With his friends by his side, Ichika feels ready to take on whatever is on Duel Island. As the boat pulled towards the island, everyone started to leave the boat. Rin looked down and saw the big security guards.
"Oh man. I didn't think there would be big security guards. What if they catch us?" Rin said.
"Just don't make eye contact and don't do anything to draw attention." Laura said.
"We'll be okay. Just play it cool." Ichika said. All of them started to board off the ship. Ichika and the girls made it off, but one of the security guards caught Rin.
"Hey, you!" The guard said as he got Rin's attention. They felt like they were already in trouble. "Loosen up. There's no reason for you to be nervous."
"Uh... Right. Thanks." Rin said. They were all relieved and it seemed like they were in the clear.
"Listen! All duelists report to the front of the castle!" Everyone headed for the castle that was on the center of the island. Everyone appeared excited for this to start, but Ichika and his friends were here on a mission.
"Chifuyu must be in that castle, or at least the cure to whatever he did to her. It's the only place on this whole island." Cecilia said.
"You might be right. We just need to get inside." Ichika said.
"But there are all these guards. How are we going to get inside?" Charlotte questioned.
"It must have something to do with the tournament." Houki said. "Look who's coming out to greet everyone." All of them looked on top of the castle and they saw Peggrin himself standing up there.
"Duelists, one and all, I welcome you to my island!" Peggrin said. "I'm so pleased that all of you have decided to come to this island and join in my tournament. I've decided to host this tournament to find the newest top duelist. You're all excited, so I'll skip the formalities and explain how my tournament works. The entire island is your battlefield. Each of you were given two stars with a glove in your invitation. You need to collect a total of ten stars. Once you have all ten stars, you gain access to the inside of this castle."
'That's where Chifuyu's soul is being held.' Ichika thought. 'So, I need to get ten stars in order to get inside.'
"Once we have four duelists inside the castle, the finals will begin." Peggrin said. "The winner will win fabulous prizes. Best of luck to all of you. The dueling begins when the fireworks explode in the sky." Everyone was excited for this tournament to start. At least Ichika and the others know what to do now to rescue Chifuyu.
...
Ichika and the Girls
Once the rules were made, all the duelists spread out. This gave them time to make some sort of plan and get their decks ready.
"We need ten stars in order to get in that castle. It certainly doesn't help that Ichika and I only have one star each." Houki said. "Ichika, maybe you should take this star back. You're chances are slightly better if you do."
"My chances of getting in the castle, but my chances of rescuing Chifuyu go up if both of us compete." Ichika said. "Stop trying to talk yourself out of this, Houki. If we work together, we can do this."
"He's right. Houki, you're an excellent duelist. I'm sure you'll do fine." Charlotte said.
"Unless you would rather have one of us do it." Laura said.
"No. It's probably best that I be the one to." Houki said.
"Look!" Cecilia said as she pointed to the sky. They looked up and they saw the fireworks going off. "It's the fireworks. The tournament is beginning."
"Good." Ichika said as he walked on ahead. "I already know who I want to duel first. I owe William some payback for what he did back on the boat."
"Agreed." Houki said. "That roach needs to be taught a lesson. You don't mess with someone else's deck."
"There he is!" Rin said as she pointed ahead and they saw William there like he was expecting them.
"William!" Ichika called. William ran into the forest, but Ichika and the others went after him. "Get back here! You and I are dueling right now!" The six of them chased him through the trees until they ended up in a small opening.
"I'm actually surprised to see you're still here Ichika. Is your deck actually in any condition for a duel?" William taunted.
"You'll pay for what you did!" Ichika said as his charm glowed and he switched places with the spirit inside. "William Alba, I challenge you."
"Do you honestly think you can defeat me?" William taunted. "You might have beaten Conner, but I'm a different story."
"We'll see about that." Ichika said. "William, you bring disgrace to dueling. You attempted to rid me of my deck and tried to eliminate me from the competition through a dirty tactic. This time, you'll duel me fair."
"Fairness is for losers, but I'll take you on." William said. "I can see you only have one star. Once I beat you, you're out!"
"Let's even the playing field then." Ichika said. "Winner takes all."
"Say what? Are you saying I should wager both of my stars? Why would I do that?" William said.
"If you're so confident in your skills, it really shouldn't be a problem." Ichika said as he was trying to tempt him to do it. Playing at his ego like that helped him.
"Fine! I'm going to enjoy this!" William said. Both of them activated their duel disks and got themselves ready. Ichika is determined to bring this creep down.
"Duel!" Both of them said as they had 4000LP.
"Come on! Squash him like the bugs he loves!" Houki cheered as she and the others were with him.
"Careful, ladies. I just might send one of my insects to bite you." William said. He really is a creep. "I think I'll start this duel by setting a monster." A card appeared on the field and it was impossible to tell what it was. "I think that's all I'll do this turn. Let's see what you can do."
"That's all he'll do?" Charlotte questioned.
"I think he's just testing Ichika, trying to see what he's made of." Houki said.
