The morning sun shined down as a new came to the island. Ichika and his friends found a way to get some sleep, but it was a little difficult with all that has happened. All of them woke up and took in the day.

"Good morning." Charlotte said.

"Morning, Charl." Ichika said. Everyone woke up and felt good, but Houki didn't seem to look like it. "Houki? Are you feeling okay?"

"Huh? Yeah. I feel fine." Houki said. She said it, but it didn't seem like she meant it. All of them were a little concern she was still sore over what happened in her duel with Conner. "Hey, where's Hector?" All of them look and saw Hector was already gone.

"Look. He left a note." Cecilia said as she found a piece of paper. "Thanks for the other night. Ichika and Houki, hope to see you both in the finals."

"He just took off? I guess he's still getting use to this whole friendship-thing." Rin said.

"Maybe, but it looks like he's warming up. I'm sure we'll see him again once we get in the castle." Ichika said. They were all looking forward to it. With both Houki and Ichika more than halfway through to getting the castle, it could be soon.

...

A Cave

"Aww!" A fellow duelist ran out of the cave as fast as he could out of a cave. As he went running out, a creepy looking duelist with short black hair, pale skin, wearing jeans, and a black top that went all the way down to his ankles.

"Look at him running scared."

"Yeah. What a wuss. Nice duel back there, Ghoul." Someone else stepped out of the cave. He was a muscular guy with him wearing a blue and white stripped shirt and jeans. He also had a black mullet. "How many stars does that make now for both of us?"

"Between the two of us and the boss, we have a total of sixteen stars, Ben." Ghoul said. "Let's go pay see what he has planned for us next." They walked back in the cave to see the man who was in charge. The one in charge had black hair with a blue bandanna tied around his head. He wore a black leather vest with a black skull shirt and had ripped jeans.

"Hey, Bane." Ben said.

"Did the runt run scared?" Bane asked.

"He sure did." Ghoul said.

"I think he almost wet himself." Ben said.

"Nice." Bane said as he laughed.

"We've done good right? We're going to make it to the finals?" Ben asked.

"Of course we are." Ghoul said.

"Yeah, but we still have some work to do if all three of us are going to make it in." Bane said. "Benny, how about you go find the next victim? Ghoul, I've got something that might help your deck."

"Sure." Ben said as he turned around and was on his way out.

"What do you have for me?" Ghoul asked.

"This." Bane said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a card. "Try using this in your next duel." Ghoul took the card. When he took a look at it, he liked what he saw.

"Yeah. This could come in handy." Ghoul said. Whoever these three are, they're trouble.

...

Ichika's Group

"Well, since we're all up, what shall we do for breakfast?" Ryu asked.

"We're in luck. We still got some of the good Hector gave us." Charlotte said. "Houki, could you go get some water? It would be most helpful."

"Sure." Houki said as she walked off on her own. That would end up being her mistake. Houki found a stream and tried collecting some water. She wouldn't show it to the others, but her defeat by the hands of Conner was still getting to her. 'I can't believe I blew it big time. I stepped up acting like a big shot against that jerk, but it was all for nothing. He had complete control of the duel from the start. Well, I can't let this defeat get to me so much. I'll just have to be ready for next time.' She told herself. As Houki was collecting water, someone was coming up to her.

"Hey, sweet cheeks." Houki found that name offensive.

"Who actually had the guts to call me that?" Houki said as she turned to him anger. She saw it was Ben and he acted fast. Everything happened so fast with Houki and she ended up blacking out.

...

Houki

Houki was beginning to wake up. She felt a little dizzy, but she was able to get back up.

"What happened?" Houki asked as she tried getting back up. She looked around to see she was in some sort of cave with torches on the wall. "Where am I?"

"Hello." Houki looked up and was met with Ghoul. She screamed at the sight of him. "Scared already?"

"Looks like she is." Houki looked behind him and spotted Bane and Ben.

"If she's scared already, this shouldn't take long." Bane said.

"No kidding. The poor didn't even know what hit her when I grabbed her." Ben said.

"Don't get too scared, little girl. It will be over before you know." Ghoul said.

"Okay. I know I screamed, but it's because I got freaked by that ugly mug of yours!" Houki said. That stung Ghoul as Bane and Ben laughed.

"She's got a point. You're a little hard to look at, Ghoul." Ben said.

"Shut up!" Ghoul said.

"What's going on? Why did you clowns bring me here?" Houki asked.

"To duel of course." Ghoul said.

"A duel?" Houki questioned. "I'm not wasting my time with guys like you. I'm out of here." She tried leaving, but she saw her ankle was chained to the ground.

"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere." Ghoul said. "There is one of three ways for you to get out. You can leave your stars, your cards, or you duel and win. Not like that last one is going to happen." Houki was trapped in a cave, chained to the ground, and the others had no idea where she was. Houki doesn't have a lot of options.

"Fine. I guess I have no choice." Houki said as she accepted his challenge. "I'll wager two of my stars."

"Fine with me. When I get done with you, you'll be begging for us to take all your stars." Ghoul said. They activated their duel disks with them getting ready to go. Ghoul will be ready to have Houki screaming for help.

"Let's duel!" Both said and had 4000LP ready.

"I'll make the first move." Ghoul said. He looked at his hand and he looked ready to play the card that Bane gave him. "Just wait until I use the card you gave me, Bane."

