To kick off Part II of our month-long celebration of all things Aster Phoenix. I've got a lot of explaining to do.

I just wanted to apologize for not posting this on Friday and Saturday like I said I would. This week...this week's been really weird and I got this job that's keeping most of my day preoccupied. On top of that, I live in an area that the colonial pipeline services so my town got hit by the gas scare and the hacking. And I received my second dose of the vaccine so my arm's been feeling like total crap. Things are better now. I'm getting more sleep and I'm going to do my absolute best to work on these when I can. I still got the Jasmine story going and I've got another Aster story to post along with a new chapter for Under the Wing. I wish I had more time to write these but...meh. Life. There's no avoiding it. But I'll do my best to post in time for the weekend. And I just want to thank everyone for being so patient with..."

"OH! There he goes again!" Aster shouts from down the hall.

"(Sigh) Yeah. Anyways..."

Once again, the door to my office opens and Aster peeks through the crack of the door. "Hey, asshole! I thought we were gonna watch Meet the Feebles tonight!"

"When did I say that? We can't do that tonight. It's the start of our marathon of stories with you in it. There's a lot we have to do. And with all this crap going on, I've fallen behind on so much stuff."

"We still could have watched feebles. Manage your time a little better, dude! What about Impy's Wonderland? It has the guy who voices me in the English Dub of GX. Shouldn't that count for Aster Month?"

"Uh...well...I guess he's right. Hey, at least he's not yelling at me about killing off Alexis in the next Song story."

"YET!" Aster yells. He slowly pulls his head out and returns to the darkness before slamming the door shut.

"Pfft, don't mind him. He still can't get over the fact he got punched in the face by an Ojama Yellow. Well, stay safe and stay healthy, everyone. See ya! Before you read, I'd just like to point out that I made some changes to the chapter. I'm going to add the tournament rival, Dustin, a little later and just keep this as an Aster and Alexis chapter. And my friend thought it was kind of silly for Alexis to just accept an outing with a total stranger when she's already on a DATE! I saw her point. So sorry about these mistakes. Building character and things like that is still something I'm learning.

So yeah. Enjoy the new and improved chapter 2!

Alexis huffed and puffed, trying her best to lift the heavy barbells that she kept over her shoulders. "T-t-t-twe-twe-twelve!" she croaked.

"Good, good," Aster said. He was sitting on a metal bench squeezing the last of his Gatorade from the bottle into his mouth. He swallowed before he said: "Just three more to go."

"You asshole!" Alexis said.

"You need to get in shape for the Dueling Frontier, Alexis. And I'm sorry to say, these past few months made you gain a few pounds. You're starting to lose your curves."

"Ha, ha, ha!" Alexis mocked him as she looked over her shoulder. She lifted for the thirteenth. Beads of sweat rolled down her chin and some clung to her eyelashes, stinging her eyes. One dripped into her mouth. The saltiness was bitter, stinging her tongue with unpleasantness. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail. "F-f-f-fourteen," she grunted.

"You're strong, I'll give you that. By the way, I'm cooking you some salad tonight. No more eating out. And don't you dare order burgers behind my back."

"I don't order..."

"Hey!" Aster pointed at her jokingly. "Don't lie to me. I saw sesame seeds on the damn bed yesterday and I saw some burger wrappers in the wastebasket. Geez, I didn't think living in that dump would make you lose that lady-like etiquette you displayed at the academy."

Alexis gave a chuckle at the realization that Aster was just too clever for her. She lifted one last time and set the barbell down. She sat on the small bench nearby. She picked up her drink and chugged it down.

"Good job," said Aster. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"Go out for burgers."

"Har, har, har! I think you should have some more dueling practice."

"Don't think I'm the only one who does," said Alexis. "There's gonna be some tough duelists out there. You're not as strong as you think you are, sir."

"I can handle myself. I don't know about you though. You've gotten better but..."

"But what?" Alexis said looking back at him, her ponytail whipping to the right. "You didn't seem to handle yourself well when Jaden kicked your ass. Or Chazz for that matter."

"Oh, man, had to bring THAT up!" Aster grumbled. "All right. All right. I guess we both could use a little practice. Maybe a warm-up duel today before I perform at the Colosseum tonight. Speaking of the colosseum, Beavis and Butthead are playing right now." He pointed at the television screen mounted on the wall. It showed two short duelists. On the red platform was a sniveling green-haired young man with gold beetle-shaped glasses. The blue platform had a skinny young man with long, wild, red hair and a beanie over his head.

"Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood?" Alexis asked. "For the intercontinental championship? Oh, this oughtta be good."

"Or hilarious," laughed Aster. "I still can't believe those two made it into the Colosseum."

"Maybe they've earned it."

"No. This is gonna be a tremendous waste of time. Chazz is the number one contender for the championship. He's going to dethrone someone next week. It doesn't really matter who wins this match.

"So it's come down to this!" shouted Rex. "You and me. One on one! You may have gotten the best of me at the regionals years ago, Weevil, but it's a whole new game now."

"Oh, we'll just see about that!" Weevil laughed, giving off his obnoxious: "Hee, hee, hee, hee, hee!"

"I'm starting first!" shouted Rex. "I summon Uraby in attack mode!" He slapped his card down on his Duel Disk, and summoned the tall, brown raptor with black stripes and glowing red eyes.

"That's it?" said Alexis. She sat down on Aster's lap. "He just summons a weak little vanilla monster with no protection? What does he think this is? Duelist Kingdom?"

Aster wrapped his arms around her waist. He didn't care if she was wet with sweat. She was still smooth to the touch and she smelled amazing, even after a workout. "He better have some of the new dinosaur support from the Song of the Divines movie packs at least. Otherwise, this is going to be a pretty lame duel."

Weevil cackled as usual before drawing his card. "I summon flying Kamakiri Number Two!" he declared. "And I'll equip him with Laser Cannon Armor, boosting its attack to 1800. Your dinosaur is toast! Attack!" The giant praying mantis lowered its body to point its new laser cannon at the dinosaur. It fired a beam of photon energy, blasting Uraby to bits."

"Argh!" grunted Rex as the explosion overtook him.

Alexis scoffed. "See? Total amateurs. I could take those two on by myself."

Aster had that look in his eye. "You know, I could arrange that. You think you're that much better than they are?"

"I don't think. I know."

"You little amateur!" shouted Rex. "I knew you couldn't resist attacking my dinosaur. Now you've got a puny little insect ripe for the killing. I summon Balloon Lizard and then use Ultra Evolution Pill to evolve him into Black Tyranno!"

"Uh oh!" said Alexis. "Black Tyranno is on the field. Eeek!" She screeched, feeling him tickle her sides.

"Yeah, he does. Let's see if he can keep it out."

"Oh no!" cried Weevil.

"Black Tyranno! Attack!" Rex shouted. Black Tyranno thundered across the battlefield and stomped Weevil's mantis monster with its foot, armor, and all.

Rex - 3700

Weevil - 3200

"So you summoned some oversized iguana, eh? You'll have to do better than that in order to defeat my swarm of lovely bugs. Hee, hee, hee! I set a card face-down and summon this monster in defense mode. Attack me if you dare, Rex!"

"Oh, I dare! Black Tyranno, attack!"

"HEE! HEE! HEE! You've attacked my Man-Eater Bug! Now your Black Tyranno is destroyed!" Weevils giant clawed insect monster pounced on Black Tyranno and bit into its jugular. Black Tyranno grabbed the bug with its jaws and crushed it. However, he was bleeding out from the wound. It wobbled around and fell to the ground.

"NO!" Rex cried. "Black Tyranno's gone!"

Aster chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down Alexis's hips. "There's no strategy or anything with these guys. They're supposed to be teaming up with each other for the tournament."

Alexis broke out laughing at the sound of that. "No way? Really? Then we should take them on first when we get there. Has no one even thought about pairing against these guys?"

"Nope," Aster said, still sliding his hands over her skin. "I don't think anyone wants to."

"Good point. Man, this match is lame. What else is on?"

"I am," Aster hummed in her ear.

Alexis looked over her shoulder, smiled, and kissed him on the tip of his nose. "What else is new? Then again my butt's pressed in these tight shorts so I guess I shouldn't be surprised if I turned you on. You know seeing all those dinosaurs has gotten my interest piqued."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. Wasn't there a new dinosaur exhibit opening today? Why don't we go check that out? It could be fun."

"Dinosaurs? Really, Alexis?"

"Come on! I don't wanna be cooped up here all day. And we can walk there. I'll get some exercise like you wanted."

"Okay," said Aster. "But wear something...nice. How about that white summer dress I bought you yesterday?"

Alexis shrugged. "If that's what you want...daddy."

