Whoever it was that requested an appearance of Valkyries... right, here you go. Note that the Athena burn combo was used by someone before... I think it was featured in chapter twenty-three of Shadowchaser: Risen Nemesis by Lux-Nero, to those who find the combo familiar. Either way, I modified it slightly and this is the result.

Stardust Shimmer

Nine: Fortune Chariot

Up in the stands of the stadium, Bruce Wayne glanced at the arrangement on the field, and thought well enough. Beside him, Tim was cheering, still regaling Flash with all the juicy news of the game.

"It's... interesting," Dick reluctantly admitted. "I thought it was just a card game, but it's not."

"It's magic!" Tim was saying. "And he summoned the dragon and blew the whole field!"

"I wonder what we'll see next," Bruce considered.

"Mackenzie, you mean?" a rather beautiful woman with long blond hair and green eyes commented next to him, focused on the field. "Ah, where are my manners? Sherry LeBlanc."

"Bruce Wayne," Bruce answered, giving the proffered hand a quick shake. "What is such a lovely lady like yourself here for?"

"To watch the tournament," Sherry answered simply. "I am a professional myself."

"Professional Duellist?" Bruce asked with a slightly raised eyebrow. "I almost find that hard to believe... if not for Miss Shimotsuki just now."

"America's first champion was a genius girl, did you know that?" Sherry answered as she glanced at the field. "Rebecca Hawkins, America's first Duel Monsters champion..."

"The mother of the Cure-Burn deck, right?" Tim volunteered, looking at her. "Using card effects to burn away the opponent's life points?"

"Yes," Sherry answered. "You are?"

"Tim Drake-Wayne," Tim smirked. "You're Sherry LeBlanc, I can tell. Bruce can tell, right?"

"Excuse me?" Bruce blinked. "Miss Sherry, you're..."

"Heiress of the LeBlanc gaming empire," Sherry answered. "We took over from the Schroeder family after the merger of Schroeder Corporation with KaibaCorp as one of the gaming empires of Europe, but that's boring business. I usually leave everything to Mizoguchi and focus on the Leagues."

"So, you ride a... motorcycle, at speeds far beyond a normal car and possibly the speed of sound, and play a card game at the same time," Dick clarified, unsure. "That sounds..."

"There is a difference in Standing Duel and Riding Duel," Sherry sighed. "You never learn until you try the speed yourself."

"And, thank you for being so patient!" the announcer's voice came on again. "It's going to be a tough battle! First, give it up for our own Reginald Mackenzie, here all the way from Michigan on the behest of the Elysium Circle! And challenging him, is the Kung Fu fighter from China, Ru Zhou! Both of them will be facing each other in the Dual-Magic rules, using Speed World Two. Get ready..."

"Field Magic, Speed World Two, set on!" Tim yelled as the signal went off.

"Riding Duel, Acceleration!"

Reginald: LP 4000

Zhou: LP 4000

"And, we have the first turn going to Zhou, who begins with a The Immortal Bushi [1200/600]." The announcer began. "He ends with a reversed card, since this is the first turn.

"The baton is now passed to Reginald, who takes advantage of the Dual-Magic rules and plays the Continuous Spell, Court of Justice. Hmm, a Fairy deck? He summons Freya, Spirit of Victory [100/100 → 500/500] and hence he gains an immediate attack boost. He summons a Shining Angel [1400/900 → 1800/1300] and then ends with two set cards. Ooo, wonder what he'll pull out, since Court of Justice is an infamous Fairy swarm card..."

"More immediately useful than Valhalla, especially combined with Freya," Sherry noted. "Incredible strategy..."

