Kimberly's eyes narrowed at Ruska as the much older woman took her position opposite her, Maria had overheard what Ruska had said and had rushed over in time to see the old woman's duel disk activate.

"My, my, do I sense hostility from you dear?" Ruska mocked as the two women activated their duel disks; Kimberly clenched her fist into a ball and grits her teeth.

"DON'T PATRONISE ME!" Kimberly snapped at the older woman. "One of your associates put my stepbrother in the hospital and I swear to god I will take each and every one of you down until I find the one who did!" Kimberly said with rage in her eyes.

"She probably means Michael, doesn't mean I'll tell her that I know him." Ruska thought as the two women drew their opening hands. "I will go first, age before beauty dear." Ruska said drawing another card. "I set four cards facedown and end my turn." Kimberly frowned and drew her first card.

"She didn't play the seal; maybe she hasn't drawn it yet." Kimberly thought before she drew her card. "I summon Archfiend Soldier in attack mode!" Kimberly played the card and the Archfiend appeared on the field (4/1900/1500. "Attack her lifepoints directly!" The Archfiend charged at Ruska and the old woman smirked.

"Come in to my parlour, said the spider to the fly." Ruska said activating one of her traps. "I activate Wall of Revealing Light!" As the card flipped up, and much to Kimberly's surprise, Ruska's lifepoints plummeted down to 3000. "As you just saw I have paid 5000 lifepoints but as a result you can't attack with any monsters with an attack lower than the amount I paid."

"But...that's...that's nearly every monster in Duel Monsters!" Kimberly realized as her eyes widened.

"That's exactly my point." Ruska grinned as she activated her other traps. "And now to complete my strategy I activate three trap cards, Eye of Truth, Ominous Fortune Telling and Bad Reaction to Simochi." Ruska said with a sadistic grin. "Eye of Truth requires you to show me your hand, if you have any spell cards you would gain a thousand lifepoints each turn...but Bad Reaction To Simochi means that any lifepoints you would've gained instead becomes battle damage and last but not least Ominous Fortune Telling...well I overheard you say that that you where always interested in fortune telling."

"Yeah, what's your point?" Kimberly demanded with a scowl after she reluctantly revealed her hand, Pandemonium, Terrorking Archfiend (4/2000/1500), Skull Archfiend of Lightning (6/2500/1200) and Archfiend's Roar.

"My point is this trap will determine whether or not you're still interested in fortune telling, this trap's effect can only be activated once per turn during my standby phase, it lets me pick one card at random from your hand and guess if it's a trap, spell or monster card, if I guess correctly then you suffer 700 points of damage." Ruska said with a grin.

"But since Eye of Truth has revealed my hand you only need to look at it to know what my cards are." Kimberly said as her eyes narrowed. "She's smarter than I gave her credit for, my only chance is if I draw Heavy Storm and sacrifice Soldier to bring out Skull Archfiend of Lightning...but for all I know that could be at the bottom of my deck." Kimberly thought before sighing. "Seeing as how there's no use in hiding it I set Archfiend's Roar facedown and end my turn." Ruska smirked and drew her card, without bothering to look at it she placed her fingers to her temple. "Hmmm, hmmm, I see all and no all dear child..." As Ruska chanted that a large transparent hand appeared out of Ominous Fortunetelling's hologram and pointed to Pandemonium. "I believe that that is the field spell card Pandemonium."

"Gee, how'd you guess?" Kimberly asked sarcastically as lightning shot out of the hand's finger's striking her in the chest.

R: 3000

K: 7300

"Man that actually hurts." Kimberly winced as she clutched her chest in pain and Ruska chuckled evilly.

"Most of the agents in the organisation rely on the Orichalcos to make the damage real, me? I simply turned off the safeties long ago." Ruska said with a sadistic grin.

"THAT'S AGAINST TOURNAMENT REGULATIONS AND YOU KNOW IT!" Maria shouted from the sidelines.

"Why do you think I duel exclusively at night? Most of the techs at Kaibacorp are either calling it a day or are too tired to even notice by now." Ruska said arrogantly and Kimberly smirked.

"That would be a brilliant plan...if you weren't blinded by your arrogance." Kimberly smirked and Ruska growled.

