Ok, I REALLY hate chapter 5. I had to redo that stupid thing three times to make it legal! _ It's fixed now. You see, Mirror Force wouldn't work because of timing. It's a long, complicated ruling, and I'm not getting into it. Destroying Ring only works on your own monsters, so bleh. Kudos to DarkFictionWizard and CyberTigerAngel for pointing those errors out.

Prepare for another misleading description! YAY! _

*Chapter 9: More Magic Users?!*

After getting over themselves, they noticed that there were two other spectators watching as well.

The teen wore a long-sleeved, loose, light blue shirt, and light-brown shorts. He had dark brown boots on. He also had small pouches around his waist. His brown hair stuck out in various places, and his eyes were brown too. He carried a book too. Hope looked closer and saw the title was Loamhedge.

The Soul Monster looked very human. He wore silver armor with strange designs, and big, red jewels that seemed to glow. It covered all of him except his arms, feet, and face. On his arms were reddish-brown gloves that went all the way inside the armor. He wore boots also. A blue cloak went down to his ankles, and he wore a headband on his forehead with more strange symbols. He also had a sword; since it was sheathed, they didn't get to see what the blade looked like though. He had shoulder-length, yellow hair, and green eyes.

The boy looked amused, and the Soul Monster was laughing outright.

"Hahahaha… hold on… hahahahahaha…. that… haha… has GOT to be… hahahahaha… the best duel I have EVER SEEN! Hahahahaha!"

"Oh give it a rest, Neo," the teen said, shaking his head. "I found it funny too, but you are taking it too far…"

"Who the heck are you?" Max asked.

"I'm Will," the guy said. "And he's Magic Swordsman: Neo. Neo for short. He gets amused WAY too easily…"

"Finally, a Soul Monster who isn't mute!" Gaston joked. "I thought I was the only one."

Neo had finally forced himself to stop laughing. "Nope, I'm definitely not mute! I personally think I talk more than Will, even."

"You probably have a point," Will said, looking bored. "Since you finished the duel, I suppose we will be going…"

"Hold on," Rue protested. "We just met! Why not a duel?"

Will shrugged. "Fine. Who am I dueling?"

Rue sighed. "Max and I have dueled a lot lately… Hope, you haven't. Why don't you?"

"Me?!" Hope exclaimed. "But… I'm still not good at it! I would lose!"

"Exactly. You need more practice," Rue pointed out.

"Let's do this, ok?" Gaston encouraged.

"…Ok…" Hope said reluctantly.

Looks like I will finally get to see her deck, Max thought.

Hope: 8000

Will: 8000

"Who goes first?" Hope asked.

Will had the answer ready. "I'll flip a coin. Heads, you, tails, me." He flipped it. They watched carefully, not even breathing, as the coin landed… And Neo collapsed laughing.

"It landed… on its side?!" Hope facefaulted.

"That's something you don't see every day," Rue commented.

After reflipping the coin and having it land on tails, Will made his move.

"I will play Jar of Greed. I set one monster, and place two other cards. That's all for me."

Hope looked carefully at her hand. She wasn't sure what to do about his face down cards, but she had a card in her hand that could help…

"I use Calling Reinforcements! I search my deck for one Warrior monster that is level four or lower, and add it to my hand! So I will get Goblin Strike Team, and summon it! Attack!" Hope commanded.

"I chain with Blessing of God, which gives me 500 Life Points every time I draw. The monster you attacked is my Saint Magician, (300/200) who's Reverse Effect lets me get back one magic card."

Hope stated the obvious. "Jar of Greed… I lay two cards down and end my turn."

"That's correct. I play it."

Hope: 8000

Will: 9000

"Now I summon Magic Warrior: Breaker. I remove his magic counter to destroy the magic or trap card to my right! (1600/1000)"

Hope smiled. "You hit a decoy; my Lightning Sword is gone." When he attacks, I'll activate my Destruction Ring, giving me a clear field!

"It's no use Hope. I will activate my Deck Master's special ability!" Neo's finger began to glow, and he sent the light toward Breaker. Breaker glowed and pulsed with the energy.

"What are you doing?"

"At the cost of 500 Life Points, I can bypass all of your monsters and attack one of your magic of trap cards!" Will stated.

"But… no!"

"Breaker, attack it!"

Breaker's sword struck the Destruction Ring, and the card ejected itself from the Duel Disk.

"Magic cards are automatically destroyed, but Traps are shuffled into your deck."

Hope grimaced as she shuffled it in.

Hope: 8000

Will: 8500

"So I have to stick with force, huh… this monster will do… I sacrifice Goblin Strike Team to summon Undefeated General: Freed! (2300/1700) Attack Breaker now! End turn."

Hope: 8000

Will: 8300

"Good job, but it isn't enough. I set one monster, and one card face down. End turn."

"Hold on; Freed has a special ability! And I'm going to activate it!" Hope announced.

"That's right… you can choose to skip your Draw Phase in order to search your deck for a Warrior."

