I Don't Own Yugioh

It had been a few hours, and we had just left the arena after winning our third to last match of the day. We had two more to go, so right now we are in the semi-finals basically. Alex was doing better, but he did have a few panicked moments during the last two duels which lead to a few misplays which were promptly capitalized on, last game was a very close one actually. We were down to 250 and the two were both playing gladiator beasts decks, but one quick Magic Cylinder fixed that problem but it was a lucky draw which was the only thing that saved us there. All in all, if it wasn't for the annoying parts it was surprisingly fun.

I wouldn't mind it so much if he didn't freaking hang off me like I'm a life line. Touch is a thing that I really don't like dealing with and so having him seemingly deciding to say screw you to my personal space was a bit annoying but it seemed to make him feel better so I sort of allowed it. Meaning, if he was close to a panic attack then I would put a hand on his shoulder for like two or so seconds to get his attention but anymore and I would probably push him off the stage from just instinct.

"You ok there?" I felt like laughing a tad just to show how I felt about Alex of all people asking me that. But to be fair, I had been controlling myself pretty clearly at this point so I wasn't literally shaking from the overwhelming amount of times I've been touched today. My entire body was still pretty damn tense from the whole thing. I mean I can play of light things like a short handshake by holding in my reaction but I usually don't do physical contact for months at a time if I can help it so this was way way to much for me.

"Tense, way to much contact to day. But it's not anything I can't manage or haven't had to deal with before. How about you? still feel like panicking over nothing?" He just frowned at that as I rolled my eyes as we continued to walk to the car which would take us back to his place.

"S-sorry about that. I kind of forgot after a while...It just helped you know? It kept me grounded on what was happening, and let me focus on something that wasn't the audience. Unlike you, I don't like being in front of so many people" I just sighed at that as he seemed to start to feel down again. I swear, his emotions are always all over the place. I would have forced Stealth to make him feel calm but that's just putting a band aid over a cut artery. It wouldn't help him learn to get over it himself.

"As reasonable as it is to think that, I actually really don't like being in front of so many people either" He seemed surprised by that which like I said was a reasonable reaction, I haven't given any reason why he would think otherwise so it made sense but I wasn't kidding.

"I find it uncomfortable being the center of attention and frankly I'm not a fan at all of it, but I'm able to just ignore that when it comes to these things. Something you should figure out how to do for yourself" He just sighed at that as he stopped right before the front doors that lead out to the parking lot. It was clear he didn't really want to go back to his family at the moment. I don't really blame him, I'm sure they'll be on his case for looking like a laughing stock for having to have me drag him out onto the field in the first round.

"I try but I just freeze up, it's not like I can help it" Alex said it in a quieter voice as I looked over at him for a moment before sighing again to myself. What am I going to do? Not sure why I'm asking myself, I've already come to my decision and I'm sure it's going to get me yelled at but I need a break and from the looks of things, so does he. Besides, it's not like I give a damn if someone does get on my case about what I'm fixing to do.

"Whatever, anyway, come on" He blinked as I just walked out of the door before scrolling off to the left. He followed after me pretty quickly, even after it was clear I wasn't heading to the car we had arrived in. Instead I was heading off in the direction that I think I saw a small chain food store at. I was hungry after all, and Alex's family seems to have something with fish as it seems to be included in someway in most of their dishes and it was getting annoying, plus it was way to fancy. Is it wrong to just want a cheeseburger in this world? Apparently so.

"We're we going?" I just pointed to the stop and said to him as I crossed the street after give half glances in the two directions so I wouldn't become roadkill.

"I'm hungry, plus I need to distress so we're going to grab a bite before heading back. You're paying by the way" Alex seemed to want to argue but after a moment his stomach growled as I smirked to myself at the quite literal anime timing on that as he just sighed to himself before hurrying up a bit so we were walking side by side as we walked up to the door.

"Why am I paying for this again?" I just shrugged as the two of us got in the short line, making note that a few people clearly recognized us. I mean this was a chain fast food spot so it would be fair that some of the spectators at the event came here to get something to eat after it all finished. I just ignored them with practiced ease while Alex looked to caught up in his own mind and his question to notice.

"Because your rich and I'm broke. Plus I'm your best friend, you wouldn't make me go hungry right?" He just huffed at that as we walked up to the resister and placed our order, to which Alex handed over his card for it before we got a number which would be called in a bit when the food was ready as we made our way to a booth so we could sit down and wait.

