Ichika was successful in his duel against Hector. He was originally afraid to let the spirit take control, but he got over the fear and won. After he switching back, he went up to his friends and they were all happy for him.

"Congratulations, Ichika." Charlotte said.

"You may have won, but the start was pitiful." Houki said.

"Seriously. Are you okay? You looked like you were really off your game." Rin said.

"I'm sorry about that, but you don't need to worry. Hector was a good sport about that and helped me back to normal." Ichika said. "Either way, you better go get ready, Houki. Your duel is about to start."

"He's right. It's against that Bane." Cecilia said.

"I don't know how he might have gotten all the stars he needed to get in, but he must have some skills as a duelist." Ryu said. "Sadly, we don't know anything about what type of cards he uses."

"I'm not scared of him." Houki said. "I'll show that guy was a real duelist is all about." Houki headed for the bridge and was fully confident that she was going to win this duel.

"While you're at it, give him something for his b.o." Rin said with the others sharing a laugh.

"We are now going to begin the second match." Crone said. Houki arrived on the bridge and she was ready to go, but Bane wasn't anywhere.

"What gives? Where's Bane?" Houki said.

"Up here." All of them looked to see Bane was up with Ichika and the others.

"What do you want?" Laura asked.

"Nothing. It's just I thought I save everyone the trouble and be declared the winner. The chick never had a chance against me in the first place." Bane said.

"Come down here and prove it." Houki said.

"Don't need to. I bet you don't have either of those cards." Bane said as he pulled out the one he stole and pretended that it was his. "Here's mine."

"You think you're so smart? Well, I've got mine right..." Houki searched around for it, but she couldn't find it. "What?! Where is it?! I know I had it here!"

"What's going on?" Rin said.

"It looks like Houki can't find her card." Ryu said.

"She came to battle unprepared? That isn't like her." Laura said.

"No, it's not. Something isn't right." Ichika said. "Either way, she better find it or else she's going to be disqualified."

"I know I had it. It must have fallen out somewhere." Houki said as she turned to Crone. "Could you please give me some time to go find it?"

"You only get five minutes." Crone said. "If you're not back with one of the cards within the time limit, you will be disqualified." Five minutes wasn't much time, but it was all Houki had. With no time to spare, Houki moved as fast as she could.

'Try as you like, but you won't find it.' Bane thought.

"As for you, sir, you better come down here." Crone said to Bane.

"Why? She's not going to make it." Bane said.

"If you aren't present for the duel within five minutes, you will be disqualified as well." Crone said. Bane groaned with annoyance, but he went with it. He just thought it was a waste of time because he knew Houki wasn't going to make it. Houki searched around her room, but she never found her card.

"Where is it?!" Houki said. "This is bad. Where could it be?" Houki couldn't find it anywhere in the room. She searched around to see if she dropped it, but there wasn't a sign of it anywhere. Houki kept running until she tripped and fell. "This can't be happening. After coming this far, it all ends like this. I came here to help Ichika and now I can't anymore."

"Sheesh, your more sensitive than I thought." Houki said. She turned around and saw Hector was there. "Don't tell me you're going to cry."

"That's none of your business." Houki said. "This whole thing is unbelievable and unfair. I lost my stupid card and now I'm about to be disqualified."

"If that's all it is, here." Hector said. Houki was surprised to see Hector giving her his card. "I don't have any need for it anymore."

"Are you sure?" Houki asked.

"Of course. You're something pretty great, Houki. So, get off the floor and go win against that creep." Hector said. "If anyone deserves to win, it's you." Houki didn't know what to say. She just took the card and was greatly amazed with what Hector did.

"Thanks, Hector. I won't let you down." Houki said as she got up and headed back to the duel.

"You really are something special, Houki." Hector said as he smiled...until he realized what he said. "Not that I think about you like that! Wait! Who am I even talking to?!"

...

The Dueling Area

Bane was there and was ready to go. Everyone was just waiting for Houki. It seemed like she wasn't going to make it in time.

"Thirty seconds left." Crone said. It was looking bad. Her friends didn't want to see Houki come so far just to have it all ripped away like this. That was until Houki arrived and showed Hector's card.

"Is this what you're looking for!" Houki said as she held out the card to Crone.

"Very good. Both duelists have one of the qualified cards." Crone said.

"She made it!" Ichika said as all of her friends were happy to see she wasn't disqualified.

'No way! I have her card!' Bane thought as he was completely surprised. 'There's no way she had a spare copy of that card.'

"Now that both duelists have arrived and have their respective cards, we may begin." Crone said. Bane didn't get it, but he just brushed it off. He had other tricks up his sleeve. "You both may begin when ready." Both of them activated their duel disks.

"Duel!" They said. This duel was on with them having 4000LP.

"Winners first." Bane said as he was making the first move. "I'll start by summoning Battleship Falconfly!" Bane summoned out an aerodynamic ship with crossing fins near the thrusters. It also had 1700atk points.

"A ship?" Charlotte said.

"That thing looks to be fully ready for battle." Laura said.

"You mean space battle. That thing looks like something from a sci-fi movie." Rin said.