"Oh ho! Don't go there, girl!" He said as Alexis laughed at her joke. "I find that...creepy."

"I do, too. So don't expect me to be calling you that again any time soon. Just wanted to see how you'd react to it is all. Nice to know there's still a gentleman under all that lust."

"Just because I love every inch of you doesn't mean you're my toy, Alexis. You mean much more to me than that." He playfully slapped her thigh twice. "Come on, let's get cleaned up. If we want to beat the rush to the museum, we better leave now."

Alexis checked her watch. The time was in the AM, but it was getting close to the noon rush. "Yeah, good idea. I'm gonna take a shower."

Aster took a shower as well and changed into a leather jacket with a hood and tight jeans bloused into boots. A chain hung from the belt he wore decorated with a silver buckle with the D-Hero emblem. Alexis came out of the bedroom clad in the white summer dress that was crocheted at the bottom. It was the dress he bought her. She wore it just as she said she would. Aster wolf-whistled when he saw her. She giggled delightfully and twirled to show it off.

"Like it?" she asked.

"I love it. You look amazing. By the way, I already ordered our tickets digitally for the exhibit."

"Oh, great!" Alexis said, grabbing her purse. She stuffed her deck into it because, in Paradise City, you never know when someone is up for a Duel. She picked up Kayla and brushed her cheek against her fur. "Good girl," she said. She also put her in her purse, she was so small.

Aster and Alexis then left the apartment and walked a mile to the Paradise City Museum of Natural History. It was a tall building of glass and steel with a lake surrounding it. A bronze statue of a Tyrannosaurus fossil was displayed in the middle of the bridge leading to the museum. Alexis and Aster took a few pictures in front of it and right beside the railing to pose in front of the tall fountains that shot out of the water. Kayla poked her head out of Alexis's bag, sniffing around curiously, wondering where Alexis and Aster were going to take her. A few fans stopped and pointed at the couple as they passed by.

"Don't look at anyone," said Aster. "Keep going. If someone asks for an autograph, just politely refuse. If you sign one, then we're going to be swarmed. Play it cool and pretend they don't exist."

"Thanks," Alexis said. She could it horribly awkward having people surrounding her and taking her picture. Just the other day she saw an article online detailing Aster and Alexis quietly relaxing in the grotto of a pool. There were pictures of her wearing a bright pink bikini all over the internet after the article was published. Some were just terrible short blogs titled "Alexis's Shows off her Cake in a Hot Date with Arena Grand Champion Aster Phoenix!" She felt so violated. Supposedly it was just her and Aster in the grotto. There wasn't supposed to be anyone else in there.

Once they went through the doors, Alexis felt a sigh of relief. The people seemed more focused on the interesting treasures around them. There was a crimson banner hanging over an arched doorway with a gold Tyrannosaur skull on it. The words underneath read Mesozoic Hall. The air was cool and it smelled of iron and bronze. Aster and Alexis walked through the archway and saw a vast collection of skeletons on display. There was ambience of a jungle on the intercom occasionally disrupted by the loud roar of a predatory dinosaur or the soft call of a sauropod, which sounded eerily like a whale.

"This is incredible!" said Alexis.

"Wow!" was all Aster could say. He had to admit seeing how big these animals were was quite impressive. He stopped in front of a tall long-necked dinosaur. "Camarasaurus," Aster read the plauqe in front of him. "That's one big dude."

"Yeah," Alexis said. "Aww, look. They made models of their little babies." She pointed at the nest under the bones of the adult Camarasaurus. Their eyes were big, adding a touch of innocence to them and their color pallet was just gorgeous. Their pale brown skin was splashed with red, black, and a yellow line on the back. Kayla stuck her head out of the bag, her paws on the edge of Alexis's purse. She sniffed around again, curiously looking at the baby dinosaurs below.

"You know," said Aster. "This one reminds me of a Duel Monster called Brachio-Raidus. I can see where Industrial Illusions got the inspiration from. He looks like a pretty cool monster."

"Can you imagine riding one of those through the jungle?" Alexis asked, taking pictures of the bones. "Man, that would be so much fun." She gasped with joy as an idea came to her. "Hey, I know what we can do! Why don't we find all the dinosaurs that look like the Duel Monsters we know?"

"Hmm, I guess that sounds kinda fun. I bet I know more dinosaur monsters than you do."

"All right. How about this? Whoever finds the most comparisons has to buy lunch."

