Ichika was filled with misery. Not only did he lost his duel against Conner, but he also lost five of his stars. That might have ruined any chance he had on rescuing his sister. What's worse is that the spirit inside his charm was willing to sacrifice Conner in order to do it. All he did was sit in front of the castle.

"Ichika, come on." Rin said.

"He hasn't moved or said anything." Cecilia said.

"He's obviously not doing well." Laura said.

"Ichika, please talk to us." Charlotte said, but Ichika wouldn't say a word.

'If I hadn't stopped it when I did, Conner would have been done for.' Ichika thought. 'Now it's all gone. The spirit was willing to go through with it. I can't let that happen to anyone. That means...I can never duel again.' With that thought, all his hopes and chances were shattered.

"Ichika, come on. This isn't like you." Houki said. "All we've got to do is find someone with some stars and you can get in."

"That's easier said than done. There's probably little to no one left on the island. We might not be able to find all the stars Ichika needs." Laura said.

"There is one." Houki said as she walked over to him and held out her glove. "Here, Ichika. Take some of my stars and get in that castle."

"Houki, are you sure? That means you can't compete anymore." Ryu said.

"Ichika needs it more than I do." Houki said. "Chifuyu needs to be saved. It's only right that Ichika is the one that should save her." Houki is offering her stars, but he wasn't doing anything. "Hey! I'm being nice here! You could at least say something." Houki grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up. "At least say something."

"Easy, Houki." Charlotte said.

"If that's how you are to your friends, I hate to see how you are towards your enemies." All of them looked and saw Hector arrived at the castle.

"Hector?! You're here too?!" Rin said.

"Yeah. So what's going on? You have all your stars. Why are you out here?" Hector asked.

"It's Ichika. He lost five of his stars against Conner." Houki said.

"You mean the big guy actually lost a duel?" Hector said. "Well, luckily I showed up. I got the answers." He handed over some stars for Ichika. "Here you go. This is returning the favor for when you stepped in to help me."

"But that means you can't get in the castle." Cecilia said.

"I'm being kind, not stupid." Hector said. He showed that he had all ten stars with the five he was giving.

"I see. You already had ten stars." Ryu said.

"That's why I'm giving these." Hector said. "Well, go on and take them, Ichika." Ichika still wasn't doing anything. Everyone was telling him to take it, but he wouldn't say or do anything. Hector was getting annoyed. "Fine. I'll keep them if you don't want them."

"Hector, you don't understand." Rin said.

"Oh, I understand. Your friend lost one lousy duel and now he's moping about his winning streak ending." Hector said. "You want to feel better, duel me for them."

"Come on, Ichika. You have to." Houki said.

"Duel me, or are you chicken?" Hector said, but Ichika still wouldn't do anything.

"I'll duel you!" Charlotte said with her surprising everyone. "That's right. I'll duel you."

"Get real. A novice like you wouldn't stand a chance against me." Hector said.

"I don't care. Ichika needs those stars. If he won't duel you for them, I will." Charlotte said. Charlotte was willing to face an experienced duelist like Hector for Ichika. Seeing as how there was no stopping her, Hector went through with it. The two of them dueled at the bottom of the castle.

"You sure you don't want to spare yourself the humiliation?" Hector said.

"No way. I'm not backing down." Charlotte said as she put on Ichika's duel disk to duel with.

"Is Charlotte sure about this?" Cecilia asked.

"She is. Ichika, you better be watching this." Houki said.

"Okay. Let's do this, Charlotte." Hector said as they were getting started.

"Let's duel!" Both said as they had 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move." Charlotte said, but this could be bad. Charlotte has no experience in dueling. "I'll start by summoning Happy Lover to the field." She summoned out her monster with it having 800atk points. "That ends my turn."

"Huh?!" All the girls said.

"She can't be serious with that." Rin said.

"Poor Charlotte is in real trouble." Ryu said.

"Please. You're going to need to do better than that. Just watch!" Hector said as he drew his card. "I summon Beast-Warrior Eagrith Eagle!" He summoned his eagle warrior with it having 1300atk points. "Attack now!" Eagrith flew at Happy Lover and destroyed it easily with Charlotte's life points dropping to 3500.

'Oh, that's right. Eight-hundred seems like a high number, but it's actually weak in this game.' Charlotte thought.

"I place one card facedown to end my turn." Hector said.

"Charlotte can't make these rookie mistakes if she wants to win." Houki said.

"But what can she do? She's nowhere near experienced enough to defeat Hector." Laura said.

"Charlotte, it's clear that you don't have what it takes to beat me." Hector said. "That's why I'm proposing a deal." Charlotte was listening to hear this. "If you can manage to defeat Eagrith and deal me damage, I'll give you the win."

"That's it?" Charlotte said to be clear about this.

"Yes, but I'm not going to make it easy." Hector said. "It's your move. You better make it count."

'I just need to beat that one monster. I can do that.' Charlotte thought as she drew her next card and it was a trap. 'Wabaku? This is a powerful trap. I can use it.' "I'll start by summoning Celtic Guardian to the field." She summoned out a warrior this time with it having 1400atk points. "Now attack!" Celtic Guardian went on the attack, but Eagrith was able to block the attack. "What's going on? My guardian should have more power."

"Did you forget that I have a trap that I activated? Reinforcements!" Hector said. "This trap gives my monster an extra 500atk points." Eagrith's attack points rose to 1800 and tore Celtic Guardian to ribbons. Charlotte's life points dropped to 3100. "Are you done?"