"It's more dangerous than it looks." Ichika said as he didn't like the sound of that.

"I'll think I'll add a face-down to the field and that ends my turn." Bane said.

"Here I come, creep!" Houki said as she drew her card. "I'm going to start by summoning Swordsman of Mirage to the field!" She summoned out a swordsman with it having 1400atk points. "Take a good look because he won't be staying. By releasing him, I can summon a level five or higher warrior to the field. Say hello to Sinita the Sakura Blossom!" She released one warrior and summoned the other as Sinita arrived with 1900atk points. "You're in trouble now."

"I'm not scared of a girl in a flowery pink dress." Bane said.

"First, it's a kimono. Second, I was talking about her ability." Houki said. "Once she destroys your monster, you'll take 500 points of damage. Sinita, show him what I mean!" Sinita drew her sword as petals began to fly.

"Pretty. That's why you can't win." Bane said. "I activate my trap! I play Battleship's Armor! This trap increases Falconfly's attack points by 400!" Falconfly's attack points increased to 2100 as it looked like it's metal was enforced. "Take her down!" Falconfly flew at Sinita with great speed and smashed into Sinita and destroyed her with Houki's life points dropping to 3800.

"That's fine. I activate Warrior's Discipline!" Houki said. "Since a warrior was just destroyed, I can add another one to my hand. The one I'm adding is Tachikawa the Shifting Tide."

"Like that will help you." Bane said.

"More than you might think. For right now, I'm just going to place one card facedown and end my turn." Houki said.

"My turn!" Bane said as he drew his card. "I'm going to start by activating Falconfly's ability! Since he's still on my field on my next turn when a monster was destroyed, I can summon twice this turn as long as one is a one my many battleships."

"You mean you have more?" Houki said.

"Of course. Here's two more!" Bane said as he played two cards. "The first is Battleship Explosive!" He summoned a small ship that was carrying explosives with it having 800atk points. "The second one is Battleship Strikefly!" The second ship looked like a black glider with it having 1600atk points. "I knew this would be the end! Attack!" All three ships attacked at once with missiles, lasers, and force. All three attacking at once like that will lead to the end of the duel.

"I activate Tachikawa's ability!" Houki said. "By sending him to the graveyard, I only take half the damage you're trying to inflict!" All three attacks hit, but Houki held out. Her life points only dropped to 1550.

"You might have held against those attacks, but there's still Explosive's ability." Bane said. "By sending it to the graveyard, he can deal 800 points of damage!" The small ship released the explosives it carried as missiles. It blasted against Houki and her life points dropped to 750. She was barely hanging on against this guy.

"This guy is better than I thought." Ichika said.

"Yeah. Houki might be in real trouble against this guy." Rin said.

"Since Battleship Explosive was sent to the graveyard by its own ability, I add another Battleship to my hand." Bane said as he drew another card. "Just the one I wanted. It's Battleship Delta Starcruise!"

"That doesn't look friendly." Houki said.

"Just wait until you see it in action." Bane said. "Just hurry up and make your next move."

"Rude. I draw!" Houki said as she drew her next card. "I'll start by activating Bodyguard! My trap allows me to take any monster from my deck and add it to my hand! The monster I pick is known as Yumira the Healing Light!" She added another monster to her hand.

"What good is that monster going to do?" Bane said. "It's a level five monster. You can't summon it now."

"That's what you think. When you have monsters on the field when I don't, I can summon her without the need for a sacrifice." Houki said. "I summon Yumira the Healing Light!" She summoned out another female swordsman with her wearing a white kimono with stars on it. She also had 2000atk points. "The downside to summoning her like this is that she loses half of her attack points." Her warrior's attack points dropped down to just 1000.

"What good does that do? Giving up already?" Bane said.

"Man, you really know how to get on someone's nerves." Houki said as she was getting annoyed with this guy. "I activate Moment of Peace! Thanks to this spell card, we can't launch an attack on any of our monsters until my next turn! That means I'm safe for the moment."

"You really think you can stop me for one turn?" Bane said.

"It will give me some time." Houki said. "I end my turn. Since it's the end of my turn, Yumira's ability activates. She's known as Healing Light for a reason. When it's the end of my turn, I gain an additional 400LP for every monster that's on the field. Since there are currently three, I gain a total of 1200LP." Yumira unleashed a shining light that Houki took in. It raised her life points to 1950. "At least I managed to gain some life points."

"Perhaps, but it won't be enough." Bane said. "It's my turn now! I draw!" He drew his next card and this is where his big moment comes. "I tribute Battleship Strikefly with Battleship Falconfly! I now summon Battleship Delta Starcruiser!" He released both of his monster and summoned out a massive ship that took up most of the space. It was as black as the midnight sky and it looked like it was specifically design for attacking a planet. It also had a total of 2700atk points.

"What is that thing?!" Cecilia said.

"Something that almost looks lethal!" Ryu said as they were all a little scared at by it.

"Oh man..." Houki said as she had to face that thing.

"Get ready, little girl! You're about to blow you right off this island!" Bane said. If Houki can't bring down that ship, she's the one going down by that cheater.

To Be Continued...