blazing Inpachi in defense position. I then activate Two-Man Cell Battle, which allows us to summon one Level 4 Normal Monster from our hand during our End Phases. I finally set a card and end my turn, and on my End Phase, I summon Great Angus in defense position!"

Rishid could not help but chuckle. "That gave me a big advantage, I'm afraid. I draw!" He then looked at his hand and selected a card. "I activate Temple of the Kings, which allows me to activate a single Trap Card from my hand on the same turn I set it face-down on the field. I then set a Trap Card, which I immediately activate to Special Summon my Trap Monster, Embodiment of Apophis, with 1600 attack!" He then pointed to Blazing Inpachi. "Apophis, attack her Blazing Inpachi and reduce him to ashes!"

With the slash of a sword, Blazing Inpachi was cut in half and destroyed. However, Zakuro had a trick up her sleeve. "You triggered my own Trap Card, Backfire! Now, every time one of us destroys a face-up FIRE monster and sends it to the graveyard, the attacker takes 500 points of damage!"

ZAKURO: 4000

RISHID: 3500

"Not a bad play," Rishid complemented her. "I set a card and end my turn then. It's not worth it with that card on the field right now. I will take advantage of your Magic Card, however, and Special Summon Ancient Lizard Warrior, with 1400 attack, on my End Phase!"

"Draw!" Zakuro then selected a card from her hand. "I sacrifice Great Angus to summon Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch, with 2400 attack! I also activate its effect, and I choose the first card on your left!"

As Rishid discarded the card Zakuro selected, he muttered to himself, "There goes my Tri-Horned Dragon..."

ZAKURO: 4000

RISHID: 2700

"Now," Zakuro then declared as she selected another card. "I then activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your set Magic or Trap Card!"

"Reverse Card Open," Rishid countered. "Judgement of Anubis! I discard one card to destroy your Mystical Space Typhoon and then your Thestalos, inflicting 2400 points of damage!" As Thestalos exploded on the field, Zakuro sighed in annoyance.

ZAKURO: 1600

RISHID: 2700

Minto shouted from the sidelines in horror, "Oneesama! No!"

"I set a card and end my turn," Zakuro concluded in defeat. "On my End Phase, I summon Fireyarou in defense position."

"My turn," Rishid began his turn with. "I sacrifice Ancient Lizard Warrior to summon my Mystical Beast of Serket, with 2500 attack! Any monster this card destroys gets removed from play, and every time it does so, it gains 500 additional attack points! Now, attack her Fireyarou!" Even though Serket destroyed Fireyarou, it would not trigger Backfire, as its effect only applied if monsters were sent to the graveyard, not removed from play.

"Reverse Card Open," Zakuro then declared. "Call of the Haunted! I bring back my Thestalos from the graveyard to my side of the field! Since your Serket already attacked, and none of your other monsters have an attack high enough to destroy it, you can't do anything to stop my Thestalos for now!"

"Damn it," Rishid muttered to himself. "She's right." He then declared. "I then end my turn. I have no monsters to summon that meet the requirements to trigger the effect of your Two-Man Cell Battle."

"I draw," Zakuro then declared. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two more cards!" As she looked at the two cards she drew, she smiled. "I activate Snatch Steal, and I target your Mystical Beast of Serket!"

Rishid recoiled. "No! Serket?!"

"Indeed," Zakuro replied as she approached him. "I'll need your card to do that."

"Here," Rishid told her as he handed it to her quickly. "Take it." He was clearly not too happy about losing his most powerful monster on the field.

Once she placed Serket onto her Duel Disk, she declared, "Because I don't control Temple of the Kings, Serket is immediately destroyed, as is Snatch Steal." She then threw the card back to Rishid, who caught it quickly. "I then summon Solar Flare Dragon, with 1500 attack! Because Thestalos is on the field and is a Pyro-type monster, Solar Flare Dragon cannot be attacked. Additionally, you now lose 500 life points every time I end my turn!" She then pointed to Embodiment of Apophis. "Now, Thestalos, destroy his Apophis!" Thestalos then punched Apophis with a fist of flames, incinerating the monster completely as Zakuro discarded a card from her deck due to the effect of Gravekeeper's Servant.

ZAKURO: 1600

RISHID: 1900

"With that," she concluded. "I end my turn, and you lose 500 life points!"

ZAKURO: 1600

RISHID: 1400

"My turn," Rishid declared as he drew a card. "I set a monster and then set another card. With that, I end my turn."

"I need to be careful," Zakuro thought to herself. "What were those cards he set?" "My turn," she then declared. "I summon Gaia Soul the Combustible Collective, with 2000 attack! I then sacrifice Thestalos and Solar Flare Dragon to boost its attack to 4000!"

"4000?!"

"And the best part is that even if it attacks a defense position monster," Zakuro explained. "It still inflicts damage! Now, Gaia, attack his set monster!" As Rishid's set monster was revealed to be Man-Eater Bug, Zakuro remained calm.

"Even with the effect of Man-Eater Bug," Rishid thought to himself as he realized he was finished. "The difference is still enough to wipe out my life points!"

ZAKURO: 1600 (WINS)

RISHID: 0000 (LOSES)

"Good game," Zakuro told Rishid as she walked over to him. "For a second there, I thought you had me on the run."

"Thanks," Rishid replied, shaking her hand. "I wish you luck. Depending on how the next duels play out, you may face off against my sister, Ishizu."

"No kidding," Zakuro remarked. "If her deck is as powerful as your's, I'll be in for a Hell of a fight."