"Mhm, mhm." Elizabeth moaned.

It is late into the night, and she is lying in her bed.

But she is not resting comfortably. At the moment she is twisting and turning, with beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.

Signaling that whatever she is dreaming about is quite intense.

"What?" Elizabeth mused.

She was so confused at the moment.

She was just lying in her bed, but that is not the case anymore. Now Elizabeth has found herself in an unfamiliar place.

Taking a look around she saw that she was in some sort of ancient chamber. Then while looking around she noticed six cloaked figures standing around a giant crystal bearing the symbols of all the nations of planet Cray upon it.

In the next moment each of the figures raised one of their arms into the air, and when they did the crystal in the middle of them seemingly split into six different parts. Each one of the pieces of the crystal flying into the grasp of one of the cloaked figures. Each of whom had one of the symbols of the nations of planet Cray imprinted upon their cloaks.

Elizabeth was mesmerized by this. She couldn't take her eyes off of it.

But what drew her attention even more was the cloaked figure baring the symbol of United Sanctuary on its cloak.

She looked right at it, and surprisingly it turned its head toward her.

Elizabeth could swear it was also smiling in her direction even though she couldn't see its face.

'Ok, this is seriously creeping me out.' Elizabeth thought.

She and the cloaked figure stared at each other for another moment. But then suddenly the cloaked figure turned away from her.

As soon as it did massive gates appeared behind each of the six individuals, each one of them baring the symbol of their perspective nation of planet Cray.

When that happened the figures walked toward the gates and then stepped into them without any hesitation.

As soon as that happened Elizabeth's vision exploded with a rainbow of colors.

Sitting up in her bed Elizabeth was breathing heavily, the sweat covering her body even more prominent than earlier.

"Shit, calm down." Elizabeth said in between gasps. She then started taking several deep breaths to get her breathing under control.

Once several minutes passed she was back to normal.

After that happened she held her forehead and looked out her bedroom window, staring into the night, a question rolling around at the front of her mind.

What the hell did she just witness?

Entering Victory Elizabeth greeted some of the other regulars, and they did the same to her.

It had been a month since the incident with Teresa and her gang.

In that time Elizabeth had returned to school. She had also started working through her grief and trauma, and although it was slow-going she is making progress. Slowly, she is getting youst to being around other people again. She has even become a regular at Victory, which is a huge step for her.

Her greetings done Elizabeth walked over to the counter where Anthony and Eric were conversing.

"So, it begins in just three days huh?" Eric mused.

Anthony nodded. "Yep. Just three more days and the Vanguard World Tournament will officially begin."

People had been waiting for this moment since the announcement that a world Tournament would take place.

Even if it is only the qualifying rounds for participants teams to actually enter the main tournament, cardfighters across the globe are brimming with energy to spare.

Arriving at the counter Elizabeth motioned for Anthony and Eric to come closer, so they did. "So hey, I had this really strange dream last night," she whispered to them.

"It's not about a sex thing is it?" Eric asked.

Which earned him a punch to the gut.

Anthony didn't move to help him since this was now the norm for him and Elizabeth. He is seriously starting to wonder if Eric is a bit of a masochist.

"I am not." Eric said, turning his gaze to Anthony.

"I didn't say anything at all." Anthony mused. He then used a finger to adjust his glasses.

"But I could hear what you were thinking and I'm telling you it's not true." Eric said. Holding his gut he then turned back to Elizabeth who was looking at him with cold eyes. "Ok, ok, I'll stop with the bad jokes. So seriously, what made this dream special?"

"You might think I'm crazy, hell even I think I'm a bit crazy, but this dream just felt so real, I can't help but believe that it means something. Ok, here it is. I dreamt I was on planet Cray." Elizabeth said.

When Eric and Anthony heard that, both of them shot up straight and looked right at Elizabeth.

"Continue." Anthony said.

"Yeah, so it was all pretty vivid. There was this crystal, and these cloaked figures, and this ancient temple. Oh and each figure had a different symbol for one of the nations of planet Cray imprinted on their cloak." Elizabeth explained. She then finished explaining her dream until it ended and she shot awake in bed. "So that's it. You probably think I'm crazy, right?"

"No." Anthony said.

He and Eric then shared a brief look before nodding to each other. They then looked at Elizabeth once more.

"Ellie, there's something we need to tell you." Anthony said.

He then called Virgil from the back to watch the counter for a few moments.

After that he and Eric walked over to a table with Elizabeth and they all sat down. Eric and Anthony then explained all the strange events that had happened to them and Cera since the announcement of the World Tournament. The visions, the three mysterious fighters, their new avatars. All of it was laid bare to Elizabeth.