"Zhou takes over, tributes the Immortal Bushi to set a monster and then flips summons Silver Ninja [2300/2200]. This allows him to swarm the field with Ninjas in face-down defence, which he does before flipping them open. Looks like he's got two ninjas! There's a Goe Goe the Gallant Ninja [1500/1000] and a Masked Ninja Ebisu [1200/1800] on his field right now! He activates the effect of Ebisu- wait, Reginald triggers the Divine Wrath he's got, discarding a card to negate the effect and destroy Ebisu. Right, Zhou activates the face-down Ninjitsu Art of Transformation trap he's got, tributing Goe Goe for a- wow, that's a Behemoth the King of All Animals [2700/1500]! How in the effing-"

"Either way, Mark, putting aside how he got the card, Zhou enters the battle phase, attacking the Shining Angel with Silver Ninja."

"Right, right. Reginald triggers Spirit Barrier in answer, Shining Angel still goes, allowing Reginald to search out a second card. He searches another Shining Angel, which is soon destroyed by Behemoth, and Reginald searches out another Shining Angel. Zhou sets a card and ends, no doubt he knows what's coming next.

"Reginald takes the field with three SPC and a hand of one, now two. He activates the Speed Spell – Heaven's Lost Property, allowing both players to draw three cards and discard two. A lot like the now forbidden Graceful Charity, but for both players. He activates Court of Justice, allowing him to special summon Athena [2600/800 → 3000/1200] from his hand, and Athena gains an immediate attack boost from Freya."

"Quite a lot of mythologies are featured in the game," Bruce commented, glancing at the giant purple behemoth on the field running beside the silver ninja.

"Duel Monsters spread to many things," Sherry cryptically answered. "Athena... a Fairy burn card... a combination of swarm and burn."

"You can tell all of that from his cards?" Dick questioned.

"Some cards are staples in a specific deck type," Sherry pointed to Athena. "In a Fairy deck, Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen or Celestial Transformation would be utilised to swarm the field with high-level Fairy monsters. I'd bet that in his deck is a Cestus of Dalga to gain life points upon destroying a monster, and maybe an Ancient Sacred Wyvern in the extra deck. Looks like a typical Valhalla deck, capable of swarming the field with many monsters, burning the opponent's life points, beat-down and possibly life point gain."

"So... Reginald Mackenzie has some pretty good cards," Tim smirked. "That's so cool... Athena's pretty..."

"Reginald tributes Shining Angel to special summon a Fairy from his grave!" the emcee called. "Because a Fairy is summoned to the field, Zhou takes six hundred points of damage! Reginald takes first blood!"

Zhou: LP 4000 → LP 3400

The boy screamed as the blast made contact, nearly falling off the skateboard. "Ow! Wait, Solid Vision doesn't do that..."

"Can't take the pain?" Reginald taunted in a low, almost musical voice, almost amused as a scuff mark appeared on the other's hand.

"Our competitor Ru Zhou seems to be in pain!" the announcer called. "Is everything alright down there?"

"When Valkyrie Zweite [1600/1600] is summoned to the field, one monster can be destroyed, that is, your Silver Ninja," Reginald continued, seemingly at peace as the female divine warrior astride a white horse, long bubblegum-pink hair waving from under a winged headpiece flowing in the wind.

"That's... a Valkyrie! He's using Valkyries!" came the announcement. "How did he even find these cards from the era of Yuugi Mutou! People say that the Valkyries are devastating if correctly used, but even more so against Warriors and Dragons, as Katsuya Jounochi proved in his duel against Siegfried von Schroeder. Zhou has got a lot of work to do..."

"I activate the Spell, Nibelung's Treasure, allowing me to activate a Spell on your side of the field, ignoring activation requirements. I choose its partner, Nibelung's Ring." Reginald declared as the metal ring clasped itself around Behemoth's neck. "The ring of misfortune now dogs your every move, on your Behemoth! I also get to draw five cards!"

"That effectively cuts off the opponent's strongest monster, and seals its effect, on top that it can't be tributed or even attack!" the announcer called. "Truly, a move that can only be utilised with the Dual-Magic rules!"

"I summon the tuner monster, Buten [200/300 → 600/700] to the field, and Athena's effect activates again!" Reginald called, another blast of white light hitting Zhou from Athena's spear as a little pig with wings appeared on the field.