"YOU DARE INSULT ME? I HAVE THE SEAL OF THE ORICHALCOS IN MY DECK!" Ruska said angrily before looking at her drawn card...and smirking evilly. "Correction, I have the Seal of the Orichalcos in my hand!" Ruska said playing the card and Kimberly's eyes widened. "I ACTIVATE THE SEAL OF THE ORICHALCOS!"

"Oh fuck." Kimberly thought as she braced herself and the Seal surrounded the two women, the symbol appeared on Ruska's head.

"You still want to mock me child?" Ruska taunted.

"As a matter of fact, yes I will." Kimberly smirked folding her arms. "Do you really think Kaibacorp's technicians are that lazy?" Ruska smirked before holding up four locater cards.

"Does this answer your question?" Ruska asked and Kimberly's eyes narrowed.

"That doesn't prove anything; you could've beaten your opponents before they could report you." Kimberly pointed out.

"That doesn't matter." Ruska grunted before looking at the rest of her hand. "I end my turn." Kimberly drew her card, the hologram for Eye of Truth glowed as did Bad Reaction to Simouchi, and Kimberly grimaced as her lifepoints dropped to 6300. "So, what is your new card?" Ruska asked, Kimberly turned it around revealing it to be Archfiend's Oath which she added to her hand.

"I can't risk using Archfiend's Oath, not with that combo of hers." Kimberly thought looking at her hand. "And for the same reason I can't summon either of my other archfiends since the seal would block my attempt to activate Pandemonium." Kimberly thought annoyed. "I have no choice but to pass.

"Don't worry dear; the pain will be over soon." Ruska said with a tone of voice that screamed mock sympathy as she drew her card and once again put her hands to her temples. "Hmmm, Hmmm, I see all and know all, dear child." Ruska said as the hand appeared again pointing to Skull Archfiend of Lightning. "I say that that card is the monster card Skull Archfiend of Lightning."

"Yeah...that routine's getting old and it's only been two turns already." Kimberly said annoyed as lightning shot from the hand's fingers striking her in the chest.

K: 5600

R: 3000

"I'll teach you to mock me!" Ruska said playing the card she had drawn. "I activate the spell card Hinotama which deals another 500 points of damage to your lifepoints!" Ruska said activating the card and a meteor struck Kimberly in the chest.

K: 5100

R: 3000

The attack brought Kimberly to her knees but with a grimace she forced herself to her feet. "Are you done using Burn Strategies to shut me up?" Kimberly said through gritted teeth.

"How is she still standing?" Ruska thought before looking at her hand. "I end my turn." Kimberly said nothing and drew her card wincing as the effect of Eye of Truth and Bad Reaction To Simochi brought her lifepoints down to 4100. "So, what is the card you've drawn?"

"It's my strongest monster, Archfiend Empress." Kimberly said showing her the card (8/2900/2100) before adding it to her hand. "Not that I'd be able to summon her even if I wanted to."

"Nor would you be able to attack with her." Ruska smirked and Kimberly sighed.

"I can't end up like Nathan! I refuse to end up like Nathan!" She thought before picking up another card. "I summon Terrorking Archfiend to the field and end my turn." Kimberly announced as the archfiend appeared alongside the soldier (4/2000/1500) and she motioned to Ruska to take her turn, Ruska drew her card and smirked.

"Since you found it annoying last time I'll cut to the chase." Ruska said as the transparent hand appeared on the field and pointed to Archfiend Empress. "I say that that's the monster card Archfiend Empress." Kimberly screamed in pain as lightning emerged from the hand and struck her in the chest.

K: 3400

R: 3000

"But why stop there?" Ruska asked holding up the card she drew and playing it. "I activate Tremendous Fire which deals an additional 1000 lifepoints to you, sure I suffer 500 points of damage but you're hardly in a position to do anything about it!" Ruska said as both women were burned by a large flam.

K: 2400

R: 2500

"This is your last turn dear, use it wisely." Ruska smirked as Kimberly went to draw her card.

"I need Heavy Storm and I need it now! Heart of the Cards, please help me!" Kimberly pleaded mentally as her hair overshadowed her eyes, slowly but surely she drew the card and looked at it ignoring the pain from Ruska's traps as best she could, to make matters worse she suffered 800 points of damage due to Terrorking's effect.

K: 600

R: 2500

"So, what is the card dear?" Ruska asked confidently.