"And that's all we know at the moment." Eric said.

"Sorry we didn't tell you sooner." Antony added.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, it's fine. I mean this only started just after we met each other. You didn't know me well enough, and honestly if I didn't experience it myself I might have called you crazy. So no harm done."

Anthony and Eric were relieved to hear that.

"So anyway, did you get a new version of Raging Form Dragon?" Eric asked.

"Actually, no." Elizabeth answered. "I didn't get a new card."

"I wonder why?" Eric asked.

"Maybe because she didn't fight anyone." Anthony mused. "After all, you, I, and Cera each had a cardfight along with our visions and new units. But Elizabeth only had a dream."

"That is a good point." Eric said.

"We don't really know anything except for a few pieces of an obviously larger puzzle." Elizabeth said.

Both Eric and Anthony nodded at this.

"So there's only one thing to do. Keep searching for answers until we have the whole puzzle." Anthony said.

"Yeah." Eric said.

"Let's do this." Elizabeth added.

The three of them then high-fived, signifying they were united as friends and as a team.

Just as they did this Anthony got a shiver down his spine, and not the good kind.

"Oh no," he said.

"Mhm, Anthony what's wrong?" Elizabeth asked.

"She's back." He said, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"Who's back?" Elizabeth asked.

Eric had a wry smile on his face. "His mother."

"Eh?" Elizabeth questioned. "I'm confused, why is he afraid of his own mother?"

"He's not afraid of her, it's just that she can be intense." Eric said.

"How so?" Elizabeth asked.

But before Eric could answer someone walked through the doors of Victory and shouted, interrupting him.

"I'm home! Now, where are my beautiful baby boys and handsome husband?!" A female voice called out.

It belonged to a woman in her 40's. She has long blonde hair to her mid-back, and the same jade green eyes as Anthony. She also wears glasses. This woman is Anthony and Virgil's mother and the husband of Blake, Cecilia Blackwell.

"Mother!" Anthony and Virgil shouted in unison, slight blushes appearing on their faces.

It's not that they don't love their mother. It's just that she can be really embarrassing and enjoys teasing people, even her own family.

"Ah, I'm home my sons." Cecila spoke, ignoring her son's cries.

First she walked up to Virgil and gave him a quick hug. She then went to put her suitcase in the storage room before coming out and moving over to the table with Anthony and his friends.

"Good to see you again Ms's. Blackwell." Eric said.

"Thank you Eric. You look much bigger since the last time I saw you." Cecilia said. She then turned to Anthony and hugged him. "And you look great as always my little Anthony."

"Thanks mom." Anthony said, finding a way out of the hug he was forced into. "I'm really glad you're back. But am, what are you doing here, isn't the pro league still in season?"

Cecilia is a pro American cardfighter.

In fact she's ranked among the top twenty pro cardfighters world-wide. A feat that speaks to her skills and talent.

"It is, but it's fine. I'm actually here for work." Cecilia said. "I've been contracted by New Horizons Foundation to be a guest announcer for the entirety of the Vanguard World Tournament American preliminaries." She explained.

Which shocked everyone at the table.

"What," Anthony asked. "When did this happen mom?"

"Just last month." Cecilia answered. " I was contacted by one of their representatives and all the details were worked out. Besides, seeing new talent in the vanguard world and promoting it is something I would never turn down."

Cecilia loved vanguard with all her heart. She was a true cardfighter through and through.

"Ok, now that that's out of the way, let me ask you young lady, who are you," Cecilia asked, turning towards Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gulped. Even if Cecilia was Anthony's mother she was still a top world-ranked pro cardfighter. Just speaking to her was like a dream come true. Which is why she took a moment to gather herself so she wouldn't mess it up.

"Greetings mam. My name is Elizabeth Greenhouse Smith. But my friend call me Ellie. I am Anthony and Eric's friend. But I am also a member of team Victories, the cardfight team we created so that we could participate in the world tournament." She explained.

Cecilia nodded as Elizabeth finished her explanation.

"I see. Nice to meet you Elizabeth." Cecilia said. "So let me ask you, how long have you and my son been dating?"

Anthony was glad he was not eating or drinking anything right at that moment. Because otherwise he would have spit it out from the shock of the question his mother just asked.

"Mother!" Anthonyed shouted.

Meanwhile Elizabeth just sat there frozen, her brain having short-circuited.

As for Eric he still had a wry smile on his face.

Cecilia turned to her son. "Eh, what's the matter?"

"We're not dating!" Anthony said. "Besides, what would even make you think that in the first place?!"

"The chemistry between the two of you, obviously." Cecilia answered.