"It's my turn!" Ichika said as he drew his first card. "I summon Infinite Stratos Blue Tears!" He summoned out Blue Tears with her having 1600atk points. "I'll also activate her special ability. She can blast away 400 of your life points for every Infinite Stratos monster that's on the field. She might be the only one, but you still take damage." Blue Tears released her drones and fired lasers with William's life points dropping to 3600.
"Be grateful for that. You won't get a second hit in." William said.
"We'll see about that. Blue Tears, attack with Blue Pierce!" Ichika called. Blue Tears fired another laser at the facedown monster. It flipped over and it was just a Fiend Scorpion and only had 200def points. Blue Tears destroyed it easily. "I'll place one card facedown and that ends my turn."
"He's not so tough." Rin said.
"Don't be so sure. That bug is just getting started." Houki said.
"My turn!" William said as he drew his card. "After seeing just a few of your cards, I can tell this won't take long. I summon my Saber Mantis to the field!" He summoned out a mantis with swords came out and it had 1500atk points. "You're about see the horror of the preying mantis. I activate his special ability that allows me to take one equip spell from my deck to my hand."
"An equip spell?" Cecilia questioned.
"He's going to make that bug even stronger!" Houki said as she was seeing this was bad for Ichika as William took a card.
"I think I'll use this nifty little spell right now." William said. "I activate Insect Battle Armor!" Armor appeared around his mantis and it's attack points rose all the way to 2400. "Go, Saber Mantis! Slice that toy of his to pieces!" His mantis went on the attack and slashed against Blue Tears and destroyed her with Ichika's life points dropping to 3200. "I'll end my turn. This won't take much longer."
"Don't be so sure!" Ichika said as he drew his card. 'William might be a powerful duelist, but he appears to be overconfident. Maybe I can use that to my advantage.' Ichika had a plan, but he needs to time it right. "I'll summon one monster facedown in defense mode. I'll also place one other card facedown as well."
"What's the matter?" William said. "Are you afraid of bugs? I'll give you something to be afraid of." He drew his next card and was quite pleased with what he had. "I activate Swarming the Field! This is a great spell."
"Why's that? What does it do?" Ichika questioned.
"It's quite simple. Every time I summon an insect, I can summon another insect to join the field from my deck. I can't attack the turn this effect is used, but I don't see what's so wrong with dragging your suffering." William said. "Let me show you as I summon Insect Knight to the field." He summoned out a knight-like insect with 1900atk points. "Next, I activate my Swarming the Field spell! I can summon out another insect! I summon Chainsaw Insect!" He summoned out another insect with it having a chainsaw for mandibles and had 2400atk points.
"How vile!" Cecilia said as she was getting disgusted by the insects.
"At least he can't attack on the same turn he uses that spell." Houki said.
"But it looks like he's going to swarm the field." Laura said. "I think he's planning on taking Ichika out by swarming him."
"Come on, Ichika! Defeat this vile insect!" Charlotte called.
"It's your turn, Ichika. That's assuming you even have any." William taunted.
"I'll just place another monster facedown and that's all I do this turn." Ichika said as he now has four cards facedown on the field.
"Is that really all you got?" William said. "I guess you're not as great as people say you are." He drew his next card. "I think I'll summon my Killer Needle in attack mode." He summoned out another insect with a giant stinger with it having 1200atk points. "Next, I activate my Swarming the Field again and have my Whip Wasp join the field." A wasp with a whip for a stinger flew out with it having 1000atk points.
'That could actually help. Just take my bait next turn, William.' Ichika thought.
"Come next turn, your bug food. I place one facedown to end my turn." William said.
"You think you're so good? Let's find out." Ichika said. "I'll just summon one last monster facedown to end my turn."
"Ha! I've got you cornered! That's really all you can do!" William said as he drew his card. "I think it's time I put an end to you! First, let's see what you're hiding. That way, I know how to make you squirm. I activate Whip Wasp's ability! For every insect on the field, it can change the battle position of any monster!" The wasp buzzed around and lashed at Ichika's cards and changed them to attack mode. One was Rocket Battler with 1400atk points. The second was a type of Kuriboh made of metal and it had 300atk points. The third was another robot with rocket thrusters for legs and aerodynamically made with 1500atk points. "Rocket Battler, Rocket Flyer, and Kuribot. Ha! Not one of them can save you! Attack!" All his insects went on the attack and the girls thought Ichika was in real danger, but he was laughing. "What are you laughing at?!"
"That you acted the way I thought. You became so confident that you forgot that I have a trap!" Ichika said. "Mirror Blast!"
"Mirror Blast?! What's that?!" William said.
"It's like Mirror Force. Once you launch an attack, it destroys every monster on your field, but you also lose 500LP for each monster destroyed!" Ichika said.
"What?! No!" William shouted. "Stop your attack!"
"It's too late!" Ichika declared and it was. A mirror came and reflected the attacks of each of his monsters with each one being destroyed. Each insect was destroyed and his life points dropped all the way to 1100. William couldn't believe he fell for that. "William, you overestimated your own abilities and underestimated your opponent. You rely on dirty tactics because you're afraid to face the challenge. To put it simply, you're very weak."
"This can't be happening..." William said as he was in shock.
"It is and this duel is almost over." Ichika said. He might look like he can win right now, but William won't go down that easily.
To Be Continued...