"Deal. Ah, I've found one already. Check this out." He leads Alexis to another display, this one of a plated dinosaur with a spiked tail. "This one is a Stegosaurus!" said Aster. "And Hassleberry had this one dino in his deck called Black Stego. Boom! One point for me!"

"Not quite," said Alexis. "I mean, he looks like he's from the stego family but take look at that one spike coming out from the back of its leg. This is a Kentrosaurus. And when last I checked, there is no Dark Kentro. Sorry, bud, but that doesn't count."

"Aww, man!" Aster said, snapping his finger.

"Ah, there's Stegosaurus!" Alexis said, hurrying down a path surrounded by trees. There was a Stegosaurus skeleton on display. "That's Black Stego!" Alexis said. "Point goes to me."

"And another to me," said Aster. "Take a look up there." He pointed at the ceiling. "That's a Pterodactyl. And there's a Duel Monster called Dark Ptera and Kaitoptera."

"That still only counts as one!" said Alexis.

They both laughed.

"Hey," said Aster. "This is kinda fun."

"It won't be so fun when I get another point!" said Alexis. She darted across a bridge to another exhibit. "HA! Ha!" she triumphantly called. "Velociraptor! No doubt he's an inspiration for Black Veloci."

"All right, that's two. But I've got my sights on another dino. Look at the long neck over there with the spines coming out from the back of his neck." He ran to the skeleton. "Amargasaurus."

"I don't recall any dinosaur like him in the game," said Alexis.

"But the sails. There's a dinosaur Duel Monster called Sauropod Brachion. He may not have wings like the monster, but those sails have got to match, right?"

Before Alexis could answer, Aster's phone rang. When he cursed, he realized it was most likely Antosson, calling to hound him on his shows again. "I'm sorry, Alexis. I'll be right back."

"That's okay. I'll stay right here under the long neck with the spines."

Aster kissed her on the cheek and left. Alexis went back to looking at an artist's depiction of the creature on a painting nearby. "Wow, I didn't know the long-necked dinosaurs could look like this. This guy is so weird."

"Say," said Aster. "The exhibit has a bar. Would you like to have a few drinks when I get back?"

"I'd love to!" Alexis cried out in excitement. "I heard there's a boat ride that takes you down a river with all sorts of dinosaurs to look at."

"All right. Give me a moment while I deal with this asshole." Aster left, he pushed his phone close to his ear and said: "You're really starting to annoy me."

Alexis sighed and leaned back on a railing with the skeleton of a Saurophagonax behind her. She looked over her shoulder at the ancient reptile and smiled. What great fun this was. Coming to the museum was a most excellent idea. She got to learn interesting facts, see creatures she couldn't even comprehend; even in her wildest dreams, and, most importantly of all, she got to spend more time with Aster.

Bringing him here really brought out the curious side in him. Seeing all these dinosaurs really brought out the child in him. She could that rather cute. It was like he was a schoolboy again. Again the memories of Duel Academy rushed back to her. And the memories of Jaden, too. But this time she didn't feel the things she usually felt when she remembered him. She guessed that Aster was right. Six years fawning over a high school crush? It was kind of silly. She reared her head up and sighed, staring at the glass ceiling and the skeletons of the flying reptiles called Pterosaurs.

"Wow!" she whispered when she saw one the size of a hang glider. Quetzalcoatlus named after the Aztec diety, Quetzalcoatl. "Man, I'm so glad these things are extinct," she said to her dog. "I'd hate to jog through the park and get my ass nabbed by one of those. It's no wonder they always star these guys in horror movies."

Aster came back. He seemed taller and happier. There was a broad smile across his face.

"Hey, baby. How'd things go with your manager — mmmph!"

Aster buried his mouth into hers and wrapped his arms around her waist. When their lips were freed he laughed and said: "He's not my manager anymore."

"Say what?" Alexis exclaimed, clasping her hands together.

"Antosson's history. I don't need him. I never did. Before I met you, Alexis, I thought I needed that guy for support. But he was just leeching off me and was overworking me for the sake of his own wallet, using my depression to his advantage. Well, no more."

"Yay!" Alexis wrapped her arms around his neck.

"The guy makes ten percent of what I earn, you'd think he would be happy with me winning games at the colosseum."

"Who cares?" said Alexis. "He's gone now. Oh, Aster, I'm so happy!"

"Well, I've got you to thank. For the longest time, I always thought I needed him around to help me maintain my status as the grand champion. But now that my depression is all gone and I have your beautiful soul bringing light into my life, I'm starting to see things clearly. I'm starting to believe in myself the way I used to a long time ago."