"Wait." Bane said. "Not yet. Play the card on the far left first in attack mode." Ghoul found that weird, but he did what Bane said.

"I summon Pyramid Turtle." Ghoul summoned out a turtle with a pyramid for a shell with it having 1200atk points. "If I'm using a monster like that, I better play a card to give it some help."

"No. End your turn right now." Bane said.

"What?" Ghoul said as he didn't understand.

"Fine. I end my turn." Ghoul said.

"Is that guy going to make all your moves for you?" Houki said. "If that's the case, there's no way I can lose to someone that doesn't believe in himself. I draw!" Houki drew her card and believed this duel wasn't going to take long. "I'll start my turn by summoning Hito of the Blazing Fire to the field!" She summoned out her swordsman with him having 1700atk points. "Next, I activate the equip spell known as Tradition Sword. When a monster is equipped with Tradition Sword, they'll gain an extra 200atk points each time they attack. Hito, take down that turtle with Flames of Nature!" Hito's sword ignited with his attack points rising to 1900. Hito slashed against Pyramid Turtle with it being destroyed and Ghoul's life points dropping to 3300.

"That didn't go well." Ghoul said. "At least I can now use Pyramid Turtle's ability. Once it's destroyed, I can summon a zombie that has 2000def points or less. I think it's time I set the field for what I really have planned."

"Not yet." Bane said. "Play a different zombie, any other one."

"Fine, but I hope you know what you're doing." Ghoul said as he took a different zombie from his deck. "I summon Knight Zombie." He summoned out a zombie wearing knight armor with it having 300def points.

'Something doesn't seem right.' Houki thought. 'That guy behind him is the one calling all the shots. What's he trying to do?' Houki doesn't like where this was going.

...

Ichika's Group

"Houki has been gone for a while." Ichika said. "This isn't like her." They've all been waiting for Houki to come back, but she never did. "I'm going to go see if she's okay."

"We'll all come." Ryu said. All of them agreed and hurried to the stream. When they got there, there wasn't a sign of her anywhere.

"Where could she be?" Rin said.

"I do hope nothing has happened to her." Cecilia said.

"Over here!" Laura called as she found a few thing. "It looks like there was a struggle. I think they went to the north of here."

"It's cool you're able to tell something like that from little detail." Ichika said with Laura getting all flustered. "Let's hurry. Houki might need our help." All of them hurried as fast as they could and hoped that Houki was safe.

...

The Cave

"Since Hito destroyed a monster, his special ability now activates. You take an extra 300 points of damage." Houki said as she continued with the duel. Hito unleashed fire at Ghoul and blasted him with it as his life points dropped to 3000. "You better step up your game if you plan on winning."

"Here I go." Ghoul said as he drew his next card.

"Good. Play that card you just drew." Bane said.

"Are you sure?" Ghoul said as he was starting to have doubts.

"I haven't steered you wrong yet." Bane said.

"Okay. I play Zombie Drag." Ghoul said. "By sending a zombie in my deck to the graveyard, you have to send a monster from your deck to the graveyard. I'll say goodbye to my Clown Zombie."

"I'll discard Mishen of the Silent Wind." Houki said.

"Now can I play that card you gave me?" Ghoul asked.

"Not quite yet. Just summon the monster on the far right facedown." Bane said. Ghoul didn't get what Bane was trying to do, but he went with it. Ghoul took a monster from his hand and placed it facedown like he said. "That should be enough for now."

"Does that mean it's my turn? Fine!" Houki said as she drew her next card. 'I don't know what those guys are planning, but I better do something about it now.' "Hito, attack that Knight Zombie!" Hito unleashed more flames. Thanks to Houki's spell, his attack points increased to 2100. He attacked Ghoul's zombie and destroyed it. "Don't forget that since he destroyed a monster, you take 300 points of damage!" Ghoul got burned by the flames again as his life points dropped to 2700. "That's all I'll do this turn. No more stalling, let's see what you're really trying to pull."

"Sure. Go ahead, Ghoul. The stage has been set." Bane said and Ghoul was glad to hear it.

"Good!" Ghoul said as he drew his next card. "I'll start by flipping over my Grand Zombie!" He flipped over his face-down and a zombie that was merged with the ground came out with it having 1200atk points. "Next, I summon the tuner monster called Virus Zombie!" He summoned a purple mist that had the face and hands of a zombie with it having 500atk points.

"Wait! Did you say tuner monster?!" Houki said.

"I sure did. I tune my level two Virus Zombie with level three Grand Zombie!" Ghoul said. Both zombies broke apart and the familiar circle appeared. It divided into five circles with a beam shooting through. "I synchro summon Royal Zombie!" He summoned out a monster with a skull face. It was dressed like royalty in dark clothing and wore a purple furry cape. It also carried a spear with it also having 2000atk points.

"All that for this monster that's weaker than mine?" Houki said with disappointment.

"It's not going to stay that way. Royal Zombie gains an extra 100atk points for ever zombie in the graveyard. Right now, there is a total of five zombies in there." Bane said. Royal Zombie's attack points rose to 2500. Houki was beginning to see she was in real trouble now.

"Now you will see fear before your eyes!" Ghoul said. Houki had trouble with a synchro monster before. Does she have what it takes to face this one?

To Be Continued...