Ichika and Houki have succeeded. They managed to get the ten stars they needed to enter Peggrin's Castle. It won't be long until they save Chifuyu and Mila.

'It's almost time.' Ichika thought as he stared right at the castle and at his charm. 'No way I could have done it without the spirit in my charm. I know he'll also help me win and save Chifuyu as well.'

"Ichika." He felt someone tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Charlotte. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I guess I'm just a little nervous." Ichika said.

'Nervous? That doesn't sound like Ichika.' Charlotte thought. She remembered all the times Ichika dueled and seemed more confident. 'Come to think of it, Ichika always seems like a different person whenever he duels. In fact, when he dueled Ryu in that dream, I saw two Ichikas. Actually, I'm starting to wonder if that was even a dream. In fact, I remember another time like that.'

...

Flashback

"Everyone, meet our new foreign exchange student. This is Charlotte Dubois."

"Bonjour. It is very nice to meet all of you. I have come all the way from France." Charlotte said. Charlotte took a seat and it just so happens that it was next to Ichika.

"Hi, I'm Ichika Orimura."

"Hello." Charlotte said.

"Back then, I just thought Ichika was just a regular person. I didn't say or do much to get his attention." Charlotte narrated. She just went on as everything was normal. As time went on, she got a strange note.

"Meet me behind the gymnasium? Who could this be from?" Charlotte questioned. Charlotte did what the note said and went behind the gym. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Charlotte looked around for someone and she soon heard chuckling. She turned around and saw some guy coming at her.

"Don't move or scream and this will be over quickly." The guy said. Charlotte was a little scared as she was about to get mugged.

"Charlotte!" She saw Ichika ran in and tried to save her as he grabbed the guy, but he just threw Ichika off and he hit his head.

"Ichika!" Charlotte called as she was afraid he was hurt.

"Now for you." The guy said as he turned to her. What no one knew was that the spirit in Ichika's charm took over.

"I don't think think so." Ichika said as the guy turned back to him.

"You want some more?" The guy went to attack him, but Ichika acted quickly and before anyone really knew what happened, Ichika had the guy beaten to the ground.

"Are you okay, Charlotte?" Ichika asked.

"Oui..." Charlotte said as she was amazed at what just happened, even if she didn't know who it was that really saved her.

End of Flashback

...

'I guess that's what I like about you, Ichika.' Charlotte said. 'There are times you're brave, but there are times you're sweet and compassionate. You're a little mysterious. I can't help, but wonder who the real Ichika is.'

"Hey!" Houki called. "Let's get going! The castle is just a set of stairs away."

"Yeah! Let's go, Ichika!" Rin called.

"I'm coming." Ichika said.

"Ichika, wait." Charlotte said. "I've noticed that whenever you duel, you seem to act like a different person. Haven't you ever noticed that?"

"Do I?" Ichika said as he wasn't sure how he should tell her about the spirit that is within his charm.

"Ichika, I'm being serious." Charlotte said.

"I know." Ichika said. "It's a little hard to explain, but you're right Charlotte. Whenever I duel, it does seem like I'm a different person. Maybe because I don't have the confidence to duel as myself. It's not really a problem, is it?"

"Well... No." Charlotte said. "I'm just a little concerned, that's all."

"I get it. The truth is...there's actually something up with my charm." Ichika said. He felt like he was ready to tell one of his friends the truth, but Laura and Cecilia grabbed him by the arms before he could do anything.

"Let's go, Ichika." Cecilia said.

"We must make haste to rescue Miss Orimura." Laura said as the two of them dragged him to the castle. Charlotte was a little curious as to what Ichika was going to tell her, but she just went and followed. As they all made their way up the stairs, they readied themselves for whatever awaits them.

"I wonder how many other duelists have made it to the castle." Ryu said.

"I don't think there would be too many of them." Laura said.

"Indeed. It looked like there were less than a hundred people on that boat. There should only be a handful of them left." Cecilia said.

"Houki..." Ichika said.

"Yeah?" Houki asked.

"You are aware you and I might have to face each other, right?" Ichika said.

"Yeah. I already knew that." Houki said. "I know we both want to save Chifuyu, but I'm not going to be holding anything back.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure we're on the same page." Ichika said. All of them kept going, but Ichika came to a stop as he saw someone above them. All of them were shocked to see Conner was standing up there. "Conner?!"

"Didn't think we would be seeing you again so soon." Rin said.

"Did you already save Mila?" Charlotte asked.

"Not quite." Conner said. "It would seem that I've ran into a little trouble before I got her out of here. Orimura, the time has come for us to settle things once and for all."

"You're challenging me to a duel?" Ichika questioned.

"That's right, for five of your stars." Conner said.

"Say what?! You can't do that!" Houki said.

"Ichika already has all ten of his stars. Why should he risk any of them?" Cecilia said.

"I have to duel you, Orimura." Conner said. "I know you want to save your sister, but I need to save my sister as well. Dueling you is the only way I can duel Peggrin and get her out of here."

"Conner, if we work together, we can both get what we want. There's no reason for us to duel each other like this." Ichika said.

"Ichika's right. So, either get of our way or work with us." Houki said.

"That's not an option." Conner said. "It's the only way you're going to get in, Orimura. We're both duelists, as well as we both have a lot to gain and lose by doing this. Surely you can understand why I need to do this."

'Peggrin must be threating to harm Mila if Conner doesn't do this.' Ichika thought. Ichika might not know what's really going on, but he doesn't want any harm to come to Mila. He wants to help her just like Conner. It seems like he had no choice.

