The first duel of the tournament has ended with Ryo winning and Siegrain loosing. Yukin and the others saw the duel go on from their rooms.

'Siegrain lost... In this place, that isn't a good thing.' Yukin thought. 'I sure hope that Siegrain is going to be okay.'

"Uh... Mr. Yukin, are you okay?" Steve asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little worried about my friend." Yukin said. Steve looked like had something to say, but he was struggling to say it.

"Uh... Yukin, there's... There's something you should know." Steve said as he tried telling him. Yukin was wondering what he was saying, but Steve had a hard time saying it. Just then, they heard his door open up.

"There you are, Yukin." They were all surprised to see Jirobo was able to get the door open.

"You're not suppose to be here!" Steve said.

"Jirobo? How did you get here? The doors are locked. We're not really suppose to be let out until we're called in a for a duel." Yukin said.

"I have my ways." Jirobo said. "Listen, I broke out because there's something I need to tell you. I recently found out about this myself. The losers of the tournament go down to the Underground Garbage."

"Underground Garbage? What is that?" Yukin said as he didn't like the sound of that.

"It's a garbage facility that you are force to work in when you lose the tournament." Jirobo said. "It's held directly under the city. Once you are sent down there, you don't really come out. If you were treated badly before, being in the Underground Garbage means that you're done for."

"Are you kidding me?!" Yukin said. "If you lose a duel here, you're practically forced to work in some sort of junkyard that doesn't even get sunlight?!" Yukin hates this city even more if they're making people do that. It was then that he realized something. "Siegrain! Siegrain already lost his duel! We've got to get him out of there."

"I'm afraid that can't be done." Jirobo said. "The only one who decides who enters and leave that place is Commander Rojin himself."

"Rojin?!" Yukin said. "He was the one that wanted to compete in this tournament in the first place. I knew there was something strange about this."

"What do you mean?" Jirobo asked.

"First, he allows us to escape his prison to catch us. Then, he has us enter this tournament. Now, he's doing this." Yukin said. "I don't trust him. He's up to something."

"You might be right." Steve said. "Commander Rojin has as much authority as the council. He always did give me the creeps."

"So what could be really be up to that he would do all of this?" Yukin said as he was trying to think of what Rojin is really after.

"That first duel was a lot of fun!" Marcy announced. "Now it's time for the second duel to get started here. We have the mighty Shiro going against the young yet talented Ristly!"

"Ristly?!" Yukin said as all of them were surprised to hear that Ristly was going to be dueling.

...

Rojin

Rojin was monitoring the duels himself from his own little base. Everything appeared to be going as according to his plan.

"I'm not too worried about a child, but I was never one to take chances." Rojin said. "I'll see what these knights are capable of, and if they lose their matches, they'll be sent to the Underground Garbage and will be out of my way. I simply can't be stopped." Rojin is clearly a madman who wants to get those who might oppose him out of his way. Poor Ristly could be next.

...

Ristly

Ristly was in a room of his own. He heard that he was going to duel himself, but he didn't look ready to duel against Shiro. He heard his door open up and saw Renji stepped in with Drewsin right behind him.

"It's time, Ristly." Renji said.

"Are you sure about this?" Drewsin asked.

"I am." Renji said. Ristly seemed rather scared about this duel. Ristly was so afraid that he actually ran out of the room and ran off. Renji found that a little unusual for Ristly. Ristly kept running until he found Yukin's door open and he ran inside. Ristly kept running until he reached Yukin and wrapped his arms around him.

"Ristly? What are you doing here?" Yukin said as they all found this rather strange. Renji followed Ristly into the room with Drewsin standing outside. "Renji, what's going on?"

"Ristly is being foolish. Ristly, it's time for your duel. Why are you in here?" Renji asked. Ristly seemed scared to answer as he tightened his grip around Yukin's waist. Yukin didn't like how this was going. He held Ristly closer as a way to protect him.

"Renji, it's clear that Ristly doesn't want to duel." Yukin said. "He can't duel out there in the first place. He's too young. Are you even aware that if he loses, he'll be sent to some underground junkyard?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that." Renji said. That just made Yukin even angrier.

"Why is Ristly even here in the first place?! He's just a child!" Yukin said. "I joined this fight to find Zoey and stop this Promin Academy. The others joined for their own reasons. What about Ristly? Did he even have a choice to join? I'll admit that he's skilled for a young age, but I don't think he even wants to be here." He remembered what happened at the council building earlier. Ristly was so scared after Renji left them that he ran off in fear. "Ristly's clearly afraid! Why are you doing this to him?! You dragged us all into this mess! You owe us an explanation as to why you do this to us!"

"Yukin..." Jirobo said. He didn't understand what was going on, but he and Steve could see Yukin is greatly opposed to Renji and is trying to protect Ristly.

"Yukin, I owe you nothing." Renji said as he feels he doesn't need to explain his actions to Yukin. Yukin couldn't stand Renji. He's treating him and his friends like they're just mere puppets or such.

"Drewsin! Are you okay with this?!" Yukin asked Drewsin. He thought Drewsin would be oppose to all of this.

"Renji knows what he's doing. You should trust him." Drewsin said.

"Trust him?! He hasn't done one thing as to why I should trust him!" Yukin said.

"Ristly, I want to hear your reasons. Why won't you duel?" Renji said as he completely ignored those last comments.