"It's a spell card..." Kimberly said slowly turning the card around. "...it's called Heavy Storm!" Kimberly played the card and Ruska's eyes widened.

"NO!" Ruska shouted in surprise as a storm ripped through the field destroying her traps. "How the hell did she manage draw that card this late in the game...especially when I was so close to victory, it doesn't make sense?" Ruska lamented.

"It looks like fate's abandoned you to the Orichalcos." Kimberly said bitterly as she turned her cards around and picked up another card. "I sacrifice Terrorking Archfiend to summon Skull Archfiend of Lightning!" Terrorking Archfiend disappeared from the field and in its place stood a demon that was a dead ringer for Summoned Skull (6/2500/1200). "I could just attack you with Archfiend be done with it...but that's more than you deserve so I'm not done."

"No...you...you can finish me of in one hit, have mercy!" Ruska pleaded as her eyes widened in fear.

"Your associate didn't show my brother any mercy, why should I do the same? This...is for everyone you've hurt using the Orichalcos and that modded duel disk, Archfiend Soldier attack her lifepoints." Kimberly announced and Archfiend Soldier Charged forward slashing Ruska with his sword bringing her lifepoints down to 400, as Kimberly said the next part tears started rolling down her face. "This...this is a message to everyone else in your organisation and especially to the bastard that hurt my brother, I'm coming for you next...Skull Archfiend of Lightning...I want you to send her to hell." Kimberly said coldly as the demon stretched out his arms and fired lightning at Ruska, the old woman collapsed as Archfiend Soldier and Skull Archfiend of Lightning disappeared from the field.

K: 600

R: 0000

The Orichalcos closed in around Ruska but no scream was heard even as the Orichalcos took her soul, Kimberly walked up to the old woman and checked her pulse. "She's alive, just unconscious and the Orichalcos taking her soul didn't help." Kimberly said picking up the locater card and turning around...to see the others save for Lance and Chloe standing behind her. "How long have you been there?"

"We've been here since she first used the Ominous Fortune Telling card against you." Brandon said folding his arms. "That was a nice comeback but attacking her twice with your archfiends? You're stooping to their level."

"Stooping to their level?" Kimberly echoed clearly disgusted by the implication. "Brandon, I like you but these bastards put Chloe in the hospital and my brother in a coma, she herself claimed three other victims before duelling me, as far as I'm concerned this is karma biting them in the ass."

"We know your angry but taking your frustrations out on an elderly duellist, regardless of affiliation, will make other duellists reluctant to duel you." Jeff said folding his arms. "Kaibacorp knows that she tampered with her duel disk and they will be reinstating duellists who lost to her and weren't consumed by the Orichalcos as a result."

"Come on, it's getting late and we need our sleep." Martin said leading them away, unaware that Michael was watching them from an alleyway.

"Sir, I must advise against sending any more agents after Kimberly, she is too strong and ruthless." Michael said plainly.

"Indeed, I will remove her from the target list." The leader said plainly. "Return to the ship Michael, it's getting late."

"Very well, I will." Michael said before walking off.

*elsewhere*

Lance had been chilling out in his room since his duel with Leviathan, and had been constantly updated on the duels going on thanks to the news coverage; he had ordered room service for a snack and was currently enjoying it.

"At least those creeps who are using the Orichalcos are losing operatives." He thought as he ate his food, his bed was covered in food but he planned to remove the food before going to bed, he glanced towards his duel disk briefly wondering what he could do to improve his deck, his train of thought was interrupted by a knock at his door. "Come in!" Lance called out as he ate the last of his food, the door opened and Chloe entered the room. "Oh, hi Chloe, what's up?" Lance greeted his friend after swallowing his food.

"I didn't realize you where half pig." Chloe joked upon seeing the state of his room; Lance shook his head and tossed the last of the candy wrappers in the bin.

"I'm not nearly as bad as Mike, if you ever saw his room back home you'd think a Tornado AND World War 3 had occurred simultaneously in the same room." Lance joked before folding his arms. "So, what's up?"

"I...I wanted to tell you something...preferably when the others weren't around to hear it." Chloe said, Lance could tell from her tone of voice that the subject made her uncomfortable so he cleared some room on the bed before inviting her to sit down next to him. "Thanks." Chloe said sitting down next to him. "You know that I was born here...and abused here..."

