Ichika and the others got reacquainted with an old friend named Ryu Kazame. However, he surprised them by pulling out a Mystic Artifact. Now, the spirit of the charm must stand against Ryu in a duel in the shadows to save them.

"Ryu, why are you doing all of this?" Ichika asked.

"Ryu? I'm not Ryu."

"If you're not Ryu, who are you?" Spirit asked.

"Like you, who inhabits the Mystic Charm, I am a spirit that inhabits the Mystic Pendent." Evil Ryu said. "I cam here for that charm you're wearing and I plan to take it."

"Not if I can help it." Ichika said. He activated his duel disk and was all set to go. Evil Ryu called on duel disk from the shadows with it appearing on his arm.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as this dangerous game started. They both had 4000LP, but they might be more than just points.

"I'll start this by summoning Infinite Stratos Shenlong to the field!" Ichika said, but when he summoned her, he was surprised to see that it was really Rin. "Rin?"

"Ichika? What's going on? What am I wearing?" Rin questioned.

'He really did seal their souls within my cards, but I have no way of knowing what card each of them in.' Ichika thought as this wasn't looking good.

"My turn!" Evil Ryu said to snap them out of this. "I summon Specter Thief to the field." He summoned out a phantom dressed in all black with him having 1000atk points. "Thanks to his special ability, I can cut the attack points of a level four or lower monster in half." Rin's attack points dropped to only 750. "Attack!"

"Hold on!" Rin said as he went to attack her. He drove his leg into Rin and she was destroyed.

"Rin!" Ichika shouted as his life points dropped to 3650.

"That's one down, gone to the graveyard." Evil Ryu said.

'No... Rin can't really be...gone.' Ichika thought as it wasn't looking good for any of them.

...

Rin

"Weird. Now where am I?" Rin questioned as she was wondering around a graveyard. "If this is a nightmare, I want to wake up." Rin kept walking around until she noticed something. She saw a gravestone with her name on it. "What?! That can't be right?! That's my name! Somebody help me!"

...

The Duel

"It's your turn. That's assuming you even have the guts." Evil Ryu said.

"You'll pay for this!" Ichika said as he drew his next card. 'Anyone of my cards could have the spirit of a friend in it. I have to be very careful, but end this duel quickly.' "I summon Infinite Stratos Blue Tears!" Ichika summoned his monster, but Cecilia was the one in that card. "Cecilia?!"

"Ichika? What's going on?" Cecilia said.

"Cecilia, your soul has been trapped within Blue Tears. You are her now." Ichika said, but Cecilia didn't seem to get it. "If I do not win this duel, you and the others could be lost forever."

"I don't understand, but I trust you." Cecilia said.

"Good. Now, thanks to Cecilia, I can deal 400 points of damage for every Infinite Stratos on the field!" Ichika said. Cecilia was able to use the drones and blasted Evil Ryu with lasers as his life points dropped to 3600. "Now, attack Specter Thief!" Cecilia fired a laser and blasted the thief as his Evil Ryu's life points dropped to 3000. "That ends my turn for now."

"That was actually more fun than I thought." Cecilia said.

"We'll see if you think this is fun." Evil Ryu said as he drew his next card. "I activate Dark Door! Good luck trying to attack me now! As long as this remains on the field, we can only attack with one monster. I think I'll also place one monster and one other card facedown." He set two cards on the field and that marked the end of my turn.

"What now?" Cecilia said.

"Don't worry. Just follow my lead." Ichika said as he drew his next card. "Yes. This will work."

"Planning to use Cecilia's new ability again?" Evil Ryu said. "That won't work. I activate Diminish Ring!" A skeletal ring appeared on Cecilia when he activated his trap.

"No thank you, villain." Cecilia said as she tried to take it off.

"That ring won't come off, and as long as you're wearing it, you won't be able to use your ability." Evil Ryu said.

"You might have blocked her ability, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Ichika said. "I activate Stratos Takeoff! This allows me to summon Infinite Stratos Schwarzer Regen!" He summoned out his monster, but he saw that it was Laura. "Laura?!"

"What is this?" Laura asked.

"No time to explain." Ichika said. "I activate Monster Reborn to bring back Rin!" Rin came back on the field.

"I'm back? What is this?" Rin said.

"Ichika, what is going on?" Laura asked.

"All of your souls have been trapped within my cards by an evil spirit that is possessing Ryu." Ichika said. "If we don't win, you all might be lost forever. Houki and Charlotte are still in my deck, but I don't know what cards they're in. We need to end this fast."

"I don't get it, but if it means we stay out of that graveyard, we do it." Rin said.

"Right. Rin, you are Shenlong. Use your ability to show me what that face-down is." Ichika said.

"I'll try." Rin said. She fired the cannons and blasted the face-down. They saw it was a monster called the Morphing Jar.

