Drum flew toward the baseball arena, "It's a good thing I know where it is or I would have wandered around forever..." he smelt the air, "Plus, I can smell them."

He continued flying and saw the arena. His stomach grunted one again, "Damn. If only I had time to eat. Hope I'm not late and I'm going to tell him about planning things without me."

Chapter 68: Drum's Return

Gao watched nervously the matches and it slowly and surely moved closer to him. He felt sweat on his forehead, wondering when Drum will come, "Dammit. He's getting really late," he grumbled nervously.

"Calm down Gao. I'm sure Drum will be here in time. I have prepared some puddings for him, that always attracts him," Suzumi replied.

Gao chuckled, knowing how true it was.

"That's right," Tasuku said as he joined him and sat beside him, "He still have some time before it's too late."

"Besides, Drum wouldn't miss that. He didn't have a real fight for a while and it will be good for him," Jackknife replied. Especially with all the pudding he's eating.

Gao nodded with a smile, "I know."

"It is now time for the next match," Paruko started. She checked her agenda and said, "This is going to be interesting. Our next match will be Hanako and Halberd against Shin and Black Demon Swordman Jade Aldis!"

Gao looked around him and saw that Hanako and Halberd weren't there, "They register!"

Tasuku had his mouth slightly opened and nodded, "I didn't know that either."

"I'll sing for her victory too," Troubadour commented, "Maybe we will have a sibling fight soon."

Meanwhile, Azi couldn't help, but be surprised by what he heard, "Those two were the last duo we expected to be here."

"There is no age restriction," Kyoya replied, he crossed his fingers together, "I cannot help, but wonder if she's going to win her match with Halberd."

"I'm sure she will. You saw how Halberd fights while we were in the cruise ship. It's obvious he fought for a long time," Hinako added.

The left head of Azi gave her a quick glance, but evaded thinking too strongly about it for the other heads to notice what he was doing.

In the arena, Halberd stood on in the ring, his shield and halberd ready for the battle. Hanako held her deck in her hand. She was breathing loudly as it was her real first fight by Halberd side.

Halberd turned toward her and said, "Do not worry. Everything will be fine. It's not like Gallows."

Hanako nodded and tried slowly her breathing, but her arms were still shaking.

Shin was a man who seemed to be a young adult with peach skin, black hair and brown eyes. He wore a black shirt with black pants. He held his deck case and said nothing.

Aldis came from magic world and his appearance was similar to a human, but with long ears. He had gray hair and red eyes. He wore a black shirt with black pants like his buddy and held a long black sword.

Paruko said, "We have two humans of different age ready for their battle! Ready? 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Buddyfight!"

Halberd charged toward the demon and struck with his weapon. Aldis dodged it and countered by striking at the dragon's gut, but the large shield deviate the sharp blade. Halberd was mostly in the offensive as he struck and slashed, forcing the demon to dodge and blocked his assault. Despite that, one strike from Halberd was often rewarded by two from his enemy as agility and speed was Aldis strength compare to Halberd strength and resilience.

Halberd jumped backward and evaded the blade before taking a few deep breathe. He was well aware of his enemy advantage over him, but had long battle experience and knowledge against this archetype of adversary.

Hanako prepared herself as the minute almost passed. She nervously thought about everything Halberd trained her, she repeated in her mind, I'm ready. I can do it like my big brother.

Halberd charged again, but this time, his shield was pointing toward Aldis. The demon jumped to the dragon's left and was aimed for the chest, but Halberd blocked it with his weapon.

Aldis realised that the dragon switched his gears from hands, "W-"

Halberd broke the demon's balance by throwing his arms in the air, spun around himself and hit Aldis chest with his tail, sending him almost outside of the ring.

Halberd grumbled, "So close."

The two monsters charged and continued fighting. Halberd eventually jumped back and switched his weapon and shield of hands and charged again.

"You saw that right?" Paruko asked in her mic. "Halberd seems to be an ambidextrous dragon that can fight well with both of his hands!"

Suzumi replied, "He is good, but you saw how quickly he switched hands Gao?"

"Hum. Yeah. What about it?" Gao asked.