"You're on, Conner." Ichika said as he tapped into the power of his charm and the spirit inside took over.

"I'm ready, Conner."

'There it is again.' Charlotte thought. 'Ichika is almost like a different person. I just hope he knows what he's doing.'

"Follow me." Conner said as he showed the way to where they will duel. Conner took them up the castle with the boys standing on opposing sides. "Ready, Orimura? I've been wanting this rematch for a while. You're the only person that ever defeated me, but I can't lose for the sake of my sister."

"My sister is on the line as well." Ichika said. "I can't afford to be defeated. I wish we would have worked together, but you're not leaving me much of a choice, are you?"

"No, I'm not." Conner said. "I said before that I don't need your help and I still don't. Enough of this. We didn't come up here to talk. We came here to duel."

"Very well. The wager is five stars, right?" Ichika asked to confirm.

"That's right, and the winner will be able to take on Peggrin." Conner said.

"Very well." Ichika said as two rivals will face each other with their loved ones on the line.

"Let's duel!" Both of them said as the long-awaited rematch was finally going to begin.

"I do hope Ichika knows what he's doing." Ryu said.

"Ichika will be fine." Laura said.

"Yeah. He beat this jerk once. He'll do it again." Rin said. The others agreed, but Charlotte was the only one that had a bad feeling about this.

"I'll start this." Conner said. "I summon Creature of the Void!" He summoned out his creature as it came out with 1500atk points. "When he's summoned his special ability activates. I'm now able to summon another dark attribute monster from my hand. I summon The Thing in the Mirror." He summoned out his mirror monster as it came out with 800atk points.

"Hold on. Those are the same monsters he used against me." Houki said.

"Is he going to summon Ascension Dragon again?" Cecilia asked.

"Not quite. Here's where the difference comes in." Conner said. "I activate my mirror's ability! It can copy the level of another monster on the field! It will become a level four just like my Creature of the Void."

"Level four? He must be planning to synchro summon a level eight monster." Ryu said.

"I tune level four Thing in the Mirror with level four Creature of the Void!" Conner said as the two monsters broke apart and the circle was form. Then, it split into eight circles as a beam shot through. "I synchro summon Phantom Centaur!" He summoned out a black centaur with it wearing a black cape and hood. It also carried an axe with it having 2800atk points.

"That's a pretty strong monster to summon on the first turn." Charlotte said.

"Yeah. What's he up to?" Rin said.

"Since I just special summoned a monster from my extra deck, I'm now able to activate this spell card." Conner said. "I activate Spatial Shockwave! Since I have a monster I summoned from my extra deck, this card deals damage equal to half of my monster's attack points." His centaur fired a powerful beam from it's chest and blasted Ichika as Ichika's life points dropped to 2600.

"A pretty good move." Ryu said. "Conner can't attack on his first turn, but what he just pulled is a good trade. On top of that, he has a powerful monster out on his very first turn. That's going to be tough for Ichika to beat."

"He will beat it. We just need to have faith in him." Cecilia said. They all felt the same. This duel is just starting.

"Make your move, Orimura." Conner said.

"Very well!" Ichika said as he drew his card. It was a familiar trap. 'Shield Deflect! This is what won my last duel against Conner. He might be expecting it. I better hold on to it until I truly need it.'

'Orimura, I can't afford to lose this duel. It's my sister and my company on the line. I made the mistake of underestimating you last time. I won't make the same mistake twice.' Conner thought as he had something planned for Ichika.

"Since you have a monster on the field when I have none, I am able to special summon Infinite Satellite!" Ichika said. He summoned out his satellite with the barrier forming around it as it had 2200def points. "Then, I summon Infinite Stratos Shenlong!" Shenlong flew out on the field with her 1500atk points. "Next, I activate Atmospheric Break! This allows one Infinite Stratos monster to attack you directly with half of it's attack points."

"Bring it on, I'm ready." Conner said.

"I'm sure you are. Shenlong, attack him directly with Impact Cannon!" Ichika said. Shenlong fired it's cannons and blasted Conner as his life points dropped to 3250. "I might not be able to take your Phantom Centaur on now, but I can still attack, and protect myself. I play Stratos Repair. By bringing an Infinite Stratos on my field back to my deck, I can exchange it for a monster that has weaker attack points in my deck. Shenlong, come back." He took Shenlong back and added it to his deck. "In her place, I'll summon Kuribot in defense mode." He summoned out Kuribot with it having 200def points. "That ends my turn."

"Trying to increase your defense?" Conner taunted. "It won't help you with what I have planned. I draw!" He drew his next card and it was his dragon. Conner wished he could play it now, but he's got something else planned. "Phantom Centaur, attack that little robot of his! Attack with Nightmare Assault!" His centaur went on the attack. It charged right in and slashed it's axe against Kuribot with it being destroyed.

"It's a good thing Kuribot was in defense mode." Cecilia said.

"It wasn't enough." Conner said. "Phantom Centaur's ability now activates! Since it destroyed a monster, you take 600 points of damage, Orimura!" His centaur smashed it's axe against the ground and unleashed a shockwave that hit Ichika with his life points dropping to 2000.

"Ichika!" His friends all called in concern.

"I'm not holding anything back this time, Orimura!" Conner said. "I took you lightly last time. Not this time. This time, I will defeat you." 'And with what I have planned, you won't be able to defeat me.' He thought. What does Conner have planned? Will Ichika be able to beat Conner this time?

To Be Continued...