"The Morphing Jar? This could be a problem." Ichika said. "Once that card is flipped over, both players must discard their entire hand and draw five new cards."

"Yes. You better hope you don't have Houki or Charlotte in your hand." Evil Ryu said. "Either you attack it or I'll flip it over. What will you do?" It's a tough call, but this duel must end as quickly as it can if they're all going to be saved.

"I have no choice. I must end this fast." Ichika said. "Laura, you attack! Your ability will allow you to deal damage!"

"Ja!" Laura said as she initiated the energy lance came out. The jar was flipped over as it attacked her, but Laura pushed through and destroyed it with Evil Ryu's life points dropping to 1500. "That was too easy."

"Don't forget that since it was flipped over, I have to discard my entire hand." Ichika said with Laura a little embarrassed.

"Better hope you don't have Houki and Charlotte in there." Evil Ryu said as they both drew a fresh new hand. "Don't forget that with my Dark Door, you can only attack once."

"I know. That's why I'm going to place one card facedown and end my turn." Ichika said.

"My turn!" Evil Ryu said as he drew his next card. "This is quite the powerful spell. I activate Evil Infusion! By banishing a dark monster from my graveyard, like my Specter Thief, a 1000LP is drained out of you and given to me." Ichika could feel his energy being drained as his life points dropped to 2650 and Evil Ryu's increased to 2500.

"Ichika, are you okay?" Rin asked.

"You'll pay for hurting him." Cecilia said.

"I don't think so." Evil Ryu said. "I activate Haunted Calling. This spell allows me to take a look at your hand and summon one monster on your field trapped in defense mode." Ichika didn't like the sound of that, but he had no choice. He showed his hand to him. Evil Ryu looked and spot one that would work. "I choose Infinite Stratos Rafel-Revive."

"So be it." Ichika said. He summoned his monster, but he was surprised to see Charlotte was there. "Charlotte?!"

"What is this? Where am I?" Charlotte asked as she looked around and spotted everyone. "Guys, what is going on?"

"It's a little complicated, Charlotte." Cecilia said.

"Long story short, Ryu and Ichika are dueling for our lives, and we're the monsters!" Rin said.

"Say what?!" Charlotte said.

"Why did you force her out?" Ichika asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Evil Ryu said. "For right now, I summon a monster facedown. This one might make it difficult for you."

"This just sounds like it gets worse and worse." Cecilia said.

"Don't be afraid. That's just what he wants." Ichika said. "Laura, you're the only one that can deal damage even when the monster is in defense mode. Get ready."

"Understood." Laura said as she acted like a soldier ready for battle.

"Before I end my turn, I have one more spell to activate." Evil Ryu said. "It's called Cursed Fate. This is a powerful spell. If you don't summon a monster with at least 2000atk points on your next turn, you will suffer 200 points of damage for each monster on your field."

"Each one? Does he mean the four of us?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah. You're starting to catch on fast." Rin said.

"I can't afford to lose any life points if I intend to save all of you." Ichika said.

"You better summon that monster." Evil Ryu said as he took pleasure in it.

"Fine!" Ichika said as he drew his next card. 'I only have one monster that meets the requirements and that's Akatsubaki, but what if Houki is in there? I don't have a choice. I can't lose this.' "I'll start by summoning Infinite Stratos Uchigane, but she won't be sticking around. Her special ability allows me to sacrifice her to summon an even stronger Infinite Stratos. Rise, Akatsubaki!" He summoned Uchigane, but she didn't stay for very long as Akatsubaki came out. Ichika's fears were right. Houki was Akatsubaki.

"Houki!" All of them called.

"What the heck? Where am I?" Houki questioned.

"Houki, listen. You have been trapped inside Akatsubaki." Ichika said. "An evil spirit has taken over Ryu. Winning this duel is the only way to save all of you."

"What?" Houki said.

"There's really no time to explain. We need to act now." Cecilia said.

"Okay. I don't get what's going on, but it sounds bad." Houki said.

"It is. Very bad for you. Now that all five of you are out, I can get rid of you one by one." Evil Ryu said.

"How are you going to do that?!" Rin said.

"I think we're about to find out. Rin, use your ability and let's see what that monster really is!" Ichika said.

"You got it!" Rin said as she fired another energy blast to see the face-down. Ichika was shocked to see what it was.

"No! It's the Man-Eater Bug!" Ichika said.

""Man-Eater"? Not woman eater, right?" Cecilia asked.

"What's so scary about that bug? It doesn't look that tough." Rin said.

"The Man-Eater Bug is capable of destroying one monster when it's flipped over." Houki said. "If I'm understanding this right, we're the monsters, aren't we?"

"You mean one of us will be heading for that graveyard?" Rin said. None of them liked the sound of that.