He took both her hands, rubbing his thumbs down her fingers. "Thank God for you, Alexis. I'd be lost without you. I promise the first thing we're going to do when we get back home is dump those pills in the trash."

"I'm so proud of you." She kissed him.

"And I'm so proud of you." He kissed her back. "You didn't need me to save you. You just needed a little push. You overcame everything that was thrown at you and survived. You're a very powerful girl, Alexis. You're full of heart and determination. I'm honored to have you in my life. Honored."

He held out his arm. Alexis took it and followed him down the rest of the exhibit. They encountered bones of creatures they never knew existed. There were turtles the size of boats, the jaws of a shark so large that it could eat whales. And then they passed the skull of a whale so large that it could destroy said shark. There was a wall with the skulls of horned dinosaurs mounted on it. Alexis's favorite was the Regaliaceratops. Its frill did look like a regal shield that was hung on display at a castle. Aster enjoyed the Diabloceratops, for his horns reminded him of the ones cresting Destiny HERO - Plasma's helmet. Some parts of the museum had dinosaur animatronics that could move, blink, and roar. They both posed beside the robot of a Giganotosaurus, a predator larger than T-Rex.

By the time they saw everything the dinosaur exhibit had to offer, they were hungry and exhausted. It was finally time to go to the restaurant everyone was talking about. Alexis showed Aster her Instagram. Jasmine and Mindy and their boyfriends were there earlier and from the pictures, it looked like it would be a very fun experience. They went into a small jungle, following a stone path that took them down rocky, brown, stairs with round lights on the walls lighting their way.

Mist had fallen from sprinklers on the ceiling, unfortunately making the stairs slippery, and Alexis's white heels made it difficult to walk. She eventually slipped.

"Woah!" she cried out.

Aster caught her as quick as thinking, however, the state of which he caught her was questionable. Alexis noticed it, too. Aster's arm was pressed against her breasts, and she felt his knee pushing slowly up her bottom. "Uh...Aster. You can let go of me now. I'm fine."

"Sorry. It looked like a nasty tumble. Are you all right?"

"I am." She stretched up her neck and whispered in his ear. "You can touch me a little more when we get home tonight."

"You little nymph," he said, tickling her side. He set her back up. Alexis fixed the wrinkles on her dressed and scampered down the steps, hand in hand with her love.

They stopped by a dark dock lit with only iron lamps that hung from lines attached to palm trees, which stood on either side of the river. The jungle ambience was alive with dinosaur shrieks and roars. Waiting on the river were log-shaped boats that were going to escort them down a river that ran through the restaurant.

"Oh...cool. But what about my friend?"

"Don't worry. I'll reserve our table. You can contact him when we get there. Come on. We're holding up the line."

Alexis and Aster got on. Feeling iffy about what happened on the stairs, Alexis told him to ride behind her. Like a gentleman, he complied, and she began to think it was nothing more than an accident. He did save her from a bad fall after all. The log slowly drifted from the docks and took them down the jungle. They passed by dinosaur animatronics. David Attenborough's voice came on each time they passed a dinosaur. He said their names and narrated the facts about them. Alexis pointed at a big brown beast with rows of small spikes going down its back. It snarled and stepped forward as if to inspect them. Alexis screamed and laughed at the same time, clinging on to Aster's arm.

"Dynamoterror Dynastes is one of the largest carnivores ever discovered. It is estimated to be over 30ft long and was discovered in...blah, blah, blah."

"Oh wow!" Alexis cried out. The animatronic was fierce-looking. The eyes of the creature were glowing, making the dinosaur look fearsome. The boat took them down a wild rapid that shoved them down a small waterfall. They soon encountered a small group of Stegosaurus grazing on the ferns. One of them was up to its shoulders in the water. Babies were sitting on a small cliff overlooking the river squawking and squeaking happily.

"They're so cute!" Alexis said, holding up her phone to record them.

ROAR! Another fierce predator greeted them from around the bend.

"Allosaurs Maximus," David narrated.

Then, out of the water, a long-necked dinosaur rose out and sprayed them with water from its nose. "Aaacck!" Alexis screamed. She then began to laugh.

"Oh," said David's voice. "And keep on the lookout for Apatosaurus. They like to swim here in the river and feed on the plant life a the bottom."