Zhou: LP 3400 → LP 2800

"Ah!" the skateboard swerved dangerously as Zhou clutched at his arm. "Ow!"

"One card set, turn end," the blond boy declared as both skateboards sped around the field.

"Eh?" Sherry glanced down. "That boy... Psychic Duellist..."

Bruce caught the nervous inflection in her voice.

"D- Draw!" Zhou stuttered.

"Nibelung's Treasure activates!" Reginald had a small smirk on his face. "You draw two cards and reveal them, but if monsters are drawn this way, one must be discarded."

"Oh! Reginald has effectively sealed his opponent's monsters!" the emcee called. "What a strategy with Nibelung's Ring!"

"Damn, I had Fuhma Shuriken and White Dragon Ninja..." he muttered as he slotted one card away. "I move Behemoth to defence mode and end my turn."

"My turn," Reginald smiled slightly at his card. "By Court of Justice's effect, I can special summon Valkyrie Erste [1600/1800 → 2000/2200] to the field! Athena's effect activates, dealing six hundred damage to you!"

Zhou: LP 2800 → LP 2200

"W- What are you?" Zhou stuttered as the next blast scuffed his leg.

"I'm... not like any of you," Reginald answered. "By Athena's effect, I tribute Zweite to special summon one Fairy monster from my grave. I choose Fairy Archer [1400/600 → 1800/1000]! When a Fairy is summoned to the field, you take six hundred damage again from Athena!"

This time, Zhou screamed as the blast hit him.

Zhou: LP 2200 → LP 1600

Bruce glanced down at the field of Reginald's monsters, a woman astride a white horse in armour and a winged headpiece, long sea-green hair trailing, Athena herself in a Grecian chiton and armour and holding the Aegis Shield, the so-called Freya waving pompoms, a little pig with wings beside her, and the butterfly-winged Fairy Archer. None of them looked very threatening, that is, until he noted that Zhou was cradling his arm.

"It's over," Reginald declared. "I activate the effect of Fairy Archer, inflicting four hundred damage for every Light Attribute monster I control. I have five, so you take two thousand damage."

A beam of light gathered at the butterfly-winged Archer's arrow, before shooting at Zhou and striking true.

Zhou: LP 1600 → LP 0

"Oh, and by a truly effective method of Fairy burn, he defeats Zhou! Reginald wins!" the announcer shouted as the boy' D-Board crashed into a wall. "Wait! Someone get a doctor to Zhou!"

The white skateboard skidded right next to Zhou, Reginald barely pausing to look at the injuries that were his work before moving off.

"Er, we'll take a short break for a while, before the next round," the emcee nervously stated before hanging up, feedback echoing for a moment.

"That boy... Psychic Duellist..." Sherry murmured, a hand to her mouth. "Poor kid..."

"Psychic Duellist?" Tim echoed.

"That... was no accidental injury," Dick recalled. "That was real damage... inflicted via a card game with holographic monsters..."

"I'm never going to look at Fairies the same way ever again," Tim shook his head. "Evil Fairies, now that's a horrible joke..."

Bruce looked to the blond boy and the other from the Circle, one laughing madly, his expression set.

Sherry gave him an odd look as he contemplated the situation.

"That was... a Psychic Duellist," Aki murmured from her place on the stands. "A Psychic Duellist... the organisation..."

"Mama, don't worry about yourself," Ryuusei assured.

"I'm more worried about you and Setsuka," Aki sighed. "Psychic Duellist appearing at this international tournament... this would set back the reformed Arcadia Movement too much. Nakamura San and Setsuka have tried for so long to re-integrate those formerly under Divine into Neo Domino for so long already... and organisations like this... they usually target the powerful Psychic Duellists."

"We'll have to be careful," Yusei concluded, his eyes half-lidded in nostalgia as he glanced as Seika, who was worrying her bottom lip with concern over the boy being carried off in a stretcher by paramedics. "They might have realised..."

"That was a little strong for mere effect damage, wasn't it?"