"...Hey, dude? What's your plan?" I blinked at that as I looked over at him with a questioning eyebrow raise. He frowned a bit deeper than normal at that before clarifying.

"I mean, what are you going to do after this? I mean what comes next for us after we finish high school? Because a life of this isn't what I think I want" Hitting the hard questions already huh? What a great thing to bring up while we're waiting to get our greasy fast food... He does have a point though, what does come next for me? For us? I'll be honest, I don't know, I've been good at looking so far in the future. I prefer the here and now mostly.

"I don't know really. Personally I think the easiest answer would be for us to become pros and just make an make money from that. But you don't seem like a massive fan of that but you don't really have to worry about money either... Honestly I don't know. There is so many things we have to consider. I mean what was the cause of 5D again? Because that's quite possibly going to happen in our life time" Alex's eyes widened at that as he stared at me for a moment before sighing with a tired look on his face as he said.

"Your right... Dude I'm tired. This entire event has made me so stressed and now I'm thinking about this stuff and I think I'm just realizing something... This is going to be the rest of our lives. I'm never going to see my family again, nor will I ever get to have a family here either, because those people back at the place I live are not my family" He was right, and he's reactions I feel were completely justifiable... I've never been the best at consoling people before, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot I suppose.

"You right, you'll never see or talk to your first family again and you won't ever have that connection with those people that share your last name... But hey, how about I give you a bit of an insight on my life" He just looked a bit worse as he looked up at me, clearly trying to not think about what I was saying but I hope he does because I think this one is going to be important.

"I'm adopted, not in this life, but in my last one I had zero blood relation to my family, and you know what, we still got along, we were close. And you know what I learned from that?" Alex just shook his head as I let a smile pull on my face as I said in a tone that wasn't at all bored but neutral.

"Family isn't like friends, you don't go through them nor can you just pick up a new one, but they don't have to be blood and you can gain family even if it take longer and the bond needs to be greater... What I'm saying is blood is thicker than water but we don't need to drink blood to live. Family is ours to choose, so yeah, you lost your first family, so just make a new one. It doesn't have to be a lot but one I feel would help you out" He blinked at that before leaning back a bit before saying.

"What do you mean by that?" I just shrugged as I thought about how to reply to that as I noted a warm feeling was entering my chest. I've felt it before, though I could tell that it was from Stealth that I was feeling this familial feeling. I would know because I've never met my brothers before and my older sister, who I grew up with, is kind of the opposite of the teen in front of me, not to mention I'm older. So it had no reason to feel like familiar to me.

"I'm saying, mister player two, that we already are going to be sticking together for, more than likely, the rest of time, so might as well do it as brothers or something. Unless you want to be the sister, which would be weird but I don't judge" He looked a bit annoyed at the end jab but also seemed to be a shocked at my words, which was fair. But I do in fact care about him, no matter how detached I act, and he looks like he needs it. Besides, it's just a title between us, and I've always considered titles kind of useless so it's not like it means all that much to me, but I think this'll help him.

"I-I, um... I don't know what t-to say to that" I just gave him a faint smile as I absently noticed that our number for our food was called out. So with that I stood up while telling him as I walked up to the counter.

"You don't have to say anything, it's not a demand, just an idea" With that I got to the counter and picked up our food when the lady that had set it down said to me.

"I saw your matches on tv. I got to say I'm jealous, you got the whole package huh? You can duel and you got that hotty over there hanging off you" She seems to think something is going on between us? No. That's not it, judging by her appearance, she's young, a part timer judging by the fact that she could have watched the event and so she didn't sound somewhat creepy for saying a fifteen year old is hot. Moving on, she barely looks interested in me, so her focus is on Alex. She's trying to see if he's available while making me flustered enough to answer. Rude.

"Oh? Thanks, nice to know I have two more things that you'll never have, including brains, and the ability to get anywhere in life" With that I turned and walked away from the chick who was probably to shocked to say anything in response to that. What? I really don't like it when people try to manipulate me, it's insulting to me. Which I will fully admit is hypocritical but since when have I cared about that?