"That means that he can fight well with a weapon in his left hand, but if he changed it that fast, it's obvious he's a right handed dragon who learned to use his left one, but isn't a real ambidextrous dragon," Suzumi explained.

Tenbu flew closer to her and commented with pink hearts in his eyes, "That's Suzumi. Not only is she strong and beautiful. She is also intelligent and maybe she wants to-"

Takashi punched the old dragon snout and grunted, "Don't even think about trying to ask her out."

Tenbu flew back at his place and replied, "Of course."

Shin saw that the minute passed and drew a card out of his deck. He kept it and nodded at his buddy. Hanako also drew a card, unsure if Shin had an offensive spellcard or a defensive one, even so, they could change anytime depending on how the situation's fit.

Halberd aimed for Aldis head, but the demon blocked it with his sword. Halberd grinned as he used all his strength and forced Aldis to knee in front of him.

Shin raised his card and yelled, "Bastin Caps!"

Fire energy came out of the card and his Halberd right at his face. Halberd reacted by closing his eyes lowering the pressure of Aldis. The demon quickly escaped his situation and pointed his sword at the dragon and releasing green energy that hit Halberd's throat.

The dragon coughed loudly when he saw Aldis charging at him, he blocked the sword with his shield, but the demon slid under the dragon and jumped on his back, between the wings of the dragon.

He prepared to release energy to knock the dragon out when, "Green Dragon Shield," Hanako yelled.

The shield blocked the attack and blinded the demon for one second. That was enough for Halberd to let go of his weapons and trapped the demon on his back with his arms. He jumped in the air and landed on the ground, near the border of the ring with the demon under the weight of his body. Halberd quickly moved away and grabbed the demon with his tail before throwing him outside of the ring, never letting a second for the demon to recover.

"The battle is over! The winners are Halberd and Hanako!" Paruko yelled with excitement.

Gao, his friends and his family applauded Hanako and Halberd victory. Hanako smiled and waved at everyone as Halberd joined her by her side before turning back in his mini form.

The duo saw Shin giving them a nod with a small smile, showing that he accept his victory with maturity before walked toward his buddy and using a healing spellcard. The duo walked to their own exit.

When they were outside of the ring and walking toward their family, Hanako smiled slowly reduced and said, "I'm sorry."

Halberd confusingly asked, "For what?"

"I was too slow with the Green Dragon shield. I could have used it to counter Shin spell, but I didn't and you got hurt," she answered while she used a healing spell cards of her buddy.

Halberd pat her back and countered, "It was your first time Hanako. It's normal not to be perfect when it's your first real fight. When I was using spellcards, I wasn't good at it when I started. It's by using it that you'll gain experience in it. As for getting hurt, that's something a warrior must accept," he then let out a smile, "You still used it at the right time allow us victory."

"He's right sis," Gao said as he joined them with a smile. He had a small bag on his back.

"You mean it big brother?" Hanako asked with stars in her eyes.

Gao chuckled and replied, "Of course. I wasn't that good at the start. You'll get better."

"Thanks!" Hanako joyfully replied. She then asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to wait Drum near the entrance of the arena, my turn is coming soon," Gao lost his smile, "I hope he's here in time."

Hanako replied, "We are going to wait for him at the entrance. We will tell you where to find you."

"What's in your bag Gao?" Halberd asked.

"Pudding for Drum. He's going to need a full stomach for the battle," Gao replied.

"You should go Gao. Like Hanako said, we are going to wait for him," Halberd told the boy.

Gao nodded and walked away.

Halberd and Hanako walked at the entrance and waited.

Gao waited and grew more and more nervous as he heard the remaining matches finished way too quickly for his taste. He felt his forehead covering with sweat as his face was written anxiety in it. He was glad that no one who dislike him passed by or he would explode. Come one Drum. Hurry up. We don't have much time left.

Drum reached the stadium and landed on the ground, making a few people gasped as he was in his real form, taller than normal humans. He turned to his mini form and dashed inside with his drill in his arms, "I need to find them now-"

"Drum!"

"Hanako! Halberd!" Drum yelled as he saw them smiling at him, "Where is Gao? I need to tell him a few-"

"No times," Halberd cut him. He grabbed the dragon's arm and pulled him.