At that moment Anthony was reminded of a cardinal life lesson.

Women's intuition, especially that of a mothers is a force of nature not to be taken lightly.

"Ugh!" Anthony groaned.

It was the next day at school, and it was lunch time.

Anthony was sitting in the cafeteria with Eric, Joshua, and the final member of their male posse, a boy who goes by the name Kane Winters.

Who has short dark hair and grey-colored eyes.

His head on the table Anthony started lightly banging it, releasing more groans as he did so.

Meanwhile Kane and Joshua just looked on for a moment, before looking to Eric for answers.

"His mother is back in town. She took a contract with New Horizons Foundation to be the guest announcer for the entirety of the American preliminaries of the world tournament." He explained. He then took a sip of his juice.

"Ah." Joshua said.

"I see." Kane said.

Both of them had met Anthony's mother before and knew her personality very well. So now they understood why he was acting like some sort of strange creature in front of their eyes.

"Oh and Ms's. Blackwell also said that Elizabeth and Anthony were dating." Eric added.

"Well, but aren't they?" Kane questioned.

At that Anthony stopped banging his head on the table and looked directly at him." We're not!" He said with gusto. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"You guys have this great chemistry." Eric said.

"You get along really well." Joshua added.

"Every time I see you guys talking in the halls or anyone there's this lovey-dovey aura that appears around you." Kane explained.

Anthony responded to all these comments with a deadpan expression. "You know what, forget I even asked. Point is, we're not dating."

"Yet," Eric said, with a cheeky smile on his face.

"Ugh," Anthony groaned once more, running his hand over his face. "Can we please talk about something else besides my love life? Like the American preliminaries that are about to start."

"Which won't be easy." Joshua said. "I heard through the grapevine that team Imperial Majesty is going to be participating and is the favorite to win it all and go to the main tournament."

Anthony and Eric weren't surprised by this in the least. Team Imperial Majesty is the top American youth cardfighting team after all. It would make no sense for them not to participate in the world tournament.

"Not surprising in the slightest." Anthony said. "However just because they're slated to take home the preliminaries doesn't mean they will. You never know how a cardfight will turn out until it's over."

Everyone nodded at that.

They then continued to chat while finishing up their lunch.

All the while Anthony couldn't stop thinking about what his mother said.

In the blink of an eye two days had passed

Meaning it was finally time for everything to begin.

The day of the opening ceremonies Anthony and his friends got up and headed to the stadium early, and when they arrived they couldn't help but marvel at it. It was massive.

"Woah, this place is huge," Lucas mused.

"Sure is." Silas added.

"I heard this place is used for other events as well. Like major concerts and sporting events." Joshua added.

"It means that this place will be packed with a lot of people and a lot of eyes will be on our matches." Sylvie murmured.

"What, are you getting nervous?" Eric asked. Even though he's a bit nervous himself.

"Not at all." Sylvia said. "I came to take the prize after all."

"Heh, keep dreaming shorty," a male voice cockily said.

When Sylvia heard this a demonic aura appeared around her.

She didn't like her height to be pointed out so openly, not by anyone.

"Sorry, what was that?" Sylvia asked. Her voice sounded sweet and she was smiling, but her aura said she was anything but happy. She turned to face the guy who mocked her height.

When she did she found three people instead.

Two boys and a girl.

They were all the same age as Sylvia and the rest.

The first boy had a cocky grin on his voice, and an aura that oozes overconfidence. He was tall, standing at 6'4. He has short red hair and matching colored eyes. His attire consists of a yellow shirt, worn under a long-sleeve button up red shirt. He is also wearing grey pants and blood red sneakers.

The second male is sporting a stoic expression on his face. And unlike his friend he is sporting a calm and serene aura, along with a serious demeanor.

The complete opposite of his companion.

He has wild blue hair spread out in short bangs around his head and matching blue eyes. His attire consists of a short-sleeve white shirt, with dark blue cuffs on his shoulders and one around the center of his shirt, along with blue jeans. He is wearing white sneakers on his feet.

As for the girl within the group she has a blank expression on her face. She has tan skin, along with pitch black hair that goes straight to the nape of her neck, and coal grey eyes. Her attire consists of a black long-sleeve shirt with a white cardigan worn over it. She is also wearing blue jeans and black sneakers.

Sylvia instantly recognized the trio.

So did everyone else when they looked at them.

The one with red hair is Mitchell Drake. The girl is Noel Brooks. As for the last guy he is Maxwell Bloom, the captain and founder of team Imperial Majesty, and the two at his side are his teammates.

Anthony and his friends had just come face-to-face with the top youth cardfighting team in America, and the favorite to win the American preliminaries of the Vanguard World Tournament.