With that I walked back to our table and dropped the tray of food down onto it before picking up my own order off of it. Alex just rolled his eyes as I instantly took a bite out of it. I don't really like waiting to eat, sure general manners might say otherwise but once again I don't really care about that. So I just pulled the wrap around the burger off and just took a bite from it while Alex followed suit.

From there we didn't really talk about anything, we just ate and relaxed for about twenty or so minutes before we finished up. There wasn't anything to really talk about, I mean, this was for me to distress and it was the same for Alex, why ruin our own relaxing by having an unneeded conversation. At least that was my reasoning though I wasn't completely sure about Alex. But I figured it would be about the same so I left him to his own thoughts.

It was nice, so of course about the time we had finished our meal was when a man barraged into the restaurant doors. I absently moved my eyes to look in his direction, spent about a fifth of the time he needed to spend to spot of to recognize that he was our driver. Hmm, I figured it would have taken longer. Note to self, some of these minions might just have some form of initiative. Isn't that just a terrifying thought, or he was just chewed out by someone above him...Judging by the angry look on his face it's probably that one. Though props to him, he was smart enough to find us at least.

"Looks like our times up... I wonder how many people will think this was a date?" Alex looked up at me in shock for a moment before sputtering out in whatever he was trying to say but that was interrupted as the big man walked over and slammed a hand down onto the table. Causing the tray to bounce a bit as I looked over at the man while Alex went white.

"Yo" It seemed like a proper response and I'll never think otherwise as the man's face went red in anger, it was quite the interesting sight to see. Now then, I can think of about three different ways that he'll respond to that. I wonder which one he'll choose?

"Yo? Yo! That's all you have to say to be you brat? I've been waiting for you two for the last twenty minutes. Get up now!" Ah, third option, I figured he'd go for that one, he doesn't really look like that smart of a guy to be honest, maybe he just saw us from the window then instead of working it out.

"Y-yeah ok, come on dude" I already had a comment ready but Alex had beaten me to it with his rushed answer, he probably knew I wanted to do something. Personally I wanted to see how long it would take before he either stormed off or tried to sucker punch me, either way would probably get him fired, which was what I had been wanting. What? He interrupted my relaxing time and that's just rude of him. Still, I just shrugged at that point. No need to make a big deal out of it if Alex is choosing to play peace keeper.

"Alright" Alex seemed a bit surprised I had dropped it that easily but I didn't really see why, I mean I'm just doing this for my own entertainment but I won't find it near as enjoyable if he's going to later pester me about it.

"You can't just run around with my son! I refuse to have you in this house if you are going to be such an ungrateful little brat who drags my Son around by the nose like some lost puppy then I will kick you out and ruin your life!" Damn, and I thought the dad was bad, Alex's mom is annoying to listen to when she's mad. Her voice is just grating on my ears.

"To be fair you didn't say we couldn't so I said we should" She just glared at me even harder before but I didn't really care. If she tries to ruin my life then I'll just play the kid card, and that would ruin her reputation more than anything she could do to me. Not to mention I'm sure I could get Alex to help me out and that could get him removed from their care. Basically, if I wanted to, I could think of five different ways to ruin her while she's just threatening me with stupidity.

"You arrogant little-" I just tuned her out, I'm not sure it was voluntary though as from the way she was moving her lips, I'm pretty sure she was cursing me out, and since that's a no no here, I think I'm being censored. Eh, if I can't hear her then I just take this time thinking about other things. Like... I don't really know what to think about at the moment really, I mean, the duels we had were fun but it was ruined a bit so I don't really feel like looking back on them.

"..." That was Stealth, yeah, I'm visualizing those three dots every time he forces me to feel something. Right now it was a mix of indignation, which was from whatever the woman in front of me was ranting at me about, and an interesting feeling that I think might be self adsorbed. No wait, now he's angry, so that's not it. It's certainly self-something though. Maybe self-satisfied? Yep, that's the one. I wonder why?

"I-I just don't understand how you would think this was a good idea" Oh, I see it now, she's no longer screaming, meaning she's suddenly a lot more calm. I'm pretty sure I said something about you not doing that Stealth. I just got as close to a 'hmph' as I think emotions can convey. Actually when did you even leave? You'd think I'd notice when someone vacates my damn soul.

I mean really, it is my bloody soul I feel like I should have come kind of check point at the entrance or something. Whatever, she's not yelling as much so I'm not having to listen to her annoying voice anymore which is certainly a bonus.