"Ristly is scared! Just leave it alone!" Yukin said.

"I'm asking Ristly. I want to hear it from him." Renji said.

"I..." Ristly said with all eyes on him. "I don't want to duel because my opponent is Shiro."

"Elaborate." Renji said.

"Shiro... Shiro gave me a donut." Ristly said. When Ristly said that, Yukin remembered what happened when they were at Ryo's. Shiro gave him a donut back then.

"That's the reason? I don't get it." Yukin said.

"He showed Ristly kindness." Renji said. "Ristly doesn't want to duel someone who did that. Drewsin, you know what to do."

"Right." Drewsin said as he left the place.

"Hold on. What's Drewsing going to do?" Yukin asked.

"Take Ristly's place, of course." Renji said with Yukin surprised that Renji was taking that so well. Ristly seemed a little surprised himself. Renji left things at that as he turned around and left the room. Ristly saw Renji leaving and believed he was disappointed in him.

"Renji!" Ristly called as he hurried to him.

"Ristly, wait!" Yukin called as he hurried after him. Ristly caught up with Renji and grabbed his hand.

"I'm sorry. Don't be mad." Ristly said.

"I'm not mad." Renji said.

"You're not?" Yukin questioned. Renji looked in his direction.

"I was never going to force Ristly to duel. I simply wanted to know why he didn't want to duel." Renji said. Yukin was a little surprised. He thought Renji was some sort of drill sergeant, but he's not going to force Ristly to do something Ristly doesn't want to do. "If it will make you easier to cooperate with me, Yukin, Ristly is better off here than he is back home."

"What does that mean?" Yukin said, but Renji didn't really explain. He did think back to when he met Ristly.

...

Flashback

It was at night and it was snowing back in Merge City. Renji was on his way home. As he crossed over a bridge, he looked over to the side. He spotted Ristly cold, alone, and just sat there.

"You shouldn't be out here. You'll catch a cold and won't survive out here." Renji said. Ristly looked up at him, but he appeared to have a dead-look in his eyes. It was like he had no soul. In a child, it was hard to look away from something like that. A child with no soul is a horrible thing to see. Renji couldn't ignore seeing this.

...

LID

Renji brought Ristly back to LID. They were studying and observing him. Renji and his mother were trying to learn more about him and see what was going on with him. His mother was a little less than sympathetic.

"I don't understand why you brought him back here." Miss Abarin said.

"I couldn't just leave him out there." Renji said. "Have we learned anything yet."

"We have." Miss Abarin said as she held out a tablet and was able to find data on Ristly. "His name is Ristly. Apparently, he lost his home and everything in an "accidental" fire."

"What do you mean by accidental?" Renji asked.

"Some believe that the fire was caused by a group of men because his parents owed him some money." Miss Abarin said. "When they didn't pay, the man took his revenge. Of course, there was never any evidence against him. According to our doctors, this boy must have seen something traumatizing when it happened."

"So he's in shock." Renji said. He felt so bad for Ristly.

"At the moment, he's something like a mindless machine." Miss Abarin said. "Actually, this could be good for us. If we can help this boy, as well as turn him into a fine duelist, think of the benefits this could bring." Renji didn't like how his mother worded that. He can't leave Ristly with her, but he can't just abandon Ristly either.

End of Flashback

...

Renji didn't really trust his own mother to be alone with Ristly. Renji wants to restore the boy and revive the child spirit that was once in Ristly. What happened just now is something Renji was going for.

'Ristly just spoke up for himself. A significant piece of progress. I'm not sure what happened that allowed him to do that, but it worked.' Renji thought as he was proud of what Ristly just did. "Let's go, Ristly."

"Okay." Ristly said as the two of them began walking together.

"Ristly, wait!" Yukin said. He want to go after them, but Jirobo placed his hand on his shoulder and stopped him from doing anything.

"Stop, Yukin. I don't think there's much you can do. That Ristly seems very attached to the man." Jirobo said. "I don't know what happened between you and that man, but I can see you don't fully trust him. However, it would seem that man has a bigger heart than you think." Yukin didn't think of it like that. He's not sure if he still trusts Renji, and there's so much more going on, but it seems like there's really nothing Yukin can do about it.

"Excuse me, but could you two please go back to your rooms?" Steve said. "I don't want to get in trouble for this." Yukin did what was told and just went back in his room, but he felt so powerless.

...

The Arena

Marcy was called and was told what happened. She found it a little strange, but there isn't much she can do at the moment. She just went along with it.

"Okay. There's been a chance in the matches." Marcy said. "Instead of it being Shiro against Ristly, it's going to be Shiro against this Drewsin." A lot of people were shocked to hear the change. Shun was a little surprised that Drewsin was dueling next.

...

Zoey

"Drewsin?! Drewsin is here too?!" Zoey said as she was shocked to hear about this. She didn't think she would see Drewsin here. Meeting him is what got her involved in this mess in the first place. Still, she doesn't blame him for it. "Drewsin, do be careful out there."

...

Huo

"No way!" Huo said as he was surprised to see Drewsin on the monitor. "That guy is here too?! He's dueling?! Oh man. That Shiro has no idea what he's getting into." Huo thinks Drewsin is going to win, and he might. What Huo didn't see was that a card from his deck was glowing. Ristly made a big break when he spoke up, but Ristly's problems might be the least of the worries.