"Yeah, I know." Lance nodded placing a comforting hand on Chloe's unscarred shoulder.

"Back at the hospital, when I was still recovering from my duel with Damien, I...fell asleep but I had to be sedated because I was becoming restless and running a high risk of accidently pulling my stitches out, the only reason I know this because a nurse told me once I awoke." Chloe said as tears started pouring down her face. "I didn't tell the nurse but...the reason I was being restless was because I was dreaming of the day my mom died."

"Shit..." Lance trailed off; he knew Chloe often had nightmares about the abuse she suffered but rarely about her mom's murder. "Chloe, have you taken your anti-depression meds?"

"I took the recommended dosage an hour ago and earlier this morning before we left for the airport." Chloe said.

"Six hours ago." Lance nodded running a hand through his hair. "At least you're sticking to the instructions."

"Yeah...Lance there's one other thing I wanted to tell you about my dream..." Chloe said clearly getting choked up at the memory. "You know how in real life I was able to escape before my dad could shoot at me...but in my dream some unknown force was preventing me from escaping...I was sedated before he could shoot me but..."

"Hey, hey come here." Lance said pulling his upset friend into a comforting hug. "Just remember, he can't hurt you anymore."

"I know." Chloe sobbed into his shoulder, Lance didn't really care that his jacket was getting wet he just wanted to comfort his friend, eventually she stopped crying and pulled away though still in Lance's embrace. "Lance?"

"Yes Chloe?" Lance asked as she wiped away a dry tear.

"Thanks..." Chloe trailed off, Lance smiled...

"Err are we interrupting something?" Lance and Chloe's eyes went as wide as dinner plates when they realized how sexual the scene looked and they slowly looked up seeing the others at the door to his room, Theresa was closest to the door and it was her that spoke up.

"I...I realize how bad this looks but it's REALLY not what it looks like." Lance stammered as he blushed furiously. "We were just sharing a passionate moment and...I'm not helping my case at all, am I?" Lance realized and Jeff chuckled.

"Neither is the way you're holding her." Brandon pointed out and the two teens quickly let go off each other.

"Yeah...I'm heading back to my room; see you in the morning Lance." Chloe said standing up and leaving the room brushing past the others.

"See you in the morning Lance." Marcus echoed whilst making kissing noises with his mouth.

"Shut up before I throw one of my pillows at you." Lance grunted and Marcus quickly shut up.

"Oh look at the time; we'd better get some sleep as well." Andreas said quickly walking off, Marcus did likewise and slowly the other students departed save for Theresa.

"Lance, I saw the dry tears around her eyes." Theresa said folding her arms. "What really happened?"

"You won't tell the others?" Lance asked and Theresa shook her head. "She just needed someone to talk to...she's been having nightmares about the night her mom died."

"Oh." Theresa said as her eyes widened. "So the hug was..."

"I was trying to calm her down, I succeeded obviously." Lance said with a nod. "If she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night let me know okay?"

"I will." Theresa said as she started to walk off before pausing and glancing over her shoulder at the younger student. "All though if you do feel that way about her...it's nothing to be embarrassed about." Theresa said honestly holding back a chuckle at the embarrassment on Lance's face. "Good night."

"Good night." Lance said and Theresa closed the door behind her. "I swear most of the students at Duel Academy are so immature." Lance muttered under his breath as he removed the jacket. "Maybe some Metal will help me take my mind off things." Lance thought getting his IPod out and started playing "Souls of Black" by Testament. "How fitting that I play this song given the current situation." Lance thought drumming his fingers along to the bass line at the beginning of the song.

"Theresa...was what Brandon said true?" Theresa looked up and saw Kimberly leaning against the door to the room the female students where sharing.

"You mean about you stooping to their level?" Theresa asked and Kimberly nodded. "Well, attacking Ruska with both Archfiends was pretty unnecessary as far as I'm concerned as you could've beaten her with one attack from Skull Archfiend of Lightning but instead you showed her no mercy...but on the other hand I understand why you are angry at them." Theresa sighed in resignation before folding her arms. "Just promise me one thing, if your next duel is against someone who isn't an Orichalcos agent don't take your frustrations out on them."

"You have a deal." Kimberly said shaking her head. "If I do end up facing the bastard that put Nathan in the coma then...may god have mercy on my soul..." Kimberly trailed off and Theresa nodded in agreement.