Reginald Mackenzie paused as he glanced at the little girl with the grizzled manservant behind her. "Shimotsuki Setsuka... the unofficial leader of the new Arcadia Movement..."

"Oh, you've pronounced rather correctly," Setsuka answered. "How did you realise it?"

"The same way I recognise both of you as part of us," Reginald answered levelly. "i can see power when I see it, Shimotsuki Setsuka. Your power of ice, the Circle would benefit greatly from it. Perhaps, when this whole farce is over, you will join us... to create a world for us Psychic Duellists."

"You should've realised, Divine's ideals are all lies," Setsuka answered. "There is no way for that to happen, Psychic Duellists are far fewer than you think!"

"We are the ones chosen, we will win," Reginald answered. "With enough power... that's why you keep that girl so close to you, isn't it, Shimotsuki Setsuka?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Setsuka answered, her voice cold.

"Kannazuki Seika..." Reginald trailed off. "The mysterious power she holds, that Father said would help us, would help Mother... come now, don't think I didn't feel it. A nexus of untapped power, power enough to change everything."

"Again, I think you're insane," Setsuka turned to leave. "You know... that was an interesting strategy. If we weren't currently enemies, I would even praise it."

"...thank you," Reginald whispered, blue eyes never leaving as both mistress and servant left.

"Good news, Zhou has only received minor injuries! He will recover!" the emcee shouted. "Now, to the final duel of the day, Flora Ramsay, the child activist Duellist!"

"Is it even safe?" Dick volunteered. "I mean, she's fighting against another from that Circle, right? That Glen Powers?"

"And, her opponent, again from the Elysium Circle, Glen Powers!" the emcee roared to murmurs throughout the crowd.

"It's gonna be a shock!" the cocky red-head boy yelled as he skidded up on his own D-Board. "Get ready!"

"And... field magic, Speed World Two, set, on!" the emcee called. "Riding Duel, Acceleration!"

Glen: LP 4000

Flora: LP 4000

"And they're off! With some crazy moves -oh god!- Glen takes the first move! He sets three cards and ends his turn with a Wattdragonfly [900/100] summoned- oh, Flora chains with a special summon of the tuner monster, Naturia Cosmobeet [1000/700] from her hand. No reply.

Flora takes over, clocking in with one SPC. She summons Naturia Cliff [1500/1000] and proceeds to declare a tuning! She tunes Naturia Cliff to Naturia Cosmobeet for a level six Synchro Summon, summoning Naturia Barkion [2500/1800]! Glen chains the counter-trap, Wattcancel! Flora has no reply, since Barkion can only be used on traps instead. But, Cliff's effect activates. She summons Naturia Mosquito [200/300] from her deck using Cliff's effect, and chains by milling one card from her deck to special summon Naturia Rock [1200/1200] from her hand. She activates the Spell, Barkion's Bark, and declares her battle phase. She attacks the Wattdragonfly with her Rock, and it's destroyed. Wait, Wattdragonfly is a searcher, so he summons a Watthopper [0/0]. he chains the quick-play Spell, Photon Lead, special summoning another Watthopper from his hand and one more from his deck. It's an attack lock, and a replay is triggered. Flora calls it a turn.

"The baton is passed to Glen, who draws. He summons Wattcobra [1000/500] and declares a direct attack with Wattcobra! The attack passes due to the effect of Wattcobra! Glen takes the first hit!"

Flora: LP 4000 → LP 3000, SPC: 2 → 1

"Ah!" the girl screamed as she swerved dangerously. "What was that?"

"Glen as well!" Sherry hissed, unknowingly seated next to the Bat-clan. "Psychic Duellist!"

"Ha, take that!" Glen cackled as the sparking cobra came back to his field. "When Wattcobra inflicts battle damage, I can take a Watt monster from my deck and add it to my hand! Turn end!"

"So, Flora begins her turn with two SPC, weakened and she still has two monsters, level three Rock and level one Mosquito. She summons the level three Naturia Butterfly [500/1800] and proceeds to end her turn. She looks confident there, she does.