(Alex Pov)

Kyu always has been so strange to me. I could never figure him out. One moment he looks like he doesn't want to think about dealing with people then he's messing with strangers just to annoy them. He hates being touched, I think the term is haphephobia, I looked into it after he told me a few months ago when we met but that's an anxiety thing, which just doesn't suit him. Not to mention he's entire personality from the looks of it is a loner one, but half the time he's next to me, like he doesn't want to be alone.

And that doesn't even brush on the surface of what he proposed to me... Brothers? Really? Where in the world did that come from? I think it might be because he's never been related to his family and with how emotionally distant he is that he just doesn't understand how much the term means. I won't accept it, end of story, that would mean I'm accepting permanently that I've moved on from my past life and I haven't. I don't think I ever will.

It was still a nice thing to say I guess, it's just I don't think he really understands what that terms means to other people. Thankfully I think he's like one of the most easy going people alive, just nothing seems to phase him and he didn't really seem to care if I gave him a yes or a no or even answered at all. It did get me to calm down a bit but now I'm just kind of feeling confused and a bit guilty.

Confused for the things I was just thinking about and guilty because I knew he didn't like being touched by people and I still for some reason decided that this was the day to get clingy of all things. Oh god it's so embarrassing, I literally held his hand or arm like some school yard crush, and in front of so many people too... It made me feel better at the time but now, all I've done is make an idiot of myself in front of hundreds of people, and probably ruined my friends day as well when he was suppose to be having fun. I'm a freaking idiot...

Sighing I just pressed my hands to my head as I tried to stop that familiar feeling of shame bubble up in my chest. At least Kyu wasn't here to see this, he's probably say something inappropriate to try to get my mind off it which would only make me feel worse. Though maybe that was selfish, because the second we got back he had almost been man handled by the driver to go see my parents. Probably to get yelled at for 'kidnapping' me.

Which he only did because he was stressed out because of me, god I'm such a loser... Though feeling bad about myself isn't going to do anything I can't help it, and I'm sure it's not going to get any better either. My parents are no doubt going to have a long speech about how I embarrassed them with how I was acting... Heck if it wasn't for how many people they know, I'm sure they would try to skin me alive for the rumors I could have started acting like a touch starved idiot.

I really did that didn't I? I rubbed my face a roughly, trying to get my mind out of the rut but all the conflicting feelings building in my chest just dragged me back down into them. It felt like I was drowning, for a long moment I just felt tired, all the other feelings seemed to sink away, the shame and guilt replacing with just a deep sense of tiredness, like I wanted to lay down but couldn't see a reason to do so...

"So I just got an ear full from your parents, that was annoying. I don't suppose you could fire them or something?" The voice was so sudden and surprising, I jumped a bit before my foot caught on something on the ground as I fell back onto my bed. Looking over in the direction of the voice, I blinked as I looked at Kyu who was sitting down in the chair that I normally sat in when we talked in this room. I hadn't noticed him walk in, actually how long had he been sitting there?

"Uh...Um, sorry but I don't think I can manage that" He just sighed like that was just sad, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he had actually looked into a way to do that with his own family. I still don't get why he doesn't at least put in some kind of effort.

"Shame, it would have been nice to not have to deal with them. Whatever, hey by the way, tomorrow I'm going to go after you" What!? No! I, I don't think I can do that! I mean, I barely managed to handle going last, something that almost had us lose a number of times today. I got to think of something to get that idea out of his mind fast.

"B-but that would leave us open right? I-I mean you're our defensive line, if I go first without being able to protection to set up then we might get beaten before we can do anything!" He didn't even bother to hum like he was thinking about it like he normally did when he gave something a thought. Instead he just replied back much faster than I had been able to.

"No, we need to switch it up. Today we managed to get a lot of attention onto the two of us for being so young and with how well we interacted. No doubt the remaining three duos will look over our matches and see if they can find a weakness, and the weakness they'll find is me. All they have to do is have some counters and my defensive line is pointless, which would let them get two full, basically, free turns in before you could be able to mount an actual defense"

It- it was a good reason, smart as well but I really didn't want to, it just didn't seem like a good idea even if the logic was solid. I really don't like that his logic is solid, I really didn't but he had a point... Maybe this way I can actually manage something without basically just waiting on Kyu to end the duel for me so I didn't have to do much in front of so many people. Darn it.