"I'm sure he'll understand." Theresa said reassuringly, before either woman could say anything else they heard a terrified scream coming from Chloe's room. "Oh shit." Theresa said immediately opening the door to the room; the two women entered Chloe's room and saw Chloe clad only in a red nightshirt curled up in a ball, her eyes where as wide as dinner plates and in one of her hands was a duel monster's card which she was holding onto for dear life, the bed sheets where a mess and Theresa walked up to the younger woman's side. "Chloe, are you okay?" Theresa asked but she didn't answer, now that she was closer she saw that tears where streaming down her cheeks.

"Should I get one of the teachers?" Kimberly asked equally concerned.

"No, I'll...I'll try to calm her down myself." Theresa responded with a sigh before turning to Chloe. "Chlo, I can't help you if you don't talk to me." She said honestly but she still didn't answer, she looked at the duel monsters card in Chloe's hand and her eyes widened. "Shit, its Silent Magician Level 8...was this one of the nightmares Lance mentioned." Theresa thought as Brandon and Andreas showed up at the door. "You heard the scream as well?"

"Yes, I could hear it from a mile away." Andreas nodded. "Is she..."

"She's fine, she just had a nightmare." Theresa said and Brandon raised an eyebrow.

"It must've been a hell of a nightmare." Brandon said and Theresa motioned to the duel monsters card, he looked at it and realization dawned on him. "Oh." Brandon said once he put two and two together. "Andreas, we'd better give her some privacy."

"But..." Andreas protested clearly concerned.

"Trust me, it's for the best." Brandon said sternly and Andreas nodded reluctantly before the two boys left.

"Chloe its okay he can't hurt you anymore." Theresa said reassuringly, Chloe finally looked up at Theresa.

"But...but...he..." Chloe stammered in between sobs and Theresa rubbed her unscarred shoulder reassuringly.

"I know, I know." Theresa said reassuringly and slowly but surely Chloe lay back down on the bed, still clutching onto the Duel Monsters card even as the older woman tucked her in.

"You want me to get you anything to drink?" Theresa offered and Chloe shook her head, Kimberly sighed sadly before leaving.

"Are you coming Theresa?" Kimberly asked and Theresa shook her head.

"I'll keep an eye on her for now." Theresa said taking a seat. "If she goes 15 minutes without waking up with a scream again I'll go to bed." Theresa added.

"Well if you say so, good night." Kimberly said before walking out of the room.

"Man, how can Chloe be as well adjusted as she is given what happened to her?" Theresa thought sadly as the younger woman started going to sleep. "At least that bastard who dared to call him her dad can't hurt her anymore." Theresa thought before glancing at the two medicine bottles on the nightstand, the Anti-Depression meds where almost used up but the painkillers where filled up. "I should probably mention that to her parents, they'll know where to find a fresh batch of meds for her." Theresa thought with a yawn, she waited ten more minutes and, confident that the younger woman wasn't going to awake with a scream anytime soon, got up and left the room. "Good night." Theresa whispered softly in her ear before leaving the room, she sighed softly before opening the door to her room and entering it.

*elsewhere in the city*

"I can't believe that old bat beat me." A young Italian man grumbled as he walked down the street, he had neck length black hair and blue eyes and was wearing a red jacket over a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots. "And I can't believe Kaibacorp blew off my complaint just because I lost, I'm Italy's National Champion for crying out loud."

"Luigi Malverio?" The young man looked up and too his surprise saw the Chancellor Wilkins there. "I believe this is yours." She said holding up a locater card and his rarest card.

"Yes, it is but I don't understand." Luigi answered honestly.

"You lost to a duellist calling herself Madame Ruska correct?" Wilkins asked and Luigi nodded. "She was found to be in violation of the Battle City rules and regulations, as a result all of her previous opponents prior to her defeat are being reinstated."

"Re...really...this isn't you idea of a sick joke?" Luigi stammered out of surprise. "Thank you, I appreciate it." Luigi said taking the cards. "Wait, who defeated her?"

"She was defeated by one of the Duel Academy students, Kimberly Troy." Chancellor Wilkins told him and he smiled broadly.

"Hmmm, did she now? I'll have to thank her in person." Luigi said returning the card to his deck. "What's going to happen to her?"