"That's right. Even if you don't attack, I can just flip my bug over and take one of you out." Evil Ryu said. "No matter how you look at it, one of you is heading for the graveyard." This could be the end for one of the girls right now unless something is done.

"I have an idea that could work." Ichika said. "However, in order for it to work, one of you must be sacrificed."

"Sacrificed?" Houki said as none of them liked this.

"I don't like this, but it might be our only shot. We need to end this." Ichika said. None of them wants to go to the graveyard, but they do trust him.

"Okay. Who will it be?" Cecilia asked.

"I already went and I have the lowest attack points. It should be." Rin said. None of them were sure about that.

"No time. We must attack!" Laura said as she went on ahead without conveying with the others. She attacked as the bug revealed itself to attack her. "Ichika, do what what you must! Sacrifice me!"

"Laura!" Houki called as none of them liked this. Ichika hated to do this, but there was no other choice.

"I activate Stratos Self-Destruct! By sacrificing one of my Infinite Stratos monsters, this trap can destroy one of your cards!" Ichika said.

"Laura!" Rin called.

"I'll be fine!" Laura called before she and the bug were destroyed.

"Laura... She sacrificed herself." Charlotte said as she was in tears.

"Don't cry, Charlotte. Laura clearly knew what I had planned." Ichika said. "Charlotte, you are Rafel-Revive. You can bring her back." Once Charlotte realized that, she used the power as she smashed her fist against the ground and Laura came back.

"Laura!" All the girls said as they were happy to see her.

"Nicely done, Laura." Ichika said.

"Of course. I had nothing to worry about with you being the commander." Laura said.

"With no monster in the way, Houki can attack you and end this!" Ichika said.

"Oh yeah!" Houki said as she pulled out twin swords. She flew right at Evil Ryu and slashed against him. They thought that was the end of him, but his life points only dropped to 1250. "Hey! He still has life points!"

"How?" Ichika questioned.

"It's all thanks to this little guy." Evil Ryu said as he showed a monster in his hand. "By showing Pain Biter, this little guy cuts the attack damage from one monster in half. That means I'm still here."

"Maybe, but since Houki is Akatsubaki, I gain life points equal to the damage that was dealt." Ichika said as his life points increased to 3900. "I place one face-down to end my turn."

"My turn!" Evil Ryu said as he was quite pleased with what he had. "Look at that. It's my favorite card. I summon Change Angel!" He summoned out an angel that had a white wing and a black wing. What really surprised them was what the monster looked like.

"It's Ryu!" Houki said.

"The real Ryu!" Rin said.

"What is this?!" Ichika said.

"Ichika, you must do something quickly!" Ryu called. "That evil spirit plans to use me to take control of one of your monsters!"

"That's right. By equipping Change Angel on one of your monsters, I can take control of it!" Evil Ryu said as none of them liked this. "Go!"

"I can't stop!" Ryu called as he flew towards the girls to take over one of them.

"Victory will be mine!" Evil Ryu declared.

"No! Your wicked game ends now!" Ichika called. "I activate Soul Blast! By showing you one monster in my hand, this trap deals damage equal to it's attack points! The monster I'll show you is my ever fateful companion: Byakushiki!"

"What?! No!" Evil Ryu shouted. A spirit of Byakushiki arrived and it was the real Ichika, only Charlotte noticing.

"Ichika?" Charlotte questioned.

"You know what to do?" The spirit of the charm asked.

"Yeah. I got it." Ichika said. He flew right at Evil Ryu and slashed his sword against him. with some damage being dealt and knocking away the last of his life points. With that done, the spirit reached into the power of his charm.

"I don't know who you are or where you came from, but you will never torment an innocent soul again! Be gone!" The spirit shouted as he tried to banish the evil with in the pendent.

"You haven't seen the last of me!" Evil Ryu declared before everything went white.

...

The Real World

Thanks to the spirit, Ichika and everyone else was safe. It would also appear that Ryu was back to normal as he and Ichika took control of their bodies again.

"Thanks for helping me back there, Ichika." Ryu said.

"No problem. Where did you get that pendent in the first place?" Ichika asked.

"My father gave it to me. He's an archeologist and he discovered it in a set of ruins." Ryu said. "I'm just glad that thing inside it is gone." As for the girls, all of them were acting like they woke up from a dream.

"What a nightmare." Rin said.

"Indeed." Cecilia said.

"Sleep well?" Ryu asked as he walked over.

"Ryu!" Rin and Cecilia shouted in fear as they held each other.

"Calm yourselves. It was just a dream." Laura said.

"Wait. Did we all have the same dream? Weird." Houki said.

"Yes. I dreamt that we were Ichika's monsters in a duel. I also could have sworn I saw two Ichikas." Charlotte said with Ichika a little nervous about how true that is. They didn't have much of a chance to talk about it as they heard someone scream. They got out of one probelm and into another.