"F-fine, I'll do it I guess" He just gave me one of his rare, actually happy and almost proud smiles, before it quickly dropped away into his bored look again, at least he was happy, it made me feel a tad bit better about this I guess. Though that's another thing I've noticed about him, he doesn't do expressions well, it's almost always that one look or just a neutral look which always kind of screamed robot to me. It was an amusing idea to think of him as a terminator or something, but for card games of all things.

"Cool" He didn't say anything else but that was fine, the two of us have always been good at not having to speak to get along. For one I just was terrible at small talk while I think he just doesn't care much about pointless conversations unless he has some way to be entertained by them. So we just just sat there, for once our seats of choice switched. Thankfully, for some reason, my mind was racing anymore.

"Now then ladies and gentlemen, our last semi-final match of this tournament. To start things off we'll be seeing whose going first, the green side with Kyu and Alex or the red with Jarn and Marcus! Now, green side, heads or tails" I can't do this, nope, end of story. Kyu just freaking told me that I was suppose to start us off again and I think it all just caught up with me. Heck, he wasn't pulling any punches at the moment, I even have to do the coin flip now. Oh god, um, um.

"TAILS" Kyu laughed lightly to himself which was basically the same as a cackle for him as I felt my face begin to burn. Why did I do that?! I was panicking and then I realized I was suppose to say something and then I realized that it had been like ten seconds since I was asked and I freaked out. What in the world is my problem?

"Right! Love the excitement from green's side, now then let's get this toss under way!" At least he knows how to play off of it I guess, but damn I still feel like such an idiot. I just did my best to focus on the holographic coin as it flipped up into the air. After a moment I watched with a sad air as the coin dropped and landed right on tails. Of course I pick it so I have to go first. Why me?

"Green's up, so let's get right into it! It's time to duel!" Now I just feel like he's mocking me as I drew my five cards with great hesitation as the other three followed my action, all of them finishing before I did as I was trying to give myself some more time but all it felt like I was doing was making the count down to my death a bit longer, even then the clock just seemed to speed up for the seconds I added onto it.

After a long few moments of staring at my hand, I finally managed to build up the nerve to finally call out in a shaky voice.

"I-I start by summoning Skilled White Magician(1700/1900)...now I play Terraform, allowing me to bring to my hand G-Gaia Power, now because I activated a spell it adds a spell counter to my Skilled White Magician, from there I play my Gaia Power which lets me add another counter to Skilled White Magician, and finally my last spell card, Swords of Revealing Lights, which means you can't attack for three turns and adds the last needed spell counter to my White Magician to tribute it to special summon Buster Blader with Gaia Power increasing it's attack by 500 and lowers it's defense by 400(3100/1900). I set two then end my turn"

Thankfully I had been able to figure a fee tricks out during our last matches yesterday. As long as I can just focus on one thing, like just talking, doing my best to ignore everything else, then I don't freeze up as often. It still happened but thank god that I had a great enough hand that I was able to be able to have my excitement over it overpower my nervousness for a moment.

"Good job guy! I'm already getting pumped for this! I draw! First up, I'll be activating my Toon World by paying a 1000 life points!" Toons? But how in the world does he have those cards? I thought Pegasus was the only one that had a deck like that? I looked over towards Kyu just to see if he realized the same thing but instead of seeing shock on his face, I saw vague interest... Why would he find this interesting? I'm finding it worrying.

Kyu/Alex: 8000
Jarn/Marcus: 7000

"Now from there I'll be summoning up my Toon Gemini Elf and since she's a Earth monster she get's Gaia's field bonus(2400/400)! Now I'll be setting two cards and then passing it on back to you two bro!" Damn it, I helped him out with Gaia Power, It's fine though, Swords of Revealing Light is still protecting us from direct damage for another two turns and Kyu can get rid of it with my Bluster Blader, it's fine.

"I draw... Now I'll set a monster face down and then set three cards in my back row and end my turn" It was quick but that's just how he plays, though I was shocked that he didn't attack this turn, but it's fine, I can do it next time. Looking at the board, I read over the cards he placed. Stealth Bird, I didn't know he had that monster, a Metal Reflect Slime which wasn't the best against toons, and a Mirror Force, which was really good to have at the moment.