After witnessing more animatronics, the boats took them across the restaurant. Alexis could see people dining in tree houses, on balconies overlooking the river, or beside animatronic dinosaurs. The ceiling was lit with stars. Shooting stars occasionally zoomed by. At last, their boat reached the dock. Aster got out first and helped Alexis out. Poor Kayla was whimpering in the bag, for the dinosaurs had scared her. Alexis scratched the back of her ears, to calm her as she followed Aster up the stairs.

"That was so cool!" she said.

"Yeah. You almost knocked me off the boat when the Tyrannosaurus's head popped out of nowhere."

"Hee, hee, sorry. I thought that fucker was going to eat me!"

The bar and the restaurant looked like it was built in the middle of a jungle. Animatronic dinosaurs roared and snarled in various parts of the large establishment. There was a long line, but Aster was well-connected. He slipped a few bills here and there, and eventually got him and Alexis a seat by a grotto. Across the water, a Tyrannosaurs animatronic was roaring in the dense vegetation. A waterfall was flowing right beside him. Occasionally, a small boat with customers sailed by, all of them hollering at the dinosaur next to them.

"Wow! This is great!" said Alexis. "Do you think we can go on the boat ride again later?"

"Anything you want," said Aster.

"Hah. Not surprised you'd choose to sit us next to the Tyrannosaurus."

"Well, he's a symbol of power. What can I say? I like power. I think it's a good idea to be next to such an iconic powerful figure before we head for the tournament. Doesn't he fill you with a sense of power?"

"Not really," Alexis said, hiding her face behind the menu. "But I guess I can see your point."

The waiter arrived a few minutes later. "Good evening, kids. Welcome to the Jurassic Lagoon. I'm Derrick. I'll be your server for tonight. Would you like to start with drinks?"

"I'll have an apple martini, please," said Alexis.

"Just a glass of water for me," said Aster.

The waiter jotted down their orders on his notepad. "All right. And are you ready to order or do you need a little more time?"

"A little more time for me," said Aster. "Everything looks so good."

"Can we have breadsticks as an appetizer?" Alexis asked.

"Of, course. For five dollars extra, you'll get free breadsticks throughout your entire meal."

"Oooo!" Alexis hooted, turning to look at Aster.

"Sure, why not?"

"Wonderful. All right, I'll be back in a few minutes as you make a decision."

"Thank you," Aster and Alexis both said.

"I've got to say, today was really fun," said Alexis. "You know, it kind of brought back memories of Hassleberry."

"Now that was a real bonehead if I ever saw one," Aster said with a chuckle. "He had his head so far up Jaden's ass it wasn't even funny."

"Tell me about it." She stood up straight and made a pose like a saluting soldier and gave herself a southern accent like the one Tyranno Hassleberry had. "Ten-hut! Right behind ya, Sarge! Sam Hill!"

Aster laughed, slamming his hand on the table. Their crystal cutlery shook around and the candle beside them swayed around. The Tyrannosaurus across the river let out a grumble as though it were laughing, too. "Hey, that's pretty good."

"Aster look!" Alexis said, pointing at the ceiling. "Shooting stars."

Aster looked up and saw that the ceiling lights flashed to look like stars falling across the sky. "I dunno. Seeing those during the time of the dinosaurs? Should I be nervous?"

"Nah," Alexis said after she thought about it for a while. "It's okay. I don't think we have to worry about any comets coming down and blasting us to kingdom come."

"Heh, you know, this reminds me of the time I Dueled Rex Raptor in the Colosseum. I used this new monster called Nibiru, the Primal Being against him. And he's pretty much just one big-ass asteroid monster. It destroys his field, which was full of his best dinosaur monsters, and fills them with tokens."

"You asshole!" Alexis said with a snigger. "Clever. Horrible. But very clever. I think it's going to be fun taking them out in the tournament. That's in a couple of days now, huh? Wow."

"That's plenty of time to get you in shape. You got everything you need?"

"Yeah. Everything. Cards, gear, food," She smirked. "And I'm bringing the underwear you like so much."

Aster let out another chuckle alongside the roar of the Tyrannosaur. "You mean the colorful one I picked up at the mall when I first found you? Man, it feels so long ago."

"It was a few months ago. But still, so much has happened since then, huh?"

"Yeah. Well, Alexis, I don't know what that tournament has in store for us, but we'll face anything it throws at us. Together."

Alexis reached across the table and held her hero's hand. "I look forward to it, Aster."