"Uh...yeah." Charlotte said, but she realized she forgot to set her trap. "Wait..."

"Too late!" Hector said as he drew his next card. "I activate Beast-Warrior Halberd! This will give Eagrith an extra 800atk points." Eagrith was given a halberd and it's power rose to 2100. "In case you don't know, with no monsters to protect you, Eagrith can attack you directly!" Eagrith flew at Charlotte and attacked her with her getting knocked down as her life points dropped to 1000.

"Charlotte!" Her friends called. None of them were liking this. Charlotte was getting thrashed and there's nothing they can do. Charlotte tried getting back up and it looked like she still had some fight in her.

"You're persistent. I'll give you that much." Hector said. "I place one card facedown to end my turn."

"I guess it's my turn." Charlotte said.

"Charlotte, this seems rather pointless." Hector said. "Do you honestly think you can take me? Look at how much of a disadvantage you're at. All you're doing is humiliating yourself."

"If you're going to try and convince me to give up, forget it. I won't." Charlotte said. "Ichika needs those stars and I will get them."

"But you clearly don't know what you're doing? I can see that you're scared." Hector said.

"I won't." Charlotte said. "I'm doing this for Ichika, Hector. Ichika's always been there to help his friends. He never let us down. This time, I can help him. I don't care how much the odds are against me as long as I have something to fight for." Charlotte's hand might be shaking, but she's doing her best to be brave. "I might be scared, but I won't let that stop me."

"Ichika, did you hear that?" Houki said.

"Charlotte's scared, but she's trying her best to be strong for you. It's quite noble and admirable." Ryu said.

"Charlotte, that all sounds nice, but look at Ichika." Hector said. "He looks like he's given up. I guess it's fine if you want to support and encourage him, but it doesn't chance the fact that he needs to face whatever problem he has." When he said that, Ichika gave a slight reaction. "Kind words can't do anything if Ichika doesn't have the courage to face whatever is going on in his head. He needs to man up and face it himself. He can't have others fight his problems for him. Otherwise, they'll never go away and will only get worse."

'Maybe Hector's right.' Ichika thought as he was thinking differently. 'Maybe I'm giving up too easily, but what do you do when you share a body with another presence?'

"It's my turn!" Charlotte said as she kept the duel going. The next card he drew was called Gentle Angel. 'Gentle Angel? Actually, this card is just like Ichika. It's a card that holds a strong and kind heart.' Charlotte was thinking her next move carefully this time.

'Try whatever you like, Charlotte. I have things set.' Hector thought. 'My face-down is Dust Tornado. It will blow away and spell or trap you might have waiting for me. I also got a card called Beast-Warrior Gonale the Gazelle. This card prevents a Beast-Warrior from being destroyed and I don't take damage when I discard it. I'm sorry, but you can't win.'

"I'm summoning the Gentle Angel to the field!" Charlotte said. She summoned a charming-looking angel as it flew out with 1200atk points. "I'm also placing my own card facedown."

"My turn!" Hector said as he drew his next card. "I'm afraid this duel is just about over! Eagrith, attack!" Eagrith went on the attack once more, but Hector was surprised when he saw a barrier came around Charlotte's angel and protected it. "What happened?"

"You didn't seem to notice that I had a trap too. Wabaku, it protects my monsters and prevents damage for the rest of the turn." Charlotte said as she successfully activated her trap.

"No way! You had a good trap like that?!" Hector said. "Well, you may have finally made a good move, but you're not out of the woods yet. This is your last chance."

"And I'll take it!" Charlotte said as she drew a card. "I'm going to equip my own spell card to my angel. I activate Angelic Light! this card gives a light attribute monster an extra 400atk points." A light shined down on her angel and increased it's attack points to 1600.

"So what? It's still not enough." Hector said.

"Maybe so, but I have this. A card called Mystical Space Typhoon!" Charlotte said. Hector wasn't expecting that. "This destroys one spell or trap on the field and I choose your halberd and weakened it." A tornado blew by and destroyed Eagrith's weapon. "I told you that I wouldn't give up, Hector. Looks like I managed to pull a good mood off. I said I would fight for Ichika and that's what I'm doing. It would seem it's paying off. Gentle Angel, attack with Compassionate Light!" Her monster readied the attack. Hector reached for his trap, but he didn't play it. Gentle Angel unleashed the attack and blasted his monster as his life points dropped to 3700.

"She did it!" Cecilia said. Hector was confused as to what he did.

'I had the perfect counter, but I didn't play it.' Hector thought. It would seem that hanging out with them has had a real affect on him. "Well Charlotte, a deal's a deal. The win is yours."

"I really won?" Charlotte questioned. Her confusion turned to excitement. Hector pulled his cards away, but Ichika had a suspicion about something.

'Hold on. That face-down he had must have been something like Dust Tornado. He was about to play it' Ichika thought. "Hector, wait. What about your face-down?"

"It was useless. Couldn't help me." Hector claimed, but he didn't fool Ichika.

"Ichika..." Ichika turned around to face Charlotte. "Here." She said as she handed the stars.

"Thanks, Charlotte. I won't forget what you did for me." Ichika said as he took the stars. 'That duel really did help. I can't give up. I've got to keep fighting.' Ichika was feeling like himself and the spirit was glad to see that.

"Hey! Come on! Let's get in the castle!" Hector said.

"Right. Let's go!" Ichika said as they all headed for the castle. Now that Ichika is back in the game, the finals of this tournament await.