"I'm up then it seems, I draw, now I play Graceful Charity, now I send two cards to the grave and get to draw three more in place of them... Let's see here I send these two to the grave and now I play two spell cards, Monster Reborn and with it I summon out my Cyber Dragon(2100/600), and next I pay 800 life points to be able to bring out the second monster I just sent to the grave Snipe Hunter(1500/600) now I'll use his ability by discarding a card I can target one card on the field and by the roll of the dice I might get to destroy it, and I target... That middle back row!"

It was the Metal Reflect Slime, which was good since I watched as the dice landed on a six, the number needed as we all watched the card blow up. Mirror Force would have been a bad loss and it would have been even worse if he targeted Buster Blader, though I still wasn't sure why he didn't. They have something in the works I think, but I had no idea as to what.

"Now I'll end my turn" It wasn't all that great of a turn to be honest, he lessened his own life points and only brought out two kind of weak monsters to show for it, why? You know what, I don't care, their mistakes only mean I can get this done with faster so I can get out of here... Wait, it's my turn now, damn it!

Kyu/Alex: 8000
Jarn/Marcus: 6200

"I draw! N-now, I flip up Kyu's face down monster to reveal Stealth Bird, and with that it's effect activates as you take 1000 points of damage and now I can set it back down in face down position while I go into my attack phase" All I have to do is get rid of that toon and our chances of winning will greatly increase, as nothing else on the field can damage us because no monster on the field can compete with Buster Blader. It was such an obvious choice that I didn't see Kyu shake his head until it was to late.

"I attack your Toon Gemini Elf with Buster Blader!" It felt good for a total of three seconds before one of the two laughed as they called out at me in a snarky voice while Kyu frowned to himself.

"You two aren't the only ones that can play traps you know. I activate my face down card and reveal Mirror Force" It was like a punch to the gut as I watched as both our monsters were destroyed in a bang of power. Damn it! I could feel my pulse quicken as I listened to the audience laugh, no longer being able to tune them out from how shocked I was. I-I messed up, bad. After a long moment, of trying to bring myself together, I called out after looking at my remaining card in my hand.

"I-I end my turn" We still have Mirror Force, it'll leave us in a weaker position because we're lower on hand cards but we can still manage this if the board is wiped. And we still get one more turn of Swords of Revealing light as well so we'll be fine, right?

"Cool, I'll start back up then by drawing! Now then, I'll be activating Toon Table of Contents to allow me to bring a Toon monster to my hand, now I'll be summoning that Toon monster by tributing both Cyber Dragon and Snipe Hunter to bring out Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon(3000/2500)!" Oh god, I- that's what they were for, the two weak monsters Marcus brought out were for Jarn to have tributes for that thing.

"Now we still can't attack but I do have one more play I can do, I activate Mimicat, and what this card allows me to do is if I have my Toon World and a Toon monster out on the fleid I can select one card from your graveyard and I get to use it, and so I'll be taking that Buster Blader now!" It's ok, it's ok, it's ok. That Mantra was the only thing keeping me from panicking at the sight of my own monster out on the field against us. Mirror Force will fix this.

"With that I'll end my turn" It was scary to watch the Swords of Revealing Lights finally dim out but we'll be fine, Kyu will use his trap like always and screw over their master plan. We will be fine. At least Kyu seems to think so if his grin is anything to go off of but then again he's always like that when he's in a really difficult position.

"I draw... Set and I end my turn" Oh... he kept on smiling all the same but he did hold his cards up a bit so I could see them... It was a horrible hand, nothing he could use, all just set up, nothing that would actually help us here. But it's fine, Mirror Force, if I repeat that enough times in my head then maybe I'll stop feeling so nervous. I don't think it's working though.

"I'm up then, I draw. Now, I think I'll summon out Hydrogeddon(1600/1000)! Now, let's not waste anymore time shall we? I attack you directly with Hydrogeddon first!" It was time, I looked over at Kyu but he was still just grinning to himself. What? I looked back and saw the attack coming. Oh damn it dude. Stop trying to get a thrill out of this!

"I activate a trap card, Mirror Force" I looked back over to Kyu, almost wanting to glare at him but that's when I noticed something, he's smile was gone, now looking like he was anticipating something with that calculated look in his eyes that he doesn't think is actually there no matter how much I tell him.

