"Serena… What you saw last we met was a powerful deck. I wanted to get back to my roots with it, it's one of the first decks I ever used. But this time…" Alexis smiled. "This time, you're going to know firsthand why they call me the Ice Queen! I'll play the Ice Doll Spell card," She said.

"I thought you said Spell," Serena said in confusion as a doll indeed made of ice was Summoned (0/0Level 1 Water/Aqua) Alexis nodded.

"Ice Doll is a Spell that Summons an Ice Doll token," She explained. "I'll then play Curtain of Hail, which will protect Level 3 or lower Water monsters I control from destruction," Alexis continued. Serena shielded her eyes as a snowstorm obscured her vision.

"Man. You can barely even see through even the hologram. Kaiba did his technology right," Lita commented. Atem nodded distractedly.

Alexis already has a strong setup on her first turn… I hope Serena can pull through that hail. Gyzarus should be able to rain on her parade He thought as he watched Serena's neutral facial expression.

"I'll also Summon Illusion Ice Sculpture in Defense Mode! It has no points, but when it hits it can put a monster of mine's ATK up to where it's Level is," Alexis said as ice engulfed her Doll (0/0 + 100/100 = 100/100). "One card down and it's all yours," She added.

Serena drew and grinned. "I play Equeste!" She said. "However, I won't attack. Just these three cards facedown will do," She said. Alexis was surprised; Serena was learning at a surprising pace when to be passive, as opposed to a reckless charge that she'd seen many others of her experience level made back at the Academy.

"Interesting… Well, get ready! I'll play the White Night Fort card, a fortress that emit's a mystic aura, rendering Traps useless during the opposing turns," She said. Serena's eyes widened at that news. "Then I sacrifice my creatures!" She said.

"A two-tribute Summoning? This ain't good," Lita said. Serena tended to agree.

"I play White Night Dragon!" Alexis declared. The massive dragon let loose with a mighty roar, causing those who had gathered around to watch jump. A few whooped and hollered as the beast settled to the ground (3000/2500).

"Oh no… that Dragon rivals even the Blue-Eyes in raw power!" Atem said, shocked. He'd never seen such a creature before, and realized that it was still an Effect monster to boot.

"With the Dragon out guarding my Fort in the middle of my snowstorm, I'd say the night is going to be white for a long time," Alexis said. "Now, Dragon! Attack!" She said.

Serena raised an arm to shield herself as the blast came, her visage lost in the resulting cloud of dust. Alexis' face went from a smile to shocked when the smoke cleared, seeing not only Serena's Life Points intact but Equeste still standing, pawing the ground in defiance.

"What the…?" Alexis muttered. Serena crossed her arms, causing Alexis to grimace slightly as parts of the marks Benten had left showed through.

"Hey, I learned this game from Yugi Moto. You think he didn't teach me a thing or two about Chains?" She asked. Alexis' eyebrows rose. "When you activated your Fort, I chained Waboku to it. Looks to me like you got a little snowblinded," Serena joked. Lita groaned and put a palm to her forehead.

"Really, Serena? A snowblind joke? One of these days, I swear…" She muttered. Alexis was amazed.

"I've gotta hand it to you, Serena. For how little experience you have, you have a lot more skill than many people. Maybe you should think about enrolling in Duel Academy? Very few students that have played as long as you even know what a Chain is," Alexis said.

"I'm flattered by the offer, but I'm not a duelist by trade, if you get my 'drift'" Serena said, emphasizing the last word.

"That's it, I'm leaving. Bad pun overload, going to go find Amy and them," Lita said flatly. Atem couldn't help but smile as Lita walked off, shaking her head and muttering something about surgically replacing Serena's sense of humor.

"Gotta say, Serena, that one was kinda lame," Alexis said. Serena just grinned as she used Equeste's effect.

"I bring out Murmillo to wipe out your Dragon! Fire the cannons!" Serena announced. Murmillo blasted the Dragon and when the smoke cleared, the creature was slain. Alexis gave a pout that turned into a laugh.

"Good one, Serena, but my Call of the Haunted IS useable on my turn," She said as the Dragon came back from the dead. Serena swore as Alexis passed her turn.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's going to be a bit harder to find someone willing to give up two locator cards," Amy commented as they walked along. Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Still, it shouldn't be impossible. Lots of players are in your position, Amy," He pointed out. Amy considered and nodded; that much was indeed true. Still, she was having trouble getting people to bet two cards.