"I've made my choice, and summon it! Go, Initiate Troops! (1000/1000)"

"What do they do?" Will asked.

"I can offer them as a sacrifice to destroy one monster on your field, so I do so!" Hope explained.

"Ugh… my Holy Elf. (800/2000)"

"Geez Will, are you using a copy of my deck?" Rue inquired. "It looks like we both have all Magic Users!"

"What a coincidence," Will said dryly.

"Freed, attack directly! That's all," Hope said.

Hope: 8000

Will: 6500

"Good job, but I can't leave Freed there. I summon Black Forest Witch! (1100/1200) And then I equip her with Power of Magicians! She gets 500 more attack and defense for every Magic or Trap I have! (3100/3200) Attack Freed!"

Hope: 7200

Will: 6500

Hope shook her head. "That's bad… all I can do is set one monster down…"

Hope: 7200

Will: 7000

"I summon Royal Magic Library! (0/2000) Every time one of us plays a Magic card, he gets a counter, max of three. When I discard all of these, I draw a card…"

"And get more Life Points!" Hope groaned.

"Indeed. My next card is Clarity of Mind. This lets me get another Clarity of Mind from my deck, but I can only use one per turn. So one magic counter for me. Oh, about Neo's effect; any monsters with 0 attack can't kill a magic or trap card. Anyway, I will have Black Forest Witch attack your set!"

The Witch blasted away the set, and then was destroyed with a ring of grenades…

"A Destruction Ring? What?!" Will said, confused.

"You destroyed Executioner Makyura, which let me play a trap from my hand. Funny I drew my Destruction Ring again so soon, isn't it?" Hope said, laughing.

Hope: 4100

Will: 3900

"Good work; you found a way to get around Neo's ability. But you can only have two Executioner Maryuka's; it won't help forever. And my Black Forest Witch's ability lets me get a monster with 1500 defense or less when it is sent from the field to the Cemetery!"

Gaston looked at the card she drew. "Go for it!"

Hope nodded. "I summon Executioner Makyura!"

"What the?! No way!" Will yelled.

"Attack the Library now!" Hope commanded.

"I activate Magic Cylinder! This trap negates your attack and deals you damage equal to the monster's attack!"

"Ouch…"

Hope: 2500

Will: 4400

Will drew, and showed it to Neo. "Think I should?"

Neo thought for a minute, and then nodded. "With some luck, it will work."

"I play Clarity of Mind, and then Raise Dead on Black Forest Witch! She will come back in attack mode. I switch my Library to defense, and ditch the three magic counters it has."

Hope: 2500

Will: 4900

"Good, I drew exactly what I wanted! I sacrifice my Witch and summon Magical Marionette! (2000/1000) And then I activate Black Power Stone!"

"Drat!" Hope snarled. "More Tokens for your Library!"

"Actually, these Tokens will go to my Marionette!" Will corrected. "Everyone it gets increases its attack by 200! (2200/1000) If I have two, I can remove them and kill one of your monsters!"

"No way!" Hope said, horrified.

"I attack!"

The Marionette struck down Makyura, and then chains wrapped around its limbs.

"I activated Curse of Darkness, lowering its attack by 700. (1500/1000)"

"My turn is over…"

Hope: 1900

Will: 4900

Hope read the card she just drew. "This is perfect! I lay down two cards, and then summon Dark Knight Gaia of the Gale! (2300/2100)"

"That thing is way too strong though!" Will protested.

"It may be level seven, but its effect lets me Special Summon it when I have no cards in my hand! Attack the Marionette! And that's all."

Hope: 1900

Will: 4600

Neo took a swift glance at the cards in Will's hand. "Looks like we've won."

"Pretty much," Will agreed. "I play Clarity of Mind, and move one counter onto my Library from Black Power Stone. Then I play Sealing Swords of Light, stopping you from attacking for three turns. And I use my Library's effect."

Hope: 1900

Will: 5100

Will nodded. "This will finish you in one turn. All I need to do is set one monster."

Hope frowned. "All I can do is play one card down. I'm done."

Hope: 1900

Will: 5600

"I will flip over Tenacious Old Magician, and destroy Gaia first. Then I will sacrifice my Library for another Magical Marionette! The last counter from my Black Power Stone goes to it. Now, I pay 500 Life Points to have Tenacious Old Magician attack your middle card!"

Hope looked at it. "You've wiped out my last defense; that was my Holy Barrier-Mirror Force…"

"Magical Marionette, finish this duel!"

Hope: 0

Will: 5600

Hope sighed. "See? I knew I would lose…"

"You lost because you thought that," Gaston chastised her. "You have to think positively! You won't win otherwise!"

"Right…" Hope muttered.

Will shrugged. "In the end, it was a matter of luck. That was one of the best duel's I've had in a while."

"Thanks," Hope said.

What a rookie, Max thought. Not won a single duel yet…

"Now that that's done, why don't you tell me about yourselves?" Will asked.

To be continued…