"Glen begins his turn, and he summons Wattpheasant [1000/800]. He activates Judgement of Thunder, choosing to destroy Flora's butterfly. Good move, that Butterfly would have stopped his attacks cold. He attacks directly using Wattpheasant, due to its effect!"

Flora: LP 3000 → LP 2000, SPC: 3 → 2

"Ah!" Flora swerved again. "It hurts! This shock... real electricity?"

"I activate the effect of Wattpheasant!" Glen called. "If this card inflicts battle damage, I can select one monster on your field, and banish it! I choose Naturia Mosquito!"

"Quite tough there! Glen has direct attackers out and Flora can't attack! Even worse, she's only got a rock to protect her, which won't help!"

"Inflicting damage through direct attackers, and locking the opponent... interesting strategy," Sherry considered. "Thunder Type monsters..."

"Wattcobra, it's your turn!" Glen declared. "Go! Direct attack!"

Flora: LP 2000 → LP 1000, SPC: 2 → 1

"Glen shocks again!" the emcee yelled in concern. "Flora's damaged, and she's right at the safety line!"

"It hurts!" Flora began to yell. "It hurts!"

"This pain, remember it!" Glen smirked. "Card set, turn end."

"Oh, and Glen hands the field to Flora, who draws! She's got it tough, she has to find a way to turn it around! Hmm, she plays her Naturia Cliff [1500/1000]! Now she plays her card, a Dark Hole! Glen's field is destroyed! Is it?"

"Solemn Judgement!" Glen declares. "I halve my life points to negate that card and destroy it!"

Glen: LP 4000 → LP 2000

"Flora's getting desperate! She ends her turn with a set card!"

"It's Glen's turn! He uses Wattpheasant to attack directly and end the duel!"

"AHHHH!" Flora screamed as she was blown off the track.

"Someone get to her!" the emcee began to panic as a paramedic squad came up to the field. "Well, erm, we have our four winners, and the next round of the tournament will take place next week here as well. Thank you all for being such a great audience, now we have to see to Flora's accident. It looks like her DuelDisk short-circuited..."

"That wasn't an accident!" Tim raged as the stadium began to clear out. "That was deliberate!"

"And how are you going to prove it?" the blonde Duellist answered cryptically as she stood. "I should go before Mizoguchi tears down the block... it was nice meeting you, Monsieur Wayne."

"Yeah," Bruce muttered as she left. "We'll meet again, no worries..."

Yusei frowned, at a different part of the stands. "That... was just cruel. Hitting a defenceless innocent..."

"Poor girl," Aki sighed beside him. "Ryuusei..."

"I'll be fine," the teen answered, his own blue eyes narrowed at the laughing Glen. "Glen Powers..."

"How sad," Seika's expression fell.

"Seika-han, enough of sad things," Setsuka strolled up to them. "Shall we? Nakamura San has placed a reservation for dinner."

"Are you sure we should be eating together? Don't you want to bond with your family in Gotham?" Aki pointed out.

"Bruce San will understand," Setsuka answered. "Shall we?"

"Well," Yusei scratched his mark lightly. "Erm..."

"Cool, it'll be a reunion of Team 5Ds!" Crow appeared, slapping Jack upside the head as a greeting. "C'mon, Yusei!"

"Well, I suppose that wouldn't hurt..." Yusei considered. "There's nothing worth stealing in our room, unless you count the pieces of Mini Momentum, and everyone's together..."

"So you dismantled the thing?" Jack asked. "Good, that device's nothing but bad news. Especially in this city..."

Across the stadium, Dr Lionel put down his binoculars from where he had been eyeing Seika, sparks dancing from his fingertips as he set the metal viewing device down. "That's her."

"So that's the nexus?" Glen drawled. "Hmph, pretty."

"Mother wants us to convince her?" Reginald questioned.

"Yes," Dr Lionel agreed. "For our ideals..."

Please review! Stay tuned for the next turn: Swing of Memories! Duel, Acceleration!