Cristina's Pov~

"Ladies go first." Zeke said, grinning as I snarled, "No need to snarl. We didn't even begin yet and you are already shaking. Does my presence shake the very foundation of you?"

I looked down and saw my hands were trembling a bit; this is getting a bit too much. I had prep-talk myself again and again after my talk with Yusei. I thought Yusei's words alone would help me reach my peace, but then, I started to over think it and quickly lost my cool; I'm so pathetic… I clenched my fist and look at him.

"Fine, I'll start." I shouted, already looking at my cards, scanning quickly before looking up at him. His eyes were observing me, like any movement I make will be used against me, "I summon Charcoal In-"

"Ah, Charcoal Inpachi. 100 attack points and 2100 defense points. You will probably leave him attack mode and put two face down cards; right?" He asked, cocking his head to the right as I scoffed a little, but that did make me nervous; I was going to do that.

"Hey, I get to say what card I am putting down, not you." I said, as Charcoal was summon, "I put Charcoal Inpachi in defense mode with one face down." Did I really say that? That was a stupid, stupid move…wait, it was actually smart, though, I said it before actually doing it. No, no, this is bad-

"Are you done yet, my fans are waiting for my move." He said as I raised an eyebrow. I looked around the arena and raised an eyebrow before chuckling a bit, "And you are amused?"

"I can't think anything about you that deserves fangirls." I said and sighed, "Your move, Zeke the jerk."

"My pleasure." He said before drawing and smirking at me. I looked at him before making a disgusted face; stop looking at me, "Hope you are ready." Ooh, I am not… I looked up at the sky before sighing…

~Middle of Battle~

"Go, Alien Warrior (1800/1000)! Attack her directly with soaring scar!" Zeke yelled as I put my arms in a X, but it didn't do any good as I dropped onto one knee and looked at my duel disk as my LP went to 1500; his was 2800. I hate to admit it, but…this has to be one of the most challenging battles yet, and I was having fun… "Aw, Cristina, do you want to take a break?"

"I'll take a break once I kick your ass and stab you repeatedly." I responded, going back onto my feet, "No matter what you do, I will always come back up."

"Good, I didn't want an easy win from the daughter of Julia Witen." He said as I nearly dropped my cards… "I mean, I know Ipati Yumeko was a strong guy, but your mother really takes the cake." My jaw tensed as I felt my heart beating against my ribcage. Is he…is he talking about them in front of me? "I heard she was a spirited woman, always believing what is right, even though it went against what her husband thought. Despite that unbreakable and pure personality, she wasn't perfect. She became selfish, probably useless, and left her whole family-"

"HEY!" I yelled, taking out one of my knives and pointing at him as I swear I heard loud gasps, "You, you have no right. NO RIGHT. To be talking about my parents in my face. I don't know if you are ignorant or just asking for a death wish. My mother didn't leave because she was selfish. It may seem like that to you, but it's not true; it's not true to me. Say all you want, gather as much evidence as you can, anything, and I still won't believe you. As much as I would like to thank you for calling my mother strong, this anger if already spilling out of its cup from you…crap! You don't have the right to call her useless or anything else for that matter! Don't act like you know EVERYTHING in my life because I swear, you don't know the half of it. You are a…sick bastard." Pent-up anger can come in any size…mine was the size of this stadium. I threw my face that barely missed his feet. "Say anything else and I will not miss; I can promise you that." His jaw was slacked as I went wide-eyes and clenched my arm; my mark was burning…That's not good… "Are we going to continue this or what?"

"…You can proceed." He said as I grinned and flipped a card; Cristina is back in action baby.

Yusei's Pov~

I smirked slightly when I saw the grin on Cristina's face and the overwhelming confidence that was showing once again, but winced a bit when my mark had started to burn. I crossed my arms and sighed; she will win no matter what. Though, it strikes as odd when he knew about her family. It made me wonder how this guy had gotten his information from. Could Goodwin have given this guy the information? Was this all a test to see if Cristina was a signer or not? If so, Goodwin will still pay, no matter what. I broke out of my thoughts when I heard a familiar roar and smiled; Uria, Lord of Searing Flames that had attacks points of 3000 attacks and defense points. I looked at Zeke and what struck me was that he should have known this would have happened. Did he just come into this duel only to provoke Cristina's signer powers?