"You know, if you guys hadn't dove headfirst into this thing all or nothing and scrubbed out, I could just duel one of you," Amy commented dryly to the other Scouts.

"Hey! Take that back! Just because we were trying to make fast progress in the tournament doesn't mean we dove headfirst!" Raye yelled. Amy gave a rare grin; pissing off Raye was almost always cheap entertainment.

"Whoa… check out the talent," Amy heard someone say, followed by a few catcalls. Amy looked around, trying to finding the target of said remarks. She quickly noticed that about 15 guys were looking right in her direction. Raye tried and failed to hide an amused laugh at Amy's quirked brow.

"Either you're looking in the wrong direction or else you'd better be referring to the number of locator cards I have," She said. Every single one of them came forward, shaking their head.

"Baby, we don't give a damn about those cards you got there. Just sayin' you got a nice pair of-"

WHAM!

Raye didn't even let the rest of the vulgar comment come out before slugging the offending pig in the jaw. Yugi face palmed. These guys were at least twice his size; there was no way he'd be useful in a fight like this.

"Raye!" Amy said in a scolding tone as she dragged her friend off of the guy before she could strike again. Raye was still struggling to break loose even as Amy handed her off to Mina.

"Let me go! Let me at him! I'll kick his sorry-" Amy sighed as Raye continued to yell curses and threats.

"To be fair, I will warn you; NEVER make that sort of chauvinistic remark toward me again," She said, directing a threatening tone toward the men who were still looking in shock from their friend to Raye.

"Look, little lady. We don't take shit from anyone lightly. I actually AM part of the tournament; some punk got lucky and won a couple cards from me, but I've still got two and I'm looking for four. That broad over there wants to fight, she can fight on my terms," He said, raising his duel disk. Amy smirked.

"Raye's out of locator cards," She said. "However… I'm looking for a couple myself. So why don't you and I toss up two locators each and go at it?" She suggested. The man considered this offer. Same locator cards, different person. As long as he got the cards, it didn't matter whose pretty face he had to ruin.

"It's a deal," He said, raising his disk. Amy nodded and followed suit.

"Ladies fir-"

"I don't care about all that crap," The man said. Amy gaped in shock and stood to her fullest height.

"Now you listen here you-" She was again interrupted.

"The name's Jack, if you need a name to lecture me by," He said sarcastically. She narrowed her eyes.

"You see here, Jack! I will NOT allow you to just insult me like common trash, I don't care WHO you are! I'm going to play the Cryomancer of the Ice Barrier (1300/0) in combination with my Double Summon Spell! It allows me a second Normal Summon during my turn, so out comes Dewdark of the Ice Barrier!" She said firmly. Jack growled.

"Fine! But I get to attack first! I'll play Zombie Master in Attack Mode!" He declared. A creature that looked much like a zombie itself came into play wearing a shaman's robe (1800/0). "I'll set a card and attack!" He said. When nothing happened, he blinked. "I attack!" He said again. Amy gave a highly exaggerated yawn.

"Sorry, but Cryomancer won't let Level 4 or higher monsters attack while I control another Ice Barrier," She said in a bored manner. Jack cursed as he ended his turn.

"Way to play, Amy!" Yugi cheered from the side. At least he could be of SOME use now that they were dueling on a level he was used to. Amy gave a nod and smiled at her draw.

"Alright, I'll activate my Magic Triangle of the Ice Barrier Spell. By revealing three differently named Ice Barrier monsters," She began, holding up Genreral Gantala, Warlock and Prior, "I can blow away a card you control, specifically that backrow there," She said. Mirror Force blew up, followed by another curse. "Then, of those three I can Special Summon one. Gantala in Attack Mode!" She announced. The leader rose up and prepared for battle (2700/2000).

"Geez. Amy opened the nuts," Mina said. Yugi shook his head.

"Not really. She did get an awesome opening hand, but a duelist's passion and heart can have a lot to do with it. Amy is connected to that deck by the Sailor Mercury powers she holds so dear, and she got extremely upset when these men insulted our group. She's got a passion to win this match and show these goons what for," Yugi explained.