"I don't think so bro, I activate Trap Jammer, negating that Mirror Force, meaning you're going get some pain! Hydrogeddon, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, Toon Gemini Elf, and Buster Blader, all you attack directly!" It...it was over, the combined attack would do well over 8000 damage...

"I play another trap card, Magical Cylinder" -Wait what? No seriously what the hell! I was in shock as I watched as another face down card popped up on the field, no it was already there obviously but... Looking over at the game board and sure enough there it was... What in the world... How? When? Did he place it down last turn? Was I just that wrapped up in my mind that I didn't notice?

"And I'll be using it on the Buster Blader" It saved us, by a small thread. But we were now much lower on life points than them and it showed, painfully. Thankfully it also bit a chuck out of their life points as well but we were still in a much worse position.

Kyu/Alex: 1000
Jarn/Marcus: 1800

"Nice move dude! I didn't even notice, still one more turn isn't going to get you far so let's speed it up to your loss, I end my turn" One more turn, he was right, that's all we had left at this point, and I didn't even have a single card in my hand... We've lost, I don't think there is anything we can do at this point... God, I really let our team down, I mean I fell into the traps for them... I'm an idiot.

"Draw now" I blinked as I hard Kyu's voice, looking up I stared at him for a moment before sighing. He was right, I might as well go down swinging I guess.

"I- I draw" Pulling out the card, I looked at it for a moment before I looked over at Kyu in disbelief, he just looked at me for a moment moment before he seemed to realize what card I just drew. I- Is this what he feels like when he gets that heart of the cards thing with his luck? Because... because this is just kind of dumb and if this works then I don't think I can ever think that the heart of the cards is stupid.

"I play Pot of Greed drawing two more cards...I-I play Card of Sanctity allowing everyone to draw until they have six cards" Kyu had given it to me, it was one of his cards from his dragon deck and he had told me that it would be more likely for me to draw it cause I was only using forty cards... I guess he was right. But even then, if this is what his luck is like then I think I want a refund on mine, because this hand is just ridiculous

"N-now I start by summoning out Breaker the Magical Warrior who when normal summoned gets a max of one spell counter added to him increasing his attack by 300(1900/1000). Next, I set on card face down and now I activate a spell card, Mage Power, which will increase Breaker's attack and defense by 500 for ever spell or trap I control on the field, and there is now four, increases him up to (3900/3000), now I play with my last remaining spell slot Change of Heart, by sending this to the grave, I get control over one of your monsters for a single turn and I pick Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, and since my last back row opened back up I play Megamorpth which doubles his original attack and counts as another 500 with Mage Power(6000/3500)"

I knew I could have done change of heart first which would have lead to the toon dragon having somewhere upward of 8000 but this just felt better, plus I had no idea if I could even attack with Toon Dragon since I didn't have Toon World out on my side of the field so this was safer.

"Now, Breaker the Magical Warrior attack Hydrogeddon! And Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon destroy that Toon Gemnin Elf!" I watched as our total life points ticked down by 500 which I'm pretty sure was because of Blue-Eyes attacking while also watching with extreme happiness as our opponents life points shot down until-

Kyu/Alex: 500
Jarn/Marcus: 0

We won, by pulling some of the luckiest draws possible, we won. I feel faint. I think I'm going to faint. Oh god, that was so uncomfortably close. Heh, I'm getting flashbacks to when I met Kyu, one turn left to win from a disadvantage, and this time I managed to pull it off. Either that or I did faint and I'm now dreaming, not sure which at this point.

"Good job, you managed to pull us back from the edge of feeling bad for a few days for not winning" God, I felt like laughing now with how simple sounding Kyu made this whole thing sound. Like it didn't really matter, and it really didn't, in this case at least, but for some reason I just felt the need to do this, I think it was the world setting but the idea of losing, no matter what, just wasn't appealing and with how much stress I was in, I really needed that win.

"Dude, could you just say thanks like a normal person?" He seemed to think about it for a second before replying with.

"I said good job and I think that's the closest you're ever going to get" ...Yeah, I kind of figured he would say something like that.

People take things too seriously, I swear, at worst we lose a card game in front of some people and then I'll be slightly annoyed for a few days that I didn't get some free stuff. It really wasn't that big of a deal, well maybe for Alex it was but we were leaving after tomorrow and he can ignore his phone calls from his angry parents. Still, I will admit I was happy all the same that Alex pulled that just completely ridiculous combo out of his hat.