"Ruska? I'm afraid that she's in a coma, she was found to be in the possession of the same card that resulted in four other duellists being comatose." Wilkins explained and Luigi's eyes widened.

"Wait, you mean I could've ended up like them!" Luigi asked and Wilkins nodded. "To think, I came to this tournament to win the championship."

"Yes but believe me the organisers didn't expect this to happen either." Wilkins said before walking off. "Good luck it the tournament, it's not often that people get second chances in tournaments like this."

"Indeed." Luigi said pocketing the locater card. "Well, I guess I'd better find a duel then..." Luigi said out loud before checking the time on his watch. "Err...in the morning." Luigi said sheepishly before making his way to his hotel.

*the following morning*

"Lance, it's time to get up!" Theresa said knocking on his door, most of the other students where already up, well except for Chloe but she was willing to let that slide given what happened last night, which only left Lance to wake up for the second day of the tournament.

"Give me five more minutes." Lance grumbled and Theresa rolled her eyes.

"Brandon, what did Chloe say the name of his favourite band was again?" Theresa whispered.

"Err, Exodus, why?" Brandon asked and she smirked.

"Fine but you'll miss the meet and greet with Exodus downstairs." Theresa called out to Lance looking at her nails as she did, roughly five seconds later Lance emerged from his room fully clothed with an excited look on his face.

"Why didn't anyone say there was a meet and greet with Exodus at the tournament?" Lance asked and Theresa and Brandon tried very hard to not burst out laughing, he quickly caught on though. "That was just sadistic." Lance grumbled.

"It got you out of bed, didn't it?" Theresa pointed out with a playful smirk on her face. "Besides we've got more duelling to do remember?" Theresa added and Lance promptly disappeared back into his room and retrieved his duel disk.

"Eh don't blame him for not wanting to get up in the morning." Marcus grumbled as he yawned. "He was probably fantasizing about Ch..." Marcus started but was stopped by a punch to the head from Lance.

"How many times must I say "we weren't about to make out" before it gets through your thick head?" Lance asked. "Speaking of Chloe I heard the scream last night, she okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a nightmare." Chloe yawned as she emerged from the girl's room; Lance's expression darkened quickly catching onto the fact that she meant the nightmare that she told him about. "Where are the teachers?"

"They left earlier this morning for the meeting at Kaibacorp." Theresa responded. "They tasked me with waking you guys up for the second day of the tournament." She added.

"Well, at least you didn't pour water on anyone." Lance said running a hand through his hair and Theresa winced. "You did, didn't you?"

"Yes, she did." Andreas said as he dried himself off with a towel. "Honestly I was having a nice dream, was that tactic really necessary?"

"I had to wake you up somehow." Theresa shrugged before turning to Chloe. "Are you going to be up for duelling after what happened last night?"

"I'm not going to let some nightmare stop me from duelling." Chloe shook her head.

"Good." Theresa sighed in relief before turning to the others. "Everyone have their duel disks?" Everyone nodded before Andreas remembered something.

"Oh, that reminds me." Andreas said returning to his room and coming out a few seconds later with a pair of duel monster cards in his hand. "Me and Marcus won these from those girls we duelled, the ones we told you about yesterday? We claimed this as our prize but since it doesn't fit in with either of our deck themes we figured that you'd get more use out of it." Andreas said handing over the cards to Theresa, she looked at them and smiled.

"Shinato, King of a Higher Plain and Shinato's Ark, thanks Andreas I've been looking for these cards for god knows how long." Theresa said getting her Fairy deck out of her backpack and adding the cards to her deck. "Is that everything?" The others thought for a moment before shaking their heads. "Good, you know who you've been partnered with for the tournament, or in the case of Kimberly her partner can't be bothered to show up, if you get into any Orichalcos duels and win call me." Theresa said before leading the others to the elevators.

"Yeash, who died and made her boss?" Marcus muttered...only to be met with a death glare from Theresa. "I'm going to shut up now."

"Good." Theresa said as she pressed the button for the ground floor, when the elevator arrived they got in it and Theresa pressed the button for the ground floor.

"So did I miss any duels whilst I was trying to sleep in?" Lance asked scratching his tired eyes and Theresa shrugged.

"No clue, I was too busy waking up everyone to notice." Theresa said honestly. "Besides, don't you need to wait for your siblings before you leave?"

