'Well, this is it.' Ichika thought as he was getting himself ready. 'I have to duel Peggrin and win if I want to save Chifuyu and the others, but I need to get past Hector and my opponent after him to do that.' He looked down at the charm and was wondering if he should even use it. 'Chifuyu told me to use the power of my charm, but the spirit was willing to hurt Conner to win. Can I really trust him?'

"Ichika!" Houki called as she knocked on the door. "We need to get going. It's going to start at any moment."

"Coming." Ichika said. He doesn't know if he can trust the spirit, but he still needs to fight. Ichika grabbed his deck and made his way. Houki and Ichika entered a private room for the finalists. Hector and Bane were already there and set.

"I'm surprised you two actually had the guts to come out." Bane said.

"Zip it, creep. I'm taking you down." Houki said.

'The fool. She doesn't even know that I swiped her card.' Bane thought. All he needed to do was wait for her disqualification.

"Well, it's show time." Hector said. The doors opened up and they all stepped out with them facing Peggrin in a chair on the other side of the dueling area. The girls and Ryu were just above them to watch.

"Welcome, one and all. You four have done well to make it this far. You should be proud of what you accomplished." Peggrin said. "We might have four, but only one will be left standing in the end. The winner will be granted the chance to duel me and practically have any wish we're capable of granting. We will now see which one of you is the best of the best."

"We will now begin with the first match. It will be Ichika Orimura vs. Hector Hudson." Crone said.

"Here we go, Ichika. I'm planning on winning this thing." Hector said.

"We'll see." Ichika said as they both made their way to the bridge.

"Good luck, Ichika." Houki said.

"Well, I'm going to take a nap. Who really cares who will win this when I'm going to win it all." Bane said with Houki getting annoyed.

"I'm going to join my friends. It's way better than standing next to you." Houki said as she left. Ichika and Hector made their way to the bridge. Hector was ready for this duel, but Ichika seemed like another story.

"Does Ichika seem nervous to you?" Charlotte asked.

"No way. I'm sure he's fine. Just trying to play it cool." Rin said.

"Best of luck, Ichika!" Cecilia cheered.

"Will both duelists please show one of the required cards." Crone said. Hector held the star and and Ichika held the blank one. "Very good. You may begin when ready."

"I might owe you for helping me get here, Ichika, but I'm not losing." Hector said.

"Sorry, Hector. I'm the one that's going to win." Ichika said.

'Okay, Ichika. I'm ready.' The spirit said as he was ready to switch places with Ichika.

'No!' Ichika thought and the spirit was surprised to hear that. 'I'm doing this one without you. I can't risk you hurting Hector.' Ichika is going to try and hold the spirit back, but it's going to take some effort. It will be difficult fighting the spirit and Hector at the same time. Ichika went through with it as he held out his duel disk and Hector did the same.

"Let's do this! I'll give it my all, Ichika! I hope you will too!" Hector said, but that might easier said than done.

"Let's duel!" They said and now had 4000LP.

"I'll make the first move!" Hector said. "I'm sure you remember my little birdie here. I summon Beast-Warrior Eagrith Eagle to the field!" Eagrith flew out on the field with 1300atk points. "I'm also going to place this one card facedown to end my turn."

"What do you think that facedown is?" Rin asked.

"I bet it's something like Reinforcements." Charlotte said.

"I doubt that." Houki said as she managed to join the others. "Hector's smarter than that. He's probably using tactics that Ichika hasn't seen yet."

"It does make sense." Ryu said.

"He knows Ichika won't be easy to defeat." Laura said. "That's why he's going to try and catch Ichika by surprise."

"It's my turn!" Ichika said as he drew his card. "I'll start by summoning Rocket Battler to the field!" He summoned out his robot as it came out with 1400atk points. 'I need to end this before the spirit takes over.' "Attack with Satellite Laser!" His monster took aim as it readied his attack.

"Attacking blindly? Did you forget that I have a trap!" Hector said. "I activate Beast-Warrior Reflection! As long as I have a Beast-Warrior, the archetype, your monsters lose half of their attack points when they attack!" His robot fired a laser, but it bounced off a mirror and was reflected back. Rocket Battler lost half of it's attack points and were destroyed with Ichika's life points dropping to 3400. "That was too easy."

"Ichika just made a rookie mistake." Houki said. "He just launched an attack and didn't even consider what Hector's face-down was."

"Maybe he had nothing else to play." Cecilia said.

"Ichika's more cautious than that. I sure hope he's doing okay." Ryu said.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn." Ichika said.

"That's it? Not that impressive." Hector said as he drew his next card. "You're left wide open now. That's why I'm summoning out Beast-Warrior Ralius Rhino to the field!" He summoned out a new animal-warrior that was rhino and it had 1800atk points. "You're in trouble now, Ichika. With Ralius on the field, he'll gain an additional 200atk points for each other Beast-Warrior that's on the field only when he attacks. That's exactly what I'm going to do! Ralius, attack!" His rhino warrior charged right at Ichika and his attack points increased to 2000. He smashed into Ichika and his life points dropped to 2000.