But I really would haven't cared if we lost, actually I would have found it pretty interesting since that's pretty damn novel nowadays. I'm not saying I don't take this somewhat seriously, I still am a naturally competitive person at my core and it shows on occasion since I never allow myself to throw any duels. And that's not mentioning the fact that when this world gets serious with itself, then these duels could decide my life, but for things like this, getting worked up just seemed a waste of emotions.

I didn't say that to Alex of course, I figure he might as well enjoy his victory without my pessimistic self dragging him down. He was finally feeling better about this tournament thing after all and I wasn't going to risk that. Still, one more duel to go, I wonder if it would be worth it to switch into my dragon deck for this last duel... It would be interesting but it wouldn't be fair to Alex. I don't even know where he is at the moment and while I wouldn't mind springing that on him under normal circumstances, I don't think it would be received as well at the moment.

He seemed to be getting somewhat better at being in front of the crowd, but it was clear his focus isn't really all there. Sure he clutched it, but he made a misplay. I don't think he even actually noticed it when I had set my Magic Cylinder on the field. I'll admit, it was a minor test on my part to see how he was doing, which he did in fact fail but no reason to tell him that and ruin his win. We still almost lost because of that so I think the lesson will still stick. He's good at learning through his past mistakes.

Anyway, at the moment we were having lunch before the final duel and I was currently looking over my deck. I like these cards, they have done me very well over the few months that I've been here but damn using them over and over again remind me why I built my dragon deck. I do like pissing people off why just walling them, but it's also fun to just destroy them with overwhelming power that no matter how many times you destroy they'll just come right back.

Which still fits for me just as well as my burn deck, it's lovely when your that person everyone doesn't like playing against because you can just annoy them by playing your deck like it should. Either way, I'm using the deck in my hands for this tournament anyway, even if using one deck over and over is a tad boring. Burn is just so much more compatible than dragons for a Buster Blader deck with magician support. Really Burn can go with most decks as it's made of a bunch of staple burn and stall cards.

So why was I looking over my deck now? Well, I have a suspicion about what these last two duelist will have slotted in there decks. I'm expecting a number of cards, probably something like Jinzo or Royal Decree. It also wouldn't hurt to assume that there might be some Feather Dusters in play since those are still not banned like everything else in this world. So with that in mind, I don't think it would hurt to slot in a Gryphon Wing in as well but that might not help with those first two listed cards.

That's the main draw back with this deck, it's powerful sure, but get a few trap and spell jamming cards out on the field and now I'm in a very tight spot. Sure I have monsters that could get me out of those spots but there are also cards and monsters that can negate monster effects which at that point I would just be dead in the water. It's annoying but that's just how it is really, which is fair, everything needs some balance, and it's not like those damn annoying toads are a thing yet so I probably shouldn't complain to much about being countered.

You'd need a deck with certain card support to counter mine and my point is I think I'm about to see two of them in this last duel. It's more than likely, which is why I had been thinking about my dragon deck really in the first place. It would catch them by surprise but so far everyone has mostly seen me doing most of the heavy lifting in our duels, so I'm fine with being the target of their focus if it means that Alex is going to have an easier time to set up. This was kind of my goal from the start.

It's easy to be targeted when it seems like your deck is the one doing all the work. Of course it might change now that Alex really had a chance to shine in that last duel, but I was already expecting some powerful monsters already so that's nothing new, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful at any rate. Maybe I should grab a few of my own reviving cards would be wise.

So many thoughts and so much planning and so little time, not to mention I still have a lunch to finish as well. Hmm, focus on making a plan to counter a deck counter or eat and have a high chance of losing something that truly doesn't really matter that much. Decisions decisions.

I don't use the word bloody enough anymore. It's one of my favorite words to use when someone is annoying me and I just don't feel like I use it as much anymore as I use to. Probably because my human contact is more limited these days with the world ending and everything but that's just a side point. As for the duel in this chapter, I don't know, I just felt like using toons and honestly I'm not an expert on all cards and the archetypes and building these decks is already a pain so I figured I might as well use some that I actually know a bit more about from the old days when I knew what most older cards did. Anyway, next chapter and the last duel for this tournament thing I threw together at the last moment, isn't that nice. Anyway, See ya.