"Mike sent me a text whilst I was retrieving my duel disk; they are waiting for me in the hotel restaurant." Lance said before pausing. "Maybe we should stop for breakfast before we start duelling?"

"Yeah I was thinking the same thing." Theresa nodded in agreement as the elevator arrived at the ground floor; the teens got out of the elevator and glanced around.

"Excuse me, which one of you is Kimberly Troy?" The teens looked up and Luigi approaching them.

"That's me, why?" Kimberly asked stepping forward, Luigi smiled.

"Ah yes, I wanted to thank you for defeating Ruska and getting me reinstated." Luigi said and Kimberly blinked.

"She didn't use the Orich..." Kimberly started but Theresa quickly covered her mouth.

"Do you really want to cause a panic?" Theresa whispered and Kimberly shook her head, Theresa removed her hand.

"She didn't send you into a coma?" Kimberly corrected herself and Luigi blinked before shaking his head.

"Err, no she merely hurt me...quite a bit but compared to some other duellists I got off lucky." Luigi said before pausing. "Oh that's right, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Luigi Malverio, and I am the national champion of Italy."

"Who?" Kimberly blinked and Luigi fell over Anime style.

"Where's the respect?" Luigi muttered as he got up. "Anyway now that I'm back in the tournament I hope that we get a chance to face each other in the semi finals, see ya." Luigi said walking off.

"Well, at least he isn't an Orichalcos duellist, unlike most of the other duellists we've met." Kimberly said as she watched the other duellist leave. "And as much as I'd hate to admit he's kinda cute."

"Kimberly and Luigi sitting in a tree..." Marcus started.

"Don't even consider finishing that song." Kimberly said glaring at Marcus.

"Err...how about we focus on getting something to eat." Lance said sheepishly, the two duellists nodded reluctantly and followed them to the restaurant before Lance realized something. "Wait, who's going to pay?"

"Oh, the teachers anticipated this and gave me enough money to pay for our meals and your siblings." Theresa said holding her a stack of 20 dollar bills; Lance breathed a sigh of relief before they entered the restaurant and he looked around for his siblings. "Any sign of them?" Theresa asked and Lance shook his head.

"No sign of them so far." Lance answered.

"Hey bro, we're over here!" Mike called out to him and he saw them at a table at a far corner of a restaurant.

"We're going to need a bigger table." Lance thought as they approached the table. "Hey guys, hope you're ready for your next duels."

"I have, Sophie hasn't even duelled yet." Mike explained and Lance blinked before glancing at Brandon.

"It was getting late at the time." Brandon explained.

"Whatever, let's eat." Chloe said sitting next to Lance only for the two teens to nearly jump out of their skin when a loud "AHEM!" came from behind them, Chloe turned around and saw her cross looking dad. "Oh hi Dad, what's up?" Chloe gulped.

"Well, I'm just wondering about that intimate moment you almost shared last night?" Her stepdad said and Lance's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"Okay, who told him?" Lance called out to the other students.

"Oh look at the time; I'd better get to duelling!" Marcus said quickly walking off.

"But you haven't eaten yet." Andreas pointed out.

"I'll eat somewhere else..." Marcus started and Lance cleared his throat. "Or I'll just stay put and anticipate a ass kicking."

"Look dad, nothing happened, intimate or otherwise." Chloe said pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "I'll explain later." Chloe added her tone of voice making it clear that this wasn't something that should be explained in public.

"Okay, fine." Her stepdad sighed before handing her a bottle of pills. "No these aren't birth control pills, your friend Theresa said that you where almost out of them." Chloe read the label and smiled.

"Thanks dad." Chloe said as her dad walked off. "Marcus..." She said threateningly.

"I didn't tell him directly I just posted on Facebook about it, someone must've forwarded it to him because he isn't on my friends list." Marcus explained with a gulp.

"How about next time you keep blatant lies off Facebook." Lance suggested with a grunt. "At least the whole city doesn't know..."

"Err, yeah about that." Marcus said pointing to a small TV screen in the corner of the bar, the sound was muted but it was clearly a chat show and it had Lance and Chloe's pictures with the words "duelling couple?" underneath them.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Lance said with a facepalm. "I thought this was a Duel Monster's tournament not a place to spread gossip."

"There's a difference?" Chloe asked equally as annoyed. "Marcus, did you at any point think that this was likely to happen?"