'Talk about coincidence.' Anthony thought.

He wasn't expecting to see such big players in the tournament until it officially began.

Sylvia though didn't care. She stared down Mitchell without giving an inch. "So giant tomato, are you the one who called me short?"

"Pfft."

Everyone tried to hold back their laughter at Sylvia's comment. Even Mitchell's own teammates did their best not to laugh.

Meanwhile Mitchell himself started getting red in the face.

"You got spunk shorty, I'll give you that." Mitchell. "Even so, why don't you give up right now. Go back to elementary school where you belong."

"Why you!" Sylvia cried. She moved to try and attack Mitchell. But she was held back by Lucas, and Christina. All the while looking at Mitchell giving her a smug grin.

"It's a good thing your babysitters stopped you, otherwise this would've gotten ugly." Mitchell said in a haughty tone.

"Oi, tomato man isn't that enough?" Eric asked.

"Hahaha!"

His comment actually earned some laughter.

Seeing this Mitchell was about to take a step forward, but stopped when Maxwell placed a firm hand on his shoulder and gave him a stern look.

"Leave it Mitchell." Maxwell simply said.

"Tch, whatever." Mitchell mused. He then backed down. But immediately after started shooting Anthony's entire group the stink-eye. He then put his hands on his pockets and walked by them. But not before giving them a message.

"Just wait until the fights start, then I'll have you guys begging for mercy."

Noel walked up to Anthony's group and slightly bowed her head. "Sorry about Mitchell, he's a nice guy really. Just need to get past the arrogance to see it. Anyway, nice meeting you all, and good luck in the tournament." She said. Noel then walked past them to catch up with Mitchell.

"What Noel said." Maxwell stated. "Good luck." He said.

Everyone knew he was sincere, which only made them respect him even more. But even so, no one was giving off the aura of someone who had already lost.

Maxwell smiled at this.

He then walked over to catch up with his teammates.

"Damn, did not expect such an encounter." Eric murmured.

"Just you wait tomato face, when we fight I'll have you begging for mercy." Sylvia murmured to herself, a creepy smile appearing on her face as she did.

Leaving everything to think one collective thought once again.

'Sylvia sure is scary.'

Standing in the stadium, all the teams that applied to enter the American preliminaries of the World tournament were present.

They were situated around a central stage.

Which held their announcer, Anthony's mother, Cecilia. As well as the tournament official from New Horizons Foundation.

A mike in hand Ceclia began speaking into it.

"Ok, so I won't make a long speech since I know everyone here is eager to fight. The tournament rules are simple. All of the teams will be divided into blocks A-D. You will then fight a round of best out of three matches, with the team that wins two matches advancing. This will continue until only one team is left in each block. After which the two teams in the block adjacent to each other will fight it out, until only two teams are left. Then the final two teams will duke it out, and whoever is left standing at the end of all this will get their ticket to the main world tournament. Which I just found out today is taking place in Athens, Greece." Cecilia explained.

This gained a lot of murmurs from the crowd of fighters.

"Ok settle down." Cecilia asked, and everyone did. "Thank you. Anyway don't get too excited yet. To get to Greece and the world stage you have to win here first. So let me ask you one last question. Are you ready to fight?!"

"Yeah!"

All the fighters in the stadium shouted in unison.

Cecilia nodded. "Great. Then without further ado please turn your attention to the monitor!"

Everyone did.

And what they saw were their team names split into blocks A-D, showing them who their opponents were.

Looking at the screen Anthony got the lay of the land.

'So we're in block A with Team Crusade. Meanwhile Team Mystic got sorted into block B. As for Imperial Majesty, they're in block D.' Anthony thought.

He liked the setup.

It meant he had the chance to clash against his friends at full might. But he knew to get there he would have to face down the opponents in front of him first.

But to reach his goal there was no way he's going to back out now. Not when he's finally at the starting line.

"Ok, so without further ado I now declare the American World Tournament Vanguard preliminaries officially open!" Cecilia shouted into her mike.

Which earned her a round of cheers and applause from every fighter present in the stadium.

It was finally time to start the world tournament.

But what no one realized was that there were malicious shadows lying under the surface, just waiting for their chance to strike.

A/N:

That's chapter ten folks. I know there hasn't been a lot of cardfighting these last few chapters, but that's about to change. The prelims for the World Tournament are about to kick off and it's going to be cardfights galore so get ready.

Next Time: The preliminaries for the World Tournament have finally begun, as the matches start raging team Victories comes face to face with their first opponent. While Elizabeth comes face to face with someone she never expected.

Duel of the Twin Shadows