"You should be lucky that you are against Uria, he's much nicer than me than you would think." Cristina said as I raised an eyebrow, but was not surprised; she would have taken the guy out of she had gotten the chance to… She would probably somehow get a butcher knife and threaten. I chuckled at that thought because it is possibly true, "Go, Uria. Attack him with a full on Hyper Blaze! No holding back!" No holding back? She really wants this guy to suffer. I saw that his side of the field was empty except for a facedown card, but he didn't play it as he screamed when his life points dropped to zero.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I don't believe it; Cristina had manage to pull one from behind and taken the best of Zeke, but he's not going out a loser, but as a lesson not to mess with the heat-"

"Shut up, you're giving me a headache!" Cristina yelled, glaring at the announcer before walking down the steps to where she had entered. I got up and jogged to where she was. I hope that entire boosted ego was not for show. I saw that she was leaning against the wall, looking outside. I slowed my pace and looked at her in curiosity.

"Cristina." I called out as she just raised her hand before putting it back down. I was a bit confused before walking a bit faster towards her and looked at her. She was…pouting…I expected some happiness or sadness, but not just pouting. I raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall across from her.

"Why are you pouting?" I asked as she looked over to me and crossed her arms.

"The match." Was all she said, making me more confused; what is she talking about?

"What about the match; you won. You're going to the next round." I said as she smiled slightly and pushed some strands of hair behind her ear.

"That's exciting, but my duel with Zeke the stalker…it was a disappointment; I was expecting a challenge from beginning to end, but just after that…speech, there was hardly competition; it felt like school all over again." She said, rubbing her forehead, "I felt like he had no reason to fight me anymore; only to provoke me. If that was his mission, he did hell of a job."

"I have a different theory…" I said as she looked at me, "What if Goodwin had hired him…to see if you have the mark."

"That makes no sense." She said, dismissing the thought, "But…now that I think of it…it actually makes perfect sense. How Luna, Akiza, and I had our powers activated… You think he knows about it."

"We can't just make assumptions-"

"I don't know; assumptions are usually right. My assumption is Goodwin is toying with us, provoking us-…I hate that man. I'm going to go over there, get a damn butcher knife, and chop him to pieces." She muttered, walking down the hallway. I sighed and rubbed my forehead; it always revolves around the butcher knife with her…

Cristina's Pov~

I sat next to Yusei, watching the next battle enfold with those people…that I manage to forget. I looked up at the ceiling and put my arms under my head.

"You are going against Akiza after this one…" I said as he turned his head to look at me and nodded, "You have your strategy planned out?"

"All you have to do is believe." He said as I groaned.

"Yusei that was a terrible answer. I wanted some…deep and-and epic strategy with some mysterious bits, and all you give me is believe in the cards thing again? Oh man." I said, flicking his nose, "You sure you can win ONLY with believing and hope?"

"That's the only way; it's not only the cards, but believing that you will and win and have ho-" I put my gloved hand over his mouth and made the 'shushing' motion.

"You talk too much." I said and leaned against him, "But if you think that strategy will work; I'll like to see that…You better be careful."

"Against Akiza?"

"Who else am I talking about? Of course, Akiza, you are playing against her. We all know that her cards come to life and you might…you might get really hurt. I don't want to see people getting hurt, except for bastards like Koda; he deserved that. I'm getting off topic! Anyways, I don't want to see you get hurt. God only knows what I will do if you got hurt." I said with a slight chuckle.

"What would you do if I did?" He asked as I raised an eyebrow.

"I reiterate, God only knows what I will do if you got hurt. It's not meant for the ears of your, simpleton; it's a A and B conversation." I said and poked his cheek, "So, no getting hurt."

"No need to get drastic on my behalf-"

"I'm always drastic when it comes to my friend; you are no different." I said, standing up before stretching, "Just don't get hurt, okay…? Just, please…don't…"

"I can't promise, but I will, for you, if I can." He said as I grinned and hugged him closely as I felt him hug back. Hopefully, everything will be okay…

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