"Err, no." Marcus said with a gulp.

"Okay, how about we just worry about eating our breakfast for now...not to mention ordering it." Theresa said as a waiter came over.

*meanwhile at the docks*

The ship was a lot less crowded than it was when the organisation's members arrived in New York, mostly due to the fact that Damien, Leviathan, The Hunter, Amanda and Ruska had been defeated with their souls consumed by the Orichalcos, still the organisation had more than enough operatives to make up for it and two of them, Karen and Felix, where about to leave the ship.

"I can't believe I was drunk enough to sleep with you Felix." Karen grumbled as the two duellists got off the ship.

"Face it babe, you wanted me in your pants." Felix grinned.

"Going somewhere?" A Brooklyn accented voice rang out and the two duellists groaned.

"Oh great, the one operative I can't stand more than you." Karen grumbled before turning around and seeing Robert there, his body covered in a black cloak. "What do you want Robert?"

"What do I want? I thought you knew that by now." Robert grinned under his cloak.

"Ah yeah, you want to duel the Osiris Red duellist." Felix rolled his eyes as the two duellists got off the ramp to the ship. "You know there are much more skilled duellists for you to obsess over right?"

"This isn't about skill." Robert said as he got off the ramp. "If it was...well..." Robert dug into his cloak pocket and produced, to the surprise of Felix and Karen, six locater cards. "I'd be at the semi-finals by now."

"How the fuck did you get 6 locater cards so quickly?" Felix demanded folding his arms. "The Tournament started yesterday for fuck's sake."

"Nonstop duelling, that's how." Robert said walking off. "I'm off to figure out how I'm going to lure that brat into a duel where she must face me."

"That guy gives me the creeps." Karen whispered to Felix who grunted.

"What creeps you out about him exactly? The fact that he never takes his clothes off or the fact that he obsesses over a girl who's young enough to be..." Felix said before realization dawned on him. "You don't think."

"I'd rather not think about it." Karen said shaking her head.

"I say we follow him and find out." Felix said walking off.

"We still have duelling to do remember?" Karen called after him and he stopped in his tracks.

"Oh yeah, we'll do that first." Felix grunted holding up his duel disk. "Let's avoid the Duel Academy brats for now and work on getting into the semi-finals, besides they have agents tailing them already."

"You actually have a good plan for once, did hell freeze over whilst you where screwing me?" Karen asked before walking off.

"If it did you wouldn't be Ice Queen." Felix thought before following her.

*elsewhere*

"Lance, your gross...you know that right?" Chloe asked as she walked side by side with him after he let out a burp, after Breakfast the teens went their separate ways in the same pairs as yesterday and Lance's siblings were not far behind Lance and Chloe, they where currently walking down the Manhattan district of New York.

"Better out than in I always say." Lance smirked and Chloe folded her arms.

"You don't say that, you just stole it from a Shrek movie!" Chloe smirked and Lance smiled sheepishly.

"Bro, when am I going to get a chance to duel?" Sophie moaned and Lance smiled at her.

"Don't worry; you'll get a chance to duel." Lance reassured her before turning to Chloe. "Here's hoping your next duel doesn't end with you in the hospital again."

"If I'm able to play the cards I won from Damien that won't be a problem." Chloe smirked looking at her deck. "Besides I know your just as eager to try out the card you won from Leviathan."

"Guilty as charged." Lance admitted with a smile. "Anyway I don't think we'll find any duellists here."

"Don't speak to soon." Lance and Chloe blinked before turning around, they saw a male duellist with black dreadlocked hair, blue eyes and was wearing a red jumper, blue jeans and white trainers approaching them. "I'm guessing this little lady's Chloe Richardson?"

"Yeah, are you looking for a duel?" Chloe asked activating her duel disk, the male smirked holding up two locater cards.

"Naturally, name's Zach Michaels, like you I'm a student at Duel Academy...well North Academy to be precise." Zach said with a grin holding up his duel disk. "Just so we're clear, I don't care if you're in Osiris Red or not, just as long as you give me a good fight."

"You'll get more than that; you'll get a ass kicking." Chloe smirked, however the two duellists where unaware that they were being watched.

"Drat, I was too late." A cloaked figure on a nearby rooftop thought. "No matter, this is a chance for me to scout her."