"No! He already lost half of his life points!" Cecilia said.

"And he's about to lose a lot more!" Rin said.

"Eagrith, your turn!" Hector said as Eagrith flew at Ichika.

"I activate Defender's Defeat!" Ichika said. "I have to send one card in my hand to the graveyard to use this card." He said as he discarded a card. "By doing so, I can block your attack because the card I discarded was a monster who holds defense points higher than your monster's attack points. The card I discarded was Akatsubaki. She had 1800def points." Eagrith flew at him, but all he did was hit a barrier.

"You might have blocked that attack, but you'll have to do better than that." Hector said. "It's your turn now."

"Here goes!" Ichika said as he drew a monster, but it had nowhere near enough power to defeat either of Hector's monsters. 'I don't have anything that can help me now. Hector's trap will just keep cutting my monster's attack points in half when they attack. That's exactly what I don't need. I need to end this duel as soon as possible.' With fear of what might happen, Ichika's trying to end the duel quickly, but it looks like he can't do that. "I summon Firewall Blockade to the field!" He summoned a robotic soldier that had a large shield with 0atk points.

"A monster with zero attack points?" Hector said.

"It might seem that way, but Firewall Blockade's ability switches it to defense mode when it's summoned." Ichika said. It switched to defense mode with it having 1500def points. "What's more is that Firewall Blockade gains a total of three shield counters." Three lights shined on the shield that showed the counters. "As long as Firewall Blockade has those counters, it can't be destroyed. However, each counter will be lost for each attack. That ends my turn."

"Is that it? I must say that I'm pretty underwhelmed, Ichika." Hector said. "Where's the guy that makes great comebacks? I was expecting something more exciting, but it seems like you're holding back or something is wrong."

"Hey, leave Ichika alone, jerk." Rin said.

"Indeed. He's doing the best he can. Even Ichika can have a little bad luck." Cecilia said.

"Stop trying to get in his head and fight honorably." Laura said. The others were convinced Hector was trying to psyche Ichika out, but Charlotte was thinking differently.

"I don't think that's what Hector's doing. It does seem like something is bothering Ichika. He isn't dueling like himself." Charlotte said. "I think Hector's actually trying to help Ichika."

"I don't like easy wins, Ichika, but it will be your own fault if you lose." Hector said. "It's my turn now!" He drew his next card and was getting serious. "I'm activating my Beast-Warrior Halberd to give Eagrith an extra 800atk points!" Eagrith was given the halberd and it's attack points rose to 2100. "That's not all. I'm summoning out Beast-Warrior Panthura Panther!" He summoned out a new monster which was a humanoid panther this time with him having 1900atk points. "Three monsters. Your Firewall Blockade won't survive them."

"He's right. Three monsters. Once all three attack and Firewall Blockade loses it's last counter, it's done for." Houki said.

"At least it's in defense mode and will protect Ichika's life points." Ryu said.

"You would think so, but Panthura has a tough ability." Hector said. "All Beast-Warriors can inflict piercing damage. That means that even if your monster is in defense mode, you're still taking damage."

"Not good." Ichika said as he didn't like this at all.

"Not good at all, at least for you." Hector said. "Attack, all three of you!" All three of his monsters attacked. First was his Ralius. When Ralius attacked, it's attack points rose to 2200 and Ichika's life points dropped to 1300 on impact. Eagrith attacked second and caused Ichika's life points to drop to 600. With each attack, Firewall Blockade lost a counter. "It may have survived those two attacks, but Pantura will finish it. Attack with Wild Dark Slash!" Panthura pulled out a sword and slashed against Firewall Blockade. It caused Ichika's life points dropped again down to a mere 200.

"Since Firewall Blockade still has one counter." Ichika said.

"Yes, but it's all out of power now." Hector said. "With no counters, your Firewall Blockade is destroyed." It was just like Hector said. Firewall Blockade was out of power and was destroyed. "That was actually a pathetic defense, Ichika. I was hoping for something more. What is going on with you? Look at the position you're in now."

"He's right. Ichika is down to only 200LP." Rin said.

"This is bad. Another round like that and he's done for. Ichika can't afford any mistakes this time." Ryu said.

"Something is clearly wrong with Ichika. I can feel it." Charlotte said. They might not know what's going on with Ichika, but Peggrin could.

'Very disappointing, Ichika, but I sense your struggle. You're trying to hold back the spirit in your charm while dueling at the same time.' Peggrin thought. 'You can't fight yourself and your opponent at the same time. You better figure this out and soon.'

"Ichika, what's going on with you? I want to duel Ichika Orimura, not someone who's acting like an rookie." Hector said. "You better get over whatever is bothering you or it's game over." Ichika needs the spirit to help him, but he keeps holding him back. If he doesn't do something, he'll be finished by Hector's next turn.

'Ichika, please. Let me help you.' The spirit said.

'No. I can't take that risk.' Ichika thought.

'If you don't, all will be lost.' The spirit warned.

To Be Continued...