"So she basically opened a lucky hand because she's pretty much one with the deck?" Mina asked. Yugi nodded. "Wow. That's… interesting, to say the least," She said.

"Now, since I have Ice Barrier Monsters I can Special Summon Prior," She said as a man in a traveler's robe appeared (1000/600). "Then I can Normal Summon Warlock of the Ice Barrier (400/1000) in Defense Mode. I'll attack with everything I've got!" She said. A whirlwind of blizzard attack flew at Jack, causing him to yell out in frustration (8000 - 2700 - 1200 - 1000 = 3100).

"I draw! I'll… uhm… I'll play… well, no, she'd just kill it next turn and win. I'll Sum- wait, damn, that won't work. I…uh…" Jack muttered as he drew and looked at his hand. Amy looked vaguely amused as the man stumbled and stuttered. "I don't have a play to make," He admitted finally. A loud noise of protest came from the crew behind him. "What am I supposed to do? She opened a freaking god-lucky hand with a bad deck and my hand is crap!" He snapped.

"Bad deck? BAD DECK? I'll show you bad deck!" Amy roared in an outrage that caused even Raye to jump and recoil. "How about some of this! Dance Princess of the Ice Barrier in Attack Mode!" She said, putting the card straight from the top of her deck to her disk without even looking at it.

"OK, Amy is now officially a wizard," Raye said in awe. Yugi smiled, eyebrows raised; the only time he'd ever seen someone do something like that was when Atem needed a certain card from his deck.

"Now I'll Synchro Summon!" She said. Everyone in Amy's entourage smiled and waited for Brionac to roar to life.

"Yeah, Amy! Use Brionac and give 'em what for!" Raye cheered. Amy shook her head, confusing Raye. Confusion gave way to, for the first time ever, fear of the bluenette as the Water Warrior's face split into a sinister smile.

"This clown doesn't deserve Brionac. I tune my Cryomancer to my Warlock and Dance Princess!" She said. Yugi frowned. Three materials? I thought a Synchro Summon was a Tuner synching up with one other monster… He thought. Amy's eyes were set in determination as a beam of life shot up toward the sky and the three monsters leapt into it.

"The ultimate guardian, Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier!" Amy said as the light gave way to a monstrous dragon, something that looked like it would make Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon quail in fear. It had three heads, each as fierce as the other and every eye set on Jack, who gulped.

"When Trishula comes out, it takes a card from your hand, field and Graveyard straight outta the game! You have no field, but," She said, marching around Trishula and straight to Jack, "I'll take this card from your hand…" She said. She looked at the card she'd plucked and smiled pleasantly. "You could have used this," She said, handing Gorz, Emissary of Darkness back to Jack. He growled as he Banished it and Mirror Force.

"Now then. Gantala, Trishula, finish this up and lock me into the final! Attack!" Amy said. Twin blasts of freezing winds flew across the field, knocking Jack to the ground with a moan as the holograms fainted. Amy walked calmly across the field, looked down at the man and shook her head as she took the two locator cards and Gorz from his duel disk herself with a "humph!" noise.

"Yeah! That's showing them, Amy!" Raye cheered, still in Mina's grasp. "You can let go of me now, by the way," she added to her fellow Scout, who released her. Jack made a noise of protest and stomped up.

"Hey! You can't just take my locator cards! I need those to get to the finals! Gimme!" He said. Amy looked behind her at her friends and smiled.

"I won these fair and square," She said, fanning out the locators and Gorz. "Now, I suggest you find someone else to bother before you become one of the few people to ever get on my bad side," She added in a horrible attempt to sound menacing. The other Scouts and even Yugi had to fight down laughter, but it apparently worked on the opposing duelist before he narrowed his eyes and stormed off, taking his crew in tow.

"Oh no, I hope I never get on Amy's 'bad side'," Raye said, imitating Amy's attempt to sound threatening before breaking down in laughter. Yugi and Mina were laughing as well, though the both of them managed to keep their balance as opposed to the Flame Warrior, who was leaning on Mina for support.

Amy crossed her arms, then frowned and furrowed her brows. Something didn't feel right. She had cemented her place in the finals, but something was… off, now, it seemed. Something needed changed, and as she looked to her duel disk she had a good idea of what needed to be done.