"He- Hey!" Drum yelled.

"You're match is about to begin Drum and Gao is extremely nervous," Halberd explained.

"Bu-" Drum sighed, I'll give piece of my mind after the match I think. As he decided to let it go, "I can follow you myself you know!"

They reached Gao. Drum noticed how nervous the boy was, but he wasn't going to let it go easily, just postponing it.

"Gao!" Hanako yelled at him.

Gao turned toward them, hopes in his face which turned into a large smile when he saw his buddy, "Drum!" he yelled in joy, showing the dragon that he was missed, "I knew you'll be here in time!"

Drum anger toward him vanished, but still was going to postpone his complain, "I guess so. But I wasn't aware of it. You should always ask permission for this! We'll talk about it later thought," he replied, faking his anger. Gao had a guilty look on his face, which made Drum giggled a little, ending the boy's guilt, Damn I missed him a lot. His stomach grunted, "But I'm not really-"

Gao opened his bag and showed him what his mother and grandmother prepared for him.

Drum saw the puddings and his eyes turned into stars, "Pudding!"

Drum turned into his real form and ate everything and pat his stomach, "That was considerate of you. I'll forgive you for this. Especially when pudding taste so good after not eating it for a while. It's like rediscovering it."

The three other's chuckled at that. Hanako said, "We'll be encouraging you up there and Troubadour will surely sing your victory!" she walked away with Halberd.

"Troubadour?" Drum asked.

He was about to ask more details when they heard Paruko saying, "The next match will begin soon! It will be Gao and Drum against-"

"Let's go!" Gao yelled as he covered the name of his adversaries.

"Wait a second Gao," Drum said as he took spellcards out of his armor.

"What are those," Gao asked as he checked at them.

"Long story shorts, those are transformations spellcard that will adapt me to the different situation we'll be in. I can take some power of the other worlds that way. That's the ability of my clan," Drum briefly explained.

Gao nodded, understanding what he explained. The two then walked together toward the ring. Gao briefly explained how the rules worked and who the fight functioned. Drum nodded and climbed in the ring.

But who's this Troubadour? I wonder if someone tried to steal my buddy? Drum wondered. He then ditched that question, believing he'll have his answer later.

Tenbu watched this and told Gao's friends and family, "Not the extreme late I was expecting, but it was a close one."

Hanako and Halberd joined them, the little girl panting as she saw besides her mother, "He's here," she joyfully said. She looked around and noticed that someone was missing, "Where is he?"

The other's looked at each other's while Noboru grinned, "He's not far."

Azi and Kyoya lightly smiled when they saw Gao taking position. Saying nothing with Hinako near them, they were both excited to see the boy's power, just like the others in action.

In the ring, Drum prepared himself for the fight, wondering who he shall be again when he heard, "You're here just in time Drum-kin."

"Hum... A-Axia!" Drum yelled surprised.

Axia stood in front of him with his spear, winking at the surprised dragon, "That's me Drum-kin. You missed me you know."

"Y-you're my adversary? With who?" Drum asked.

Gao was also surprised and said nothing until he saw the buddy of Axia, "Baku!"

"That's me Gao. I'm glad Drum is here just in time, because I'm ready to defeat you," Baku said.

"And if I win Drum-kin, I'll give you your welcome back hug," Axia added before his cheerful mood turned into an intimidating glare, positioning himself in battle stance, "You'll see how strong I became since we first met Drum."

Drum gulped at the thought of the hug and said, "Maybe, but I'm not going to lose against you."

The two dragons looked in each other's eyes, waiting for the signal while Paruko gave the countdown.

"Buddyfight!" she said in her mic.

Drum activated the thrusters of his drill and charged at Axia, who deviate Drum's weapon with his spear and hitting his snout with the handle, pushing Drum away. Drum looked at Axia, surprised by his sudden counter. I never saw Axia fighting that way before. How?

"Do not underestimate me Drum," Axia warned his friend, spinning his spear before pointing it at Drum, "Because you're going to lose even with your training."

Drum frowned, but his lips rose, "I won't Axia."

AC: This is the end of chapter 68.

Next chapter: Drum vs Axia